Brand new model rolling out of the Honda factories for 2011, the Honda CR-Z two seater coupe is labeled as the world’s first sport hybrid. Based on the same platform as the 2010 Honda Insight, it has a shorter wheelbase and overall is shorter in length. The 2011 Honda CR-Z has a 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine with the Integrated Motor Assist (IMA), equipped with a six-speed manual transmission or optional continuously variable transmission (CVT) with steering wheel paddle shifters. CR-Z has a three-mode driving system  that allows the driver to control the responsiveness from Economy, Normal or Sport modes. Much like the 2010 Honda Insight, the 2011 Honda CR-Z cannot run on its battery alone, it does however shut off the gasoline engine at idle and utilizes the battery power.  The 2011 Honda CR-Z comes in at a good price point, the manual is $24,885 and the CVT $25,685. This is a big step for Honda as they attempt once again to become a player in the import hybrid game. To date Honda has not stepped up to the expectations with the Hybrid Honda Accord being discontinued after only 1 year on the market, and the 2010 Honda Insight having suffered poor sales in its first full year.  Honda has followed in the foot steps of Toyota in ...

For the first time, Canadians are getting to drive a new trim level on a new model before the United States.  As usual the decision came down to sales. Those sale numbers show that over one quarter of all VW Jetta’s sold in Canada are powered by a diesel engine.  As a result, the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta will be launched first in Canada, with the diesel (TDI) option.  Typically, Canadians must wait patiently to drive new models released from European and Japanese automakers.  The 2011 Volkswagen Jetta is a big part of VW’s plan to make serious sales inroads in North America. The new Jetta is expected to compete with the Toyota Corolla ($15,460 - $24,110), which is the third best selling compact car in Canada.  It had 9,241 sales Year-to-Date (YTD) in May 2010. The Honda Civic ($15,990 - $28,745) was, until recently, the best selling car in Canada before being dethroned by the Mazda3 ($15,995-$32,995).  Mazda's outsold the Civic by 103 units over the fist quarter of 2010.  Hyundai, which accomplished a historic first in May by outselling Honda Canada in overall car sales, has the compact Elantra that sold 6,6615 cars YTD in May.  The Elantra ranges ...

So far, May has delivered the least impressive vehicle sales figures of 2010.  Year over year sales numbers inched up to 154,285 units, up from 154,018 in 2009, a modest gain of 0.2%*. Broken down by vehicle type, light trucks (SUVs, pickups, minivans) continue to outsell passenger cars in Canada.  In May, light truck sales increased 12.8%, while passenger car sales slid 10.6%. Year to date, light truck sales have increased 18.9% while car sales are down 1.5% overall.  As the sales figures confirm, light trucks with four-cylinder engines continue a trend very well in Canada.  Compared with the same period last year, the sale of four-cylinder trucks has increased by 7.5 percentage points, while light trucks with six-cylinder engines declined by 10.7 per cent. Incidentally, sale totals for eight-cylinder trucks rose just over three per cent during the same period.  It's not surprising that as four-cylinder trucks, vans and SUV's gain in popularity that negative sales have impacted six cylinder vehicles.  However, a 10.6% slide in car sales shows there is also a negative sales impact on four-cylinder passenger cars.  On average, it now takes 66 days for a four-cylinder passenger car to move off the lot at a dealership.  That number is ...

Overall, Canadian vehicle sales for May edged up to 154,285 units, a relatively flat gain of 0.2 per cent. What a flat month of sales did was bring a few interesting changes to the automotive landscape.  Hyundai surpassed industry sales giant Honda to move into a top-five in overall sales for the very first time.  Hyundai sold 12,620 vehicles in May, up 12.6 per cent from a year earlier and outselling Honda by over 1,000 units. This marked Hyundai's second consecutive month of record-breaking sales. Hyundai's move into the top five forced Honda into sixth place in sales.  Honda sold 11,587 vehicles including its luxury Acura division. Year to date, Honda has captured 8.6 per cent of the Canadian vehicle market.  Toyota Canada's sales fell 16.1 per cent to 17,879 vehicles including its luxury Lexus brand.  Early in 2010 Toyota had shown great resilience in Canadian sales despite its global recall, but those sales have fallen by double digits for the past two months. Of the domestic automakers, Chrysler saw the biggest gain, with sales jumping 53.5 per cent to 20,861. These numbers are a major contrast to May 2009 when sales fell by 50 per cent compared to May 2008.  Ford's ...

For 12 consecutive years the Honda Civic has been the undisputed King of compact car sales in Canada.  We’re talking complete market dominance for over a decade where the Civic held the prestigious title of Best Selling Car in Canada.  However, year 13 is proving to be less than a given.  With 2010 first quarter sales in the books, Mazda 3 with a base MSRP of $15,995 outsold the$15,990 base price Honda Civic by 103 units.  By end of April 2010 Mazda sold 17,198 of the popular Mazda 3’s in Canada.  That compares to 17,095 Honda Civics sold.  Not a knockout blow by any means, but enough to get Honda’s attention.  If Honda had an ace up its sleeve it would have been the rollout of the next generation Civic, which was promised for fall 2010, but has now been officially pushed back by Honda to sometime in 2011. It makes for a very interesting battle in the compact car class.  Stay tuned. For information on the Honda Civic and Mazda3’s visit BestPriceExpress.ca and for the lowest price on both, check out the service to new car buyers.

Question: The car company that has two consecutive months (April and May 2010) of record-breaking auto sales in Canada, and 16 straight months of best-ever sales increases? Answer:  Who is ______? If that question came up on Jeopardy with big dollars riding on your right answer, which car company would you blurt out?  With 12,620 cars sold in May 2010 (125 more than it sold in April 2010), the right answer is...Hyundai!  Their sales performance represents an increase of 12.6 percent increase over 2009 figures.  Overall, Hyundai has sold 50,713 units year-to-date, representing an increase of 19.7 percent over the first five months of 2009.  The high profile launch of the all-new Tucson SUV and Sonata mid-size passenger cars, brought attention to the entire Hyundai line-up of products as well as the companies focus on delivering what they brand as unmatched quality, value and style. For Canadians wanting to purchase any new Hyundai and make it more affordable they don’t need to play games, simply find BestPriceExpress.ca online.

One great thing about cars is that there are so many to choose from.  Still, the really great cars come with a great-big price tag. But what if you’re not quite the CEO, or your lotto number hasn’t come up yet?  What could a regular Canadian in the market for a new car get for under $18,000 that friends or family won’t mind being seen in?  That‘s the challenge Kelly Blue Book recently wrestled with and came up with a list of Cool Cars under $18,000.  All the cars meet basic needs and wants -- safety, fuel economy, interior size, comfort, and technology – but the cars also had to be fun-to-drive, and fun-to-own.  So, in alphabetical order, the Top 10 Coolest Cars you can drive and own for under $18,000: 2011 Ford Fiesta 2010 Honda Civic 2010 Honda Fit 2010 Hyundai Elantra Touring 2010 Kia Soul 2010 Mazda3 2010 Mitsubishi Lancer 2010 Nissan Cube 2010 Scion xB 2010 Suzuki SX4 You can find details on each car at BestPriceExpress.ca and build one to your specifications right online, but the real fun is getting any of these cars for the lowest price available.  For that, check out the advantage BestPriceExpress.ca gives new car buyers. The original Kelly Blue Book story can be found ...