Italian Superminis 2006 Top 5
In Italy Fiat Group’s Fiat and Lancia brands still beat everyone in supermini range - the new Punto, Panda and Ypsilon are the cars of choice for italian city driving. Surprisingly the Japaneese Yaris found a way to an italian motoring heart, and the old Fiesta still keeps a beat. The French with Renault Clio and Citroen C3 can’t even come close to top 5.
- Fiat Punto 229.623
- Fiat Panda 148.877
- Ford Fiesta 77.190
- Toyota Yaris 65.163
- Lancia Ypsilon 64.602
German Market Small SUV 2006 Trends: Tucson beats X-Trail
Analyzing German small economy 4×4 sales figures in 2006
| 2006 | 2005 | |
| Toyota RAV 4 | 20.429 | 17.475 |
| Hyundai Tucson | 13.645 | 8.202 |
| Nissan X-Trail | 7.894 | 10.179 |
| Suzuki Grand Vitara | 7.843 | 4.813 |
| Honda CR-V | 6.704 | 6.529 |
3 fast conclusions came to mind:
- Toyota RAV4 still reigns in the world of small SUVs
- Hyundai Tucson greatly outperformed the ailing Nissan X-Trail which is now showing its age
- Suzuki made a good push with the new Grand Vitara while neither it nor Honda CR-V could come close to leaders
New Mercedes C-Class
For the first time in the C-Class history Mercedes now openly shows a more sporting image for its compact executive saloon in a fight for younger keen drivers. The targets are obvious - BMW and Aidi. The all-new C-Class even will be offered in two nose styles - the Classic and the Elegance versions get a conventional front grille to cater for traditional C-Class buyers while the sportier Avantgarde features a massive star in the grille centre like the sportcars.
The main sales message is also moving to focus on how the new Merc drives. The guys at DaimlerChrysler claim it outbeats any other luxury compact saloon (read BMW 3 series and Audi A4) in riding and handling. Although independent tests still to be widely performed yet.
As a common trend nowdays, the new C-Class is longer and wider than the car it substitues and most of the space increase is used to please the passengers.