Euro Auto Trends

Analyzing German small economy 4×4 sales figures in 2006

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

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.

Spanish auto manufacturing output in 2007 will stay more or less flat for the second consecutive year with 2.8 million units while Ford Spain spokesman says he expects their local unit production to rise 13% to 420 thousand cars a year due to strong sales of the Focus, the Ford’s best selling model in Span where it tops the C-segment. Although it is not so good for the the ailing Fiesta which now becomes showing its age.

A new version of Skoda’s Fabia is to be shown at the Geneva motor show in March 2007 and is planned to go on sale in May 2007 to replace the original model - a bit underrated but sold quite successfully throughout Europe.

The second generation Fabia is 22mm longer and 47mm taller than its predecessor, improving passenger leg and headroom and making it one of the largest cars in an ever growing class. The design decisions are similar to those of the Roomster, a new model from Skoda launched earlier this year and show the Skoda design team wilingness to get rid of the conservative appearance of previous generation models including the old Fabia and Octavia .