GM chief tops Motor Trend's annual Top 50 Power Brokers list

General Motors Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner has topped Motor Trend magazine's Top 50 Power Brokers list, which ranks executives, designers and other individuals who are shaping the future of cars and car culture.

The editors of Motor Trend select the top 50 people who have shaped the global auto industry over the past twelve months, and are poised to do so for the future, ranking them by influence and impact on the automotive landscape.

" Those who make Motor Trend's Power List have an influence that goes beyond the mere production of automobiles," said Editor-in-chief Angus MacKenzie. "They are making decisions and setting plans that will impact millions, if not billions of people. They are setting the table for what we will be seeing years from now." MacKenzie noted that four of the year's top-ten honourees came from GM, including the "Rookie of the Year". "GM's showing on this list is a testament to the company's progress in rolling out some very competitive vehicles, including (Motor Trend) Car of the Year winner Cadillac CTS," MacKenzie said.

The top ten honourees on the list were:

1. Rick Wagoner, General Motors Chairman and CEO
2. Fujio Cho, Toyota Motor Corporation Chairman
3. Ferdinand Pich, Volkswagen AG Supervisory Board Chief
4. Bob Lutz, GM Vice Chairman, Global Product and Development
5. Martin Winterkorn, Volkswagen AG Chairman
6. Chris Bangle, BMW Design Group Chief
7. Wendelin Wiedeking, Porsche AG Executive Board Chairman and Chief Executive Director
8. Ed Welburn, GM Vice President for Global Design
9. Fritz Henderson (Rookie of the Year), GM Vice Chairman and CFO
10. Walter Da Silva, VW Group Design Chief

Other notables on the list included Alan Mullaly, Ford Motor Company CEO, at number 14; Kazunori Yamauchi, Polyphony Digital President and Gran Turismo 5 Designer, at number 32; John Dingell, U.S. Representative, Chairman of Energy and Commerce Committee, at number 33; Liz Pilibosian, Chief Engineer, Cadillac CTS, at number 38; and NBC Tonight Show host and car enthusiast Jay Leno, at number 45.

Strategic Vision announces Most Delightful Vehicles of 2007

Research consultant firm Strategic Vision has announced the winners of its Most Delightful Vehicles awards for 2007. Customer Delight, the firm's most stringent measure of product quality, assesses the customer's emotional response to each vehicle attribute, from power and performance to interior design.

" Driver's desires, needs and attribute priorities are called the customer's vehicle DNA," said Alexander Edwards, president of Strategic Vision Automotive. "When you understand the emotional payoff delivered by each vehicle attributed measured against the customer's vehicle DNA, you can truly know what sets leaders apart from the rest. These vehicles are Customer Delight leaders and build brand equity, increase customer advocacy and indicate future loyalty and retention."

The winners in each segment for 2007 were:

• Small Car: Mazda3
• Small Multi-Function: Volkswagen Rabbit
• Medium Car: Volkswagen Passat/Volkswagen Jetta (tie)
• Medium Multi-Function: Volvo V50
• Larger Car: Dodge Charger
• Near-Luxury Car: BMW 3 Series Sedan
• Luxury Multi-Function: Audi A3
• Luxury Car: Mercedes-Benz S-Class
• Small Specialty Under $28,000: Mini Cooper
• Small Specialty Over $28,000: Porsche 911 Coupe
• Mid-Specialty Car: Chevrolet Monte Carlo
• Convertibles Under $30,000: Mini Cooper Convertible
• Convertibles Over $30,000: Mercedes-Benz SL-Class
• Minivan: Honda Odyssey
• Small SUV: Hyundai Santa Fe
• Medium Crossover: Saturn Outlook
• Medium SUV: Toyota 4Runner
• Large SUV: Ford Expedition EL (Expedition Max in Canada)
• Near Luxury SUV: Lexus RX 400h/Lincoln MKX (tie)
• Luxury SUV: Land Rover Range Rover Sport
• Standard Pickup: Honda Ridgeline
• Full-Size Pickup Truck: GMC Sierra 1500/Chevrolet Avalanche (tie)
• Heavy-Duty Pickup Truck: Ford F-250/350

Several automakers report 2007 as best sales year ever

A number of automakers have declared 2007 to be their best sales year on record, both in Canada and the United States, according to figures released individually by the companies.

Among the automakers reporting record sales in Canada were:

• Audi - Audi Canada reported a record 714 vehicles in December, up 14.2 per cent over 2006, and a "modest increase" for the full year. The leading sales models were the A4 and A6 sedans and Avants, and the Q7 SUV.

• BMW - BMW Group Canada announced its 17th consecutive year of record sales, with a new record of 27,734 BMW and Mini vehicles sold in 2007, an increase of 18.4 per cent over 2006 sales. The company also recorded an increase of 31.1 per cent in December 2007 sales over December 2006. Overall, the company sold 24,031 BMW vehicles, 1,627 BMW motorcycles, and 3,703 Minis. Mini broke monthly sales records in 8 of the 12 months in 2007, and had its sixth consecutive year of best-ever sales.

• Chrysler Canada - Sales were up in each of the 12 months of 2007, including a 2.9 per cent increase in December, for a total of 232,859 vehicles. That number made it Canada's number-two company in sales, after General Motors. Annual sales were up 5.6 per cent in 2007 over 2006, with 12,300 new customers. Jeep had its most successful sales year ever, with 47,693 units, up 62 per cent. Chrysler's largest sales gains were for the Dodge Caravan, Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country minivans, with 56,572 sold in 2007; the Dodge Ram also reached an all-time record of 42,294 vehicles, mostly due to growth in the Western region.

• Ford - While Ford's overall sales were down 2.2 per cent over the year, the company reported that its F-Series remained the country's best-selling vehicle, car or truck, for the fifth consecutive year, while the Mustang held as Canada's best-selling sports car. The F-Series was also the best-selling pickup truck in Canada for a record 42 consecutive years.

• Honda - Honda Canada reported an all-time record year with combined Honda and Acura sales of 170,307 units, an increase of three per cent over the record 2006 sales of 165,985, and the best-ever calendar year sales over the company's past 35 years in Canada. The Honda Automobile Division set an all-time record with 150,188 units, up three per cent over last year, while Acura achieved its ninth straight year of annual sales in excess of 20,000 units, which it said is the most for any luxury brand in Canada. Models setting all-time annual sales records in 2007 were the Honda Civic (70,838 units), Honda Fit (13,507 units), Acura MDX (6,017 units) and Acura RDX (4,104).

• Mazda - Mazda Canada set its fourth consecutive annual sales record, selling 86,659 vehicles, a 7 per cent increase over 2006 and the first time it has sold more than 86,000 vehicles in a year in Canada. Passenger car sales totalled 70,850 units, a 2.4 per cent year-over-year increase, while light truck sales increased 34 per cent to 15,809 units, mostly due to the CX-7 and CX-9. The company's top-selling vehicle, the Mazda3, was the second best-selling car in Canada, with total sales of 48,236 in 2007, a one per cent increase over 2006.

• Mercedes-Benz recorded an all-time record of 18,547 units, a 5.6 per cent increase for combined sales of Mercedes-Benz, Smart and Maybach over 2006 sales. The company also set records with 16,114 Mercedes-Benz vehicles sold, 11,991 Mercedes-Benz passenger vehicles, and 6,327 pre-owned sales. Smart reported sales of 2,433 Fortwos in 2007, with the second-generation going on sale as of mid-December, when 245 Smarts were sold. The company also reported sales of 1,500 all-new C-Class models in the four months since its launch.

• Nissan - Nissan Canada Inc. reported records for both the Nissan brand and total Nissan Canada sales, with 76,783 Nissan and Infiniti vehicles sold in 2007. This breaks the record of 70,783 set in 2005, and is a 16.8 per cent increase over 2006. Of that, 70,027 were Nissan and 6,756 were Infiniti. The new Nissan Rogue led all models in December with 1,313 sold, its best month ever and beating the highest total for the Nissan X-Trail, which it replaced in the company's line-up. Overall, the Nissan Versa was the company's highest-selling model in 2007, with 21,940 units sold.

• Porsche - Porsche Cars North America announced sales of 110 vehicles in December in Canada, an increase of 13 per cent over December 2006. Total sales were a record 1,987 vehicles in Canada, an increase of six per cent over the 1,868 sold in 2006. The Cayenne SUV led the company with 823 units, a 44 per cent over the 572 sold in 2006.

• Toyota - Toyota Canada set a new record for annual sales, breaking the 200,000 unit mark for the first time ever, as well as achieving new December sales records for both Toyota and Lexus divisions. The company also sold more than 10,000 hybrid vehicles for the first time in a single year, almost doubling hybrid sales in 2006. Toyota sold 187,938 vehicles in 2007, up 2.3 per cent over 2006 to set a new annual Toyota sales record, while Lexus sold 13,388 units, up 11.6 per cent over 2006, to set a new Lexus sales record. It represents the seventh consecutive year of annual sales records for Lexus in Canada.

• Volkswagen - Volkswagen reported sales of 36,909 for 2007, compared to 35,123 units in 2006, an increase of 5.1 per cent. This marked the third consecutive year of sales increases at Volkswagen, which will introduce a number of new models in 2008, including the clean-diesel Jetta sedan and wagon.