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Despite premium carmakers going downmarket, luxury auto sales stick at 10-11%

According to research conducted by global information company IHS Automotive, the leporine birthing of new models by luxury manufacturers over the past six years hasn't increased their market share in the US. Even as car sales reached 15.6 million units, IHS says what's happened instead is that luxury buyers are merely moving from one brand to another, moving from larger luxury vehicles into hot segments like compact luxury crossovers or leaving the market at the same rate as other buyers enter.
Whether broken out by makes or by segment, market share has rollercoastered inside a narrow band from 10.5 to 11.5 percent since "at least" 2008. Closer investigation reveals the shifting boundaries in the aspirational pond, with brands like Mercedes-Benz and Audi gaining territory as Lexus and Lincoln lost it, and Saab and Hummer were buried, dead, under it. One neat note is that Tesla has gone from a share of zip to .12 percent.
The subcompact and compact crossover segments show growth, with those little high-riders jumping from .3 percent to 1.16 percent of overall industry sales. Their rise, though, is concomitant with the decline of four other segments: compact and midsize cars and fullsize cars and SUVs. We think the next few years that will tell if the small-car expansion can overcome the large-car retraction, with a phalanx of smaller offerings like the CLA only recently hitting the market and others like the GLA, Macan and Q1 doing so in the near future.

2014 Porsche Panamera Diesel is something to torque about

Porsche has been in the business of slaying sacred cows for the better part of a decade, from venturing into the SUV space with the Cayenne to the four-door realm with its Panamera hatchback. And if those vehicles didn't leave brand purists apoplectic enough, Porsche has been adding diesel and hybrid power to its portfolio, thought to this point, neither alt-fuel motivator has made its way into the brand's sports car lineup.
Today's Frankfurt Motor Show effectively marks the second-generation of diesel power in the Panamera, and this updated 3.0-liter V6 features 300 horsepower (50 ponies more than last year) and a whopping 479 pound-feet of torque, available from 2,500 rpm. That power is achieved with a new higher-pressure, water-cooled turbo and redesigned engine internals that include a new crankshaft and pistons. The newfound increase is said to raise top speed to 161 miles per hour from 152, and drop the car's 0-62 mph time from 6.8 seconds down to 6.0. It also figures to be a better handler, with a new torque-vectoring rear differential borrowed from its gas-powered brethren and a reworked transmission for crisper shifts. The suspension has also been retuned, along with the updated 2014 visuals first revealed at April's Shanghai Motor Show.
No word yet on the North American sales prospects of this diesel Panamera, but we imagine that depends in part on how well the Cayenne diesel is selling.

Porsche offering short-term loans to Macan waitlisters

Walk into a Porsche dealer today, place an order for a Macan and you'll be looking at a waiting period of six months or more before you can expect delivery. That may be common enough for high-end European automakers, but the Macan is meant to lure new buyers to the brand, and the waitlist could be enough to deter them from sticking around.
The solution? Offer to lease them a Boxster or Cayman until their new Macan arrives. Shorter in term that the usual new-car lease, these six-month terms are designed to keep buyers from turning their backs, all the while experiencing the kind of vehicle Porsche does best.
Of course it doesn't hurt that the dealer then gets a used sports car to sell again once the short-term lease is up. And we wouldn't be surprised to see some buyers asking to hold on to their mid-engined sports car for a little longer, either.