Fast and Furious

The debut of the sixth edition of the Fast & Furious street-racing action franchise is a great metaphor for the car industry these days. Especially in the US the auto sector is racing, evidenced by April car sales of nearly 1.3 million cars — the best since 2007!

GM has made the once dusty Cadillac and Buick brands the vanguard for the future. The latest smaller sport sedan Cadillac ATS has delivered on promises to challenge class leading BMW, Audi and Mercedes competitors.

Ford is attracting a following around the Ecoboost formula of smaller more fuel efficient but powerful 4 cylinder turbo direct injection engines in Taurus, Edge and the Explorer SUV.

Chrysler offers a major redesign of existing models, a top performing Jeep line-up, and newbies like the sexed up Dodge Dart and the on-going onslaught of the Fiat 500s.

Meanwhile… the world’s car makers are finding refuge in the strong US auto market with everything from the new Aston Martin Vanquish at $313,000 to the under $30,000 Nissan Altima sedans selling at a brisk pace. Watch for niche players like Volvo to take advantage of this environment.