By Leftlane Staff
Friday, Dec 23rd, 2005 @ 1:20 pm

Bloomberg columnist Doron Levin takes a look at some of the hits and misses in the auto industry this year. “One thing becomes clear in any appraisal of the past year’s automotive offerings: any U.S., European and Asian carmaker can make great cars as well as dogs,” writes Levin. Among the hits is Toyota ’s Prius, with its gas-electric hybrid engine, which offers superior fuel efficiency, especially in city driving. “This is a car whose strong sales and media acclaim are driving the rest of the auto industry nuts,” Levin says. Another hit was the BMW 3-series. “That’s an easy one because BMW’s entry level Bimmer has been a top seller for about as long as anyone can remember.” Some misses includes the Pontiac G6, which isn’t yet selling as strongly as the Grand Am it replaces, and the Nissan Titan full-sized pickup truck. Surprisingly, the Hummer H3 has been something of a hit amid poor SUV sales. No surprise, however, was the fact that the Volkswagen Phaeton was a definitive “miss.”

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