In a better to be safe-than-sorry move, General Motors has stopped running dealer-incentive programs in New Hampshire in response to a new law requiring automakers to disclose more information about the programs.

GM told its 24 New Hampshire dealers this week that it “will not offer any new dealer sales programs in New Hampshire,” including so-called stair-step programs or other contests that award dealers bonus money for hitting factory-set sales targets.

The move strikes back against a dealer-backed law that took effect this week requiring automakers to provide dealers with advance, written details about their sales incentive programs. The provision requires automakers to explain how they calculated each dealer’s sales target and to disclose the targets of all dealers in the state.

GM contends that the measure will hamstring its ability to quickly respond to market conditions. If GM wants to run a stair-step program on the Chevrolet Malibu to fend off fresh incentives on rival mid-sized sedans, for example, the dealer notifications would delay the move, GM says.

“If we have to build into our timeline the need to share details with and notify all of the dealers about the program, that potentially tips our hand and takes away our ability to respond quickly,” GM spokeswoman Ryndee Carney said.

Advance notice

Some other states require automakers to disclose details about how they arrive at dealer objectives, but only upon the dealer’s request. New Hampshire is the only state where automakers must automatically provide advance notice and a written explanation of the program, Carney said.

Under stair-step programs, automakers typically set monthly unit-sales targets for certain models and pay dealers escalating bonuses as they hit pre-determined thresholds above those targets. Dealers often complain that their sales bogeys are ambiguous.

The disclosure provision was one of several changes that took effect this week under revisions to New Hampshire’s Dealer Bill of Rights law. Other new measures include one that prohibits automakers from requiring dealers to remodel their facilities more often than every 15 years, and one that limits factory audits on incentives or warranty claims paid to dealers to a maximum of nine months after payment.

Carney said GM’s decision to pull dealer sales programs was a response only to the disclosure requirement.

‘Shouldn’t be difficult’

Peter McNamara, president of the New Hampshire Automobile Dealers Association, which lobbied for the changes, believes GM is balking at the requirement for greater transparency. He says notifying dealers of programs in advance and disclosing details “shouldn’t be difficult to do since the manufacturers create the program themselves.”

“Dealers want to know that the manufacturer isn’t simply throwing a dart at a board” to determine their objectives, McNamara said. “If there is a good rationale for why one dealership has a 50-unit objective and another has 25, why not disclose it?”

One New Hampshire dealer who requested anonymity said he believes the disappearance of GM’s dealer incentive money “will cost sales” for GM dealers in the state. He said dealers are worried about losing customers to stores in adjacent states, such as Vermont and Maine, where GM’s stair-step money will continue to flow.

By Mike Colias at www.autonews.com

It seems mid-sized cars are cruising along at a nice clip, with compacts also moving nicely.  Car and light truck sales in the U.S. were up 15 percent for the first half of 2012 compared with the first half of 2011, Automotive News says. Midsize cars were stronger than ever, with the five best-selling models in this category up 23 percent to 804,468 for the period. Dealers used heavy incentives to clear their lots of models replaced this fall, including the Honda Accord, Nissan

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Really looking forward to this smart move by Hyundai! Hyundai intends to put its fuel-cell Tucson into what executives call, oxymoronically, “small-scale mass-production.” By 2015, total production will have reached 1000 units, mostly for Europe. After 2015, the aim is to ramp output further, the company’s European boss saying it could be “up to 10,000 units a year after 2015, mostly for California and Europe, provided the market and infrastructure are up to it.”The car will be built on the regular Tucson assembly line in Ulsan, Korea. It will be lease-only to selected fleets, at launch. After 2015, it will be made available for private buyers, at a projected $52,000.

Read the full story here.

Car and light truck sales in the U.S. were up 15 percent for the first half of 2012 compared with the first half of 2011, Automotive News says. Midsize cars were stronger than ever, with the five best-selling models in this category up 23 percent to 804,468 for the period. Dealers used heavy incentives to clear their lots of models replaced this fall, including the Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, Chevrolet Malibu, and Ford Fusion. Even with gas prices peaking above $4/gallon early in the year, sales of the top five-best-selling compacts rose 11.6 percent for the first half of 2012, to 656,984 units.

What about niche models? Online reader gt500 asked about sales of the Nissan Juke and Scion xB on a recent sales analysis blog at motortrend.com. It’s the Camrys and Altimas of the world that financially contribute to the business case for the more interesting models. These niche cars and trucks — the models that pique our interest — rise and fall on their own life cycles, not with the mass market. Here’s how a selection of niche models fared for the first half of 2012.

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Volkswagen has revealed a 496-hp version of the seventh-generation Golf GTI as part of activities at this year’s Worthersee fan meet in Austria – and with it, projected the hot hatchback into the same league as some of the world’s most celebrated supercars.

Dubbed the Design Vision GTI, the radical new concept showcases a twin-turbocharged 3-liter V6 engine developed for use in upcoming models that, like the new Golf GTI, are based around Volkswagen’s highly flexible MQB (modular transverse architecture) platform structure.

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