Not content with being the best selling compact car and third best selling passenger car in the United States, the Honda Civic is not only Canada’s best selling car for 2012, but it absolutely crushed the competition – outselling the #2 Hyundai Elantra and #3 Toyota Corolla combined.

Both of those cars mustered only 4736 units, while the Civic sold 4928 units – and that’s without the year-end blowout lease specials where Honda offered a $0 down, 48 month lease at 0.9 percent interest, allowing punters to walk away with a Civic LX sedan for $199 a month. Of the top 10 cars offered for sale, 9 were compacts, with the Toyota Camry being the sole mid-sized offering. Let’s see what happens when the Elantra GT and Elantra Coupe go on sale – as it is now, 20 percent of Elantra’s sold are Elantra Touring models.

Fisker Automotive has laid off a total of 66 people, including 20 at a former GM plant in Delaware, and another 40 contractors in California. The layoffs come as Fisker attempts to re-negotiate loans from the Department of Energy that were contingent on Fisker meeting sales targets for its Karma sedan, which Fisker failed to do.

While the DOE loaned Fisker $509 million, Fisker has only $193 million so far. The money was earmarked to help engineer a new vehicle, dubbed the Nina. Fisker had hoped to employ 2,000 people at the Delaware plant. The Karma has been hampered by a series of delays and false starts, leading to speculation that the project was little more than vaporware. Fisker is also pursuing private equity financing in lieu of government loans.

So what about Chrysler’s halftime ad? You know, the one with a Clint Eastwood who looked like he would die on the set? It did not show up in any of the Edmunds.com rankings. It is neither on the “that ad’s the bomb!” list. Nor is it on the list of ads that bombed. Maybe because Edmunds could not find the car. Car? What car? The ad tried really hard to repeat the “Imported from Detroit” success. Instead, the ad created a lot of controversy. Controversy? The [forbidden word] hit the fan! It might cost Obama the election!

A lot of people mistook it for a political ad. Chrysler Group Chairman and CEO Sergio Marchionne had to quickly refute the rumor on a Detroit talk radio program:

“It had zero political content. I think we need to be careful, and God knows I can’t stop anybody from associating themselves with the message. But it was not intended to be any type of political overture on our part.”

After Karl Rove, former top political aide to President George W. Bush, said that this is tantamount to “using tax dollars to buy corporate advertising,” the White House had to deny that the ad was a “I give you Chrysler, you help me getting re-elected” deal.  After claiming that all the ad wants to do is “sell cars” (what cars?), White House press secretary Jay Carney went on to say:

“It does point out a simple fact, which is that the automobile industry in this country was on its back, and potentially poised to liquidate three years ago, and this president made decisions that were not very popular at the time that were guided by two important principles: One, that he should do what he could to ensure that 1 million jobs would not be lost; and two, that the American automobile industry should be able to thrive globally if the right conditions were created, and that included the kinds of reforms and restructuring that Chrysler and GM undertook in exchange for the assistance from the American taxpayer.”

So there. Marchionnegate off the table.

Leave it to what Wikipedia calls “an American neoconservative^[2][3][4][5] opinion magazine^[6]” to light one hell of a fire under the ad. The Weekly Standard found out that Detroit’s comeback ad was – are you ready for this –not filmed in Detroit. Really. The Weekly Standard cites Chrysler spokeswoman Dianna Gutierrez who admitted:

“Yes, part of it was filmed in New Orleans . . . and some was filmed in various parts—such as Los Angeles.”

Shockingly, Gutierrez is quoted as saying that the tunnel scenes were taken at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the stadium shots were in New Orleans. According to the Weekly Standard, stock footage of Detroit was used:

“Asked whether any part of the ad was filmed in Detroit, Gutierrez said that previously taken footage from various parts of the Motor City was used. No image of Detroit was shot for the specific use in this ad.”

Now THAT is a juicy scandal. Who needs allegedly illegal; campaign contributions if we have THAT? Fake Detroit! Two hours after the Weekly Standard, Fox News was on the story, and there’s no stopping it. This thing is more viral than Ebola.

At the time of this typing, the ad had 2,730,612 3,933,192 views on YouTube. THAT’s what we need in these trying times: Free advertising.

Nah, not those dogs. We are not referring to the cute canines that populated many commercials aired during the Super Bowl last Sunday. We are referring to the dogs that didn’t hunt, we are talking bad ads, bad, bad, bad, baaaaad ones. The worst. Ads imported from Yucksville. Those we make you watch again today.

Yesterday, we showed you the best commercials, as voted by the people. The data come from Edmunds. How did they measure it? Advertisers expect from their commercials what women expect from a bra: A lift. A lift in interest for the wares being hawked. That lifted interest resonates in the respected pages being hit at Edmunds.com, because people rush to their computer to research the car they just saw on TV. Or so the theory goes.

Yesterday, we showed you the ads that lifted like a multistage rocket. This time, we show you the duds. These ads don’t lift. They suck.

Third worst: The Toyota Camry commercial (above.) I’m sure the creative were pretty proud of that one until the research came in. But I tend to agree: I don’t like it when guys get reinvented as girls. And I like them real, not 3D rendered.

Second worst: The Honda CR-V commercial. What a waste of money.

Worst of the worst: The Chevrolet Silverado 1500 commercial. Looks like people are not moved by frogs falling from the air. Or whatever.

Marketing Directors responsible for the aforementioned ads: Don’t fire your agency just yet. Hold off on putting the account on review. Look, it could have been worse. Says Edmunds in a letter to TTAC:

“At least this year no one’s consideration was flat after their ads ran. Last year, BMW saw no lift from its “Defying Logic” ad for the X3 in the second quarter, and Lexus aired a number of pre-game ads and saw no lift in consideration for its models or the make.”

In case you want to know how the unmentioned middling commercials fared, here the complete Edmunds tally as a bonus:

You may notice that today’s percentages are slightly different than yesterday’s, and that the ranking is different as well. We saw that too. This is market research, not the table of primes, for crying out loud. People change their minds. Or something to that effect.

The small crossover segment is heating up, with the Honda CR-V, Ford Escape and Mazda CX-5 squaring off as this year’s new entrants in an already crowded field. Starting at $20,695, the CX-5 will get class leading fuel economy numbers of 26/35 mpg thanks to the SKYACTIV 2.0L 4-cylinder engine – and a 6-speed manual gearbox.

A 6-speed automatic and AWD will set you back another $1,400 and $1,250 respectively. The Touring model costs  $23,895 and $25,145 for FWD and AWD respectively while the Grand Touring runs $27,045 and $28,295 for the GT AWD. A Technology package, featuring items like in-dash TomTom navigation, pivoting HID headlights and rain-sensing wipers adds another $1,185 ($1,325 for the GT model, which also adds keyless entry) while a Bose stereo/moonroof package is $1,130. A destination charge of $795 is not included in the price.

The Honda Civic is moving up its planned refresh of the 2013 Civic to fall of 2012, after just over a year on the market. The confirmation came at a Honda dealer meeting, and the refresh will apparently go beyond just cosmetic changes inside and out.

Despite being panned by critics, sales of the Civic remain solid. The Civic was America’s third best selling car in January 2012 even with parts and inventory shortages related to natural disasters in Thailand and Japan, and the best selling compact car. While Honda sold “only” 221,000 Civics in 2011, the Chevrolet Cruze only managed to sell 231,700 cars, and the Corolla/Matrix, lumped together, moved 240,000. Critical favorites, like the Ford Focus, managed 175,000 (and 45 percent of Foci were sold to fleets anyways).

I’ve managed to book both an Si Sedan and an EX sedan for a week each in April. I’ll have a 2000 Civic and my grandma on hand to help evaluate just how good (or bad) the 2012 Civic is. But for Honda to restyle their crown jewel after roughly a year on the market suggests that something is amiss at the Big H, even if consumers don’t seem to care.

So what was the best Super Bowl ad yesterday? Edmunds has the answer: It’s the commercial for the Fiat 500.

The alluring advert must have touched the inner submissive in America’s men. They are shown an ad where a dork is slapped around by an (allegedly) Italian beauty with an Abarth tattoo (on her neck,) and they obligingly click it to the top of the charts, without even thinking of hissing: “On your knees, Ffffffffiat.”

Wimps.

Of course, it could also have been American females who had their inner dominatrix tickled. Thankfully, we won’t know. Edmunds measured the effectiveness of Super Bowl car ads by monitoring the traffic on the respective pages on Edmunds.com, before, during, and after the ads ran, and clicks are gender neutral.

Edmunds measured whether these ads actually aroused something more than prurient interest – do people want to know more about the car? From a pile of data emailed by Edmunds, we give you the overall cumulative results.

That old Fiat ad that had been around since November last year, but hey, sex never gets old, only we do. The Fiat 500 ad made the top spot by increasing traffic at Edmunds by 138 percent.

Next in line is a more or less unsexy ad (unless you are into suppressed zoophilia): The Lexus ad for the GS 350, titled “The Beast” racked up an impressive 102 percent increase. Apparently, a Lexus busting a box talks to people.

Definitely more production value has the number 3 on the list, the ad for the Chevy Sonic, where perfectly good cars are thrown out of a perfectly good Hercules. That drove up Edmunds traffic by 95 percent. But wait, didn’t ”don’ call it Chevy” Ewanick want to kill“Chevy runs deep?” Maybe nobody found a better one, happens.

PETA should approve of this Hyundai ad that garnered an increase of 81 percent traffic for the Hyundai Veloster, landing the ad in slot number four. PETA loves people that get eaten by animals. The other way ’round, not so much.

In the fifth spot: Volkswagen’s Beetle ad, here shown in the director’s cut versions. Up 67 percent, but what will PETA say about the shameless exploitation of plus-sized dogs for marketing purposes?

Finally, coming in as number six, the Hyundai Genesis ad. (Here depicted with the proper Hyundai badge.) It leveraged boredom into a 63 percent increase.

Speaking of dogs, we asked Edmunds to disclose the worst of the Super Bowl Roman numeral XLVI. If we get this info, you will get it.

Now what was your favorite ad?

PS: AutoTrader ran a similar study, and came to similar, but not totally identical conclusions:

“AutoTrader.com shows that Hyundai performed highest overall based on its pregame sponsorship and the commercials aired for the Elantra, Genesis and the Veloster by the first quarter of the game – rather than getting one spike during the game, they had elevated activity across the length of the game on multiple car models.  At the peak of the game, the heaviest online traffic spikes came from shoppers that were looking at Chevy Sonic and Toyota Camry.  The most unexpected result came from Fiat 500.  On Sunday, over 65 percent of Fiat 500 searches occurred after the big game ad aired.”

How do you say “grace, pace and space” in Mandarin? Jaguar Land Rover is apparently partnering with Chinese automaker Chery to build cars in China. While an announcement wont come until April’s Beijing Auto Show, the two companies have applied for permission from China’s regulators.

Jaguar Land Rover sales are up in China by 92 and 63 percent respectively, and the country is on pace to become one of the top 3 markets for both brands. Locally built cars would avoid hefty import duties and allow for extra supply. Some smaller displacement engines for Jaguar (such as the 2.2L diesel) will be necessary to help boost sales, and don’t be surprised if we see a crossover at some point in the future.

Sassenbach, BMW’s agency for Mini, had a killer idea: “Adopt a storm! When it hits, it will be all over the news! Free advertising! It costs only €299! How can you lose?” This (or words to that effect) is what the agency told the client.” Then, more than 100 people froze to death.

Germany’s meteorology institute allows the sponsorship of weather systems. The agency paid the €299, called a cold front “Cooper” and boasted on its website that naming the front after the open-air vehicle was a “wind- and weather-proof idea”. Then, the cold front went berserk.

According to the BBC, a freak winter storm deep-froze most of Europe, and “the freezing temperatures have led to at least 100 deaths, mainly in Poland and Ukraine. In Ukraine alone, nearly 950 people are being treated in hospital with hypothermia and frostbite. ”

BMW said it deeply regretted that the weather front had taken on “catastrophic proportions” and claimed so many lives.

Sassenbach quickly removed the page from its website, but the killer storm turned into a PR disaster. Newspapers as far away as Australia report that “Mini has taken a step too far in its attempt to be cool.” We wager that coldhearted BMW will put its business with Sassenbach on ice.

About a month and a half ago, a group calling itself “Consumer Watchdog” targeted Hyundai in what we indicated could be a shakedown operation. Their claim: Hyundai is gaming the EPA tests. Or faking them. I’m not sure, really. To get to the bottom of it, I set up a thinly veiled excuse to drive to another state and seduce a gorgeous single mother real-world test of the Elantra’s capabilities. I was satisfied by the results, but the folks at Consumer Watchdog, by contrast, were just getting started…

In a press release put out this morning, “Consumer Watchdog” announces that Hyundai will remove any claim of “40MPG” from their Super Bowl Ad. According to the release,

Consumer Watchdog’s letter sent Wednesday asked for a response from Hyundai by noon PDT Thursday, offering to stop the promotion of the guerilla video that disputes the Elantra’s MPG claims and counts up the multi-million dollar cost to drivers. The letter also challenged Hyundai’s U.S. CEO to fill up the tank of Elantra and either match the company’s mileage claims or leave himself stranded on the road to the Super Bowl.

A “guerilla video” countering Hyundai’s claims? Yes, apparently such a thing exists. Consumer Watchdog went through the trouble of creating a “counter-ad”.

Making TV-quality advertisements, even if they are “guerilla counter-videos”, costs serious money. As any journalist who doesn’t spend the majority of his time driving complimentary Cadillac CTS-V wagons knows, following the money is a good way to get to the truth of the matter. How was the video funded? Was it a grassroots effort from Consumer Watchdog’s contributors? A calculated investment from the pocketbook of a Consumer Watchdog bigwig, based on the idea that Hyundai would pay them not to run it? Was it… (dramatic pause) the UAW? Clearly, some sort of watchdog organization is required here, to keep an eye on other consumer watchdog organizations. Who will watch that organization? There’s something in Latin to that effect. I think it’s Pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo. No, wait: if this really is a shakedown, a different Latin phrase applies: Pecunia non olet.

Foreign OEMs put on a dog and pony show at the Washington D.C. auto show in anticipation of President Obama’s visit, but were ultimately snubbed when the President decided to check out some American iron instead.

Bloomberg reports that Honda, Toyota and other foreign car makers flew in executives from across the country and brought in their most fuel-efficient cars at the request of the White House. While Obama checked out a display of American cars, including a Dodge Dart, a Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, a Chevrolet Silverado, a Jeep Grand Cherokee, a Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1, a Ford C-Max Energi and a Chevrolet Malibu, execs from the foreign OEMs waited in a “bullpen” for a chance to talk to Obama, and answer his questions about their products.

But they never got face time with the Commander-In-Chief. While a Honda FCX and a Kia Optima Hybrid were on hand (brought in specially for the visit), Obama only paid attention to the American brands – and some of their less-than-efficient products. While Obama was ostensibly checking out the newest wares of the automakers that got bailout money, many of the foreign OEMs have invested a lot of money in American manufacturing (as much as $43 billion, according to a trade group known as The Association of Global Automakers) – an economic sector in dire need of rejuvenation, and one that surely adds more value than a Facebook IPO.

I may be the only auto journalist who hates the Cadillac CTS-V Wagon. Funny, because I like station wagons. And I like the CTS-V. A lot.

At the CTS Coupe launch in June of 2010, a Cadillac exec told me that only 5 were needed to be built to break even, making it effectively a wonderful bribe for journalists. Say nice things about GM products (and hell, maybe even bash the competition) and you can have one of these for a week. Or a year.

I’ve only seen one privately owned CTS-V Wagon ever. By comparison, I’ve seen three separate Mercedes R63 AMG wagons, a vehicle that could only be ordered, not purchased off the lot. It wasn’t long before even menswear fashion bloggers were driving this thing for a week, delivered to their door with a tank of gas and insurance provided. The world kept on buying Camrys. CTS sales were marginal.

Taking a page out of Cadillac’s PR playbook is Mercedes-Benz. A friend of mine uploaded the above Facebook photo – a brown E63 station wagon. The E63 wagon is a special order car. You cannot just walk in and buy one off the lot. The one pictured above is obviously a press car, so somebody at Mercedes PR knew exactly what they were doing – AMG customers, as a rule order their wares only in silver, black or white. So why brown? Simple, car geeks love brown. Liking brown cars gives you a weird, hipster-like status. Precisely because brown cars are considered repulsive to society at large, those who pledge allegiance to brown cars must be true enthusiasts to love such an obscure hue.

Our first review of the $111,665 Teutonic Turd (really, that’s what it looks like) comes from the world’s foremost expert on high performance  wagons. A cursory glance at the article suggests that the E63 wagon is awesome. I may be the only auto journalist to have never driven an AMG car at 10/10ths on an autocross course, but I do know that nightclub floozies from the Commonwealth of Independent States absolutely adore them.

While we at TTAC mock the idea of flying “social media influencers” on charter jets across the country, there’s actually a much cheaper way of bribing social maladroits to say nice things about your company – give them a press car that’s tailored to their geeky, self-satisfied sense of sophistication. Having manufacturers send ringers into the press fleet is nothing new, but tailoring press cars just to suit the tastes of a very small cadre of automotive autistics is something that hasn’t been seen before.

The broader issue here has nothing to do with ethics, or Motor Trend’s relevance, but the evolution of PR tactics in an age where someone with 1,000 Twitter followers (half of them bots for X-rated wbesites) can be considered someone of influence. Pandering to the automotive press used to mean sending call-girls up to their rooms on press trips. Now it means ordering a very narrow interest presser in the hopes that it pays dividends in future.

Is $111,665 really such a big sum to ensure some good press? Compared to the millions of dollars spent on advertising, marketing, PR and/or damage control when one of your execs is caught committing dipping into company funds for personal uses, or bribing 22 foreign governments it’s not such a big figure. Or maybe a drive in the E63 means that your products will get good press, your competitors will get slagged and all of that will help you capture some imaginary, arbitrary bragging rights?

I saw Dave Chapelle in 2007, right after his “breakdown”, and during the performance, he explained why he turned down Comedy Central’s $50,000,000 offer. Dave said that the execs wrote the check and then metaphorically “laid their dick across the table, over the money. To get the money, I’d have to grab their dick, lift it up, and take it.” We all know Dave didn’t take the money. But someone took the keys to the E63.

Even though it’s been revived more times than Pete Doherty, the Volkswagen Bluesport roadster is apparently back on track at the insistence of Uli Hackenberg, VW’s chief engineer.

Hackenberg feels that the upcoming Toyobaru twins and the Mazda MX-5 will fuel demand for more sports cars on the lower end of the market. While dealers felt that the market was too small to justify the Bluesport, Hackenberg feels that the demand has been artifically supressed due to a lack of options.

If Volkswagen does go ahead with the project, expect Audi or another subsidiary (SEAT? Skoda?) to market their own sports car using the platform. The big question is whether Porsche will go back on its word and create its own version, or cede the lower tier to its downmarket cousins.

Bob Lutz took Fox News and other media outlets to task in his latest blog for Forbes, titled “Chevy Volt and the Wrong-Headed Right”, with Lutz taking shots at Bill O’Reilly and Rush Limbaugh.

Lutz’s article lists a number of facts regarding the crash tests and data on vehicle fires. But Lutz does claim that the Volt is

 ”…the most technologically advanced car on the planet, was conceived by me and my team well before any federal bailout of GM…”

Whatever you think of the Volt, the damage done by the fire stories is undeniable. While charging a Volt in public this past December, a passerby made a remark warning me to steer clear because “those things catch fire”. The story has undoubtedly permeated the public conscience, regardless or whether it’s legitimate or just hype.

Panther fans, grab your heart medication. Cadillac and Lincoln will be unveiling their entrants into the livery car market next week at the International LCT show in Las Vegas, based on the front-drive Cadillac XTS sedan and Lincoln MKT crossover.

The “W20 Livery Sedan Package” appears to be a trim level on its own, with distinct extended wheelbase and sedan chassis variants offered later this year. The W20 looks like  comes loaded with every option available, including the Brembo brake package. Lincoln has previously shown their MKT livery car concept. For my money, nothing beats a nice Signature L. The full press release is below.

Cadillac, Premier Sponsor at 28th Annual International LCT Show Produced by LCT (Limousine, Charter and Tour) Magazine, Set to Debut New Livery Vehicle

LAS VEGAS, NV–(Marketwire – Jan 26, 2012) – Annual International LCT Show produced by Bobit Business Media, with media sponsor, LCT (Limousine, Charter and Tour) Magazine announced a Premier Sponsor, Cadillac, will debut new their newest livery vehicle during the event, taking place February 13-15 at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Cadillac jump-starts a changing limousine market with a long-awaited premier luxury sedan it hopes will catapult it ahead of longtime livery rival Lincoln. Once unveiled Feb. 13, the Cadillac XTS will go head-to-head with other luxury brand sedans in the industry. Buyers will need to choose between the multiple luxury sedan offerings and the crossover-styled MKT Town Car that Lincoln is showing.

While a successor to the former DTS/DeVille line of luxury sedans, the XTS heralds a revamped design that emphasizes a sportier, younger luxury image suffused with advanced technology and intuitive connectivity. “This new vehicle will help dispel some of the myths out there about Cadillac,” said Ray Bush, Cadillac Professional Vehicles Program Manager. “The Cadillac of old was from the standpoint of large, floaty vehicles. Cadillac has moved away from that with its new products launched over the last 10 years. The XTS will further that with outstanding ride characteristics that compare favorably with Cadillac vehicles of the past.”

Standard features include: illuminated door handles, push-button start, Brembo brakes, rear vision camera and obstacle detection, and OnStar. Optional features include: Navigation system; a Luxury Package with a memory driver’s seat, heated/cooled front seats and a premium audio system with surround sound; and a Rear Comfort package with heated seats, side-window and backlight sun shades and Tri-zone HVAC controls.

The XTS “W20 Livery Sedan Package” will be unveiled in the Cadillac booth at the International LCT Show, with the extended sedan and limousine chassis available later this year. Special pricing and incentives are expected be announced at the show as well. All vehicles for the chauffeured transportation industry are covered with PVPP extended warranty for 3 years or 150,000 miles, whichever comes first.

For more information on the International LCT Show, visit www.LCTSHOW.com.

“Chrysler Group has elevated the art of the striptease to a new level with the release of its first official image of the next-generation SRT Viper,” claims Automotive News [sub] . Not just the art of the striptease. Also the fine art practiced by the  bar maiden who purrs into your pricked ear: “If you come here more often, then maybe …”

On its driveSRT Facebook page, Chrysler asked Facebook users for virtual petting: “Like” the driveSRT page at least 10,000 times, and Chrysler will show you a picture of the next Viper.

On Monday evening, the Facebook page had 12,000 likes. Chrysler had to ante up. At midnight, hyperventilating Viper-aficionados were given the picture above.

See, that`s what you get when you hang out with bar girls.

According to AN, Chrysler is restarting its shuttered Conner Avenue Assembly plant to build the Viper later this year as a 2013 model. Production of the previous Viper ended in 2010.

An Egyptian sheikh has declared Chevrolet products “haram” (or forbidden, in Arabic) but the culprit this time isn’t the “Zionists”. It’s Christians.

According to the sheikh, the Chevrolet bowtie logo looks too similar to a cross. Egyptian TV presenter Amr Adeeb railed against the silly fatwa, noting the extreme, delusional narcissism of the sheikh by rhetoricallly asking

“As if the people who came up with the logo were thinking that we want to put this special logo on the car just to piss us [Muslims] off?”

Is it any surprise that the same religious authorities who condone flying jetliners into buildings think like petulant, narcissistic children? Apparently, the Chevrolet Cruze is a pretty bitchin’ car in the Gaza strip, and Saudi Arabia has gotten small-block Chevrolet Caprices (aka Holden Commodores) for years. If there are any Arabic speakers above familiar with the Egyptian dialect, feel free to translate Adeeb’s rant against the fatwa.

Over the past few weeks, I have taken you on trips through The Entire World (yep!), France, Germany and Czech Republic. This week we fly over to the Sultanate of Oman…

Now if sand, rocks, blue sky and very sugary candy are not your thing, I don’t believe you – but hey that’s fine because I have prepared 159 additional countries for you to visit in my blog, so don’t be shy and click away!

Oman consumers have decided: they will only buy one brand of cars…

…well almost.

168,789 new vehicles were registered in the Sultanate of Oman in 2011, that 61 per thousand inhabitants, compared to 41 in the USA.

For most of the year the Toyota Hilux was the best-selling model in the country, but a weak month of December due to Thai supply issues brought it down to #2 with 18,996 sales and 11.3 percent market share.

The massive Toyota Land Cruiser, an icon in the Persian Gulf region, finishes the year as the best-selling model in the Sultanate in 2011 with 19,444 units sold and 11.5 percent market share.

In third place we find a Toyota: the Land Cruiser Pick-up sells 13,896 units for a 8.2 percent market share

In 4th position is a… Toyota, the Prado at 6.3 percent,

The 5th best-selling model this year in Oman is a… Toyota, the Hiace at 3.8 percent. Did I mention Oman loves Toyota? No? That’s awkward because the #6 best-selling model is also a Toyota, the Corolla at 3.6 percent share…

… as well as the #7: the Camry at 2.9 percent.

Yes, you read it right! The 7 best-selling models in Oman in 2011 are all Toyotas! Talk about a love story…

But wait there are also non-Toyotas in the ranking: first of them is the Kia Cerato at #8 with 4,485 units and 2.7 percent but it is the Nissan Sunny (#9 at 2.3 percent) that reached the highest monthly ranking for a non-Toyota in Oman this year at #4 in December.

Notice also the Lexus LX at #13, bringing the Land Cruiser family’s market share in Oman to an insane 28 percent!

Oman 2011 Top 30

You can see the Oman 2011 Top 100 best-selling models Ranking here.

Now for the golden nugget so you can shine at posh dinners this year: Oman is one of four countries in the world with Bahrain, Qatar and possibly Somalia (my estimation on that last one) where the Toyota Land Cruiser is the best-selling model!

Over and out for this week!

Thanks for listening.

Matt Gasnier, based in Sydney, Australia, runs a blog named Best Selling Cars, dedicated to counting cars all over the world.

With Audi offering an A4L in China, BMW naturally has to get in on the act. Now that a new, locally made 3-Series is debuting, BMW will offer a 335Li for customers who want to be driven, rather than drive the…erm…Ultimate Driving Machine.

The car will be made in collaboration with local joint venture partner Brilliance. The 335i was apparently an import in previous generation, but the 335i will be made locally. While the A4L starts at RMB272,800 (about $43,000 USD), pricing for an E90 3-Series (not the F30 pictured above) starts at RMB299,800 ($47,000 USD) all the way up to RMB626,200 ($99,000) for an imported 335i. Expect the new F30 cars to start below RMB300,000.

The world’s largest automakers are hugely dependent on China. More than a quarter of  GM’s and Volkswagen’s global sales are coming from China. With Europe’s market predicted to be flat or negative, and with only modest growth expected for the U.S., automakers are looking to the BRIC countries for long-term growth. Currently, the growth in China has more or less stopped. Are automakers betting on the wrong horse?

At the same time, the marketing of cars in China is badly understood, sometimes even in the companies themselves. If you are interested in these matters (and you might not be), then we recommend this rather lengthy interview with Nigel Harris, Ford’s VP of China Distribution Operations.

Once you get through the requisite verbiage of how well Ford trains its dealers and mechanics, you will find interesting insights. The use of traditional media, of the internet, of social networks and even product placement is discussed. In the end, you might feel that us and China are closer than we think – at least when it comes to selling cars.

Ditching the codename of “Ellezero” Fiat has given their new crossover the anti-climactic “500L” nameplate. And while Europe will get a three-row version with 7 seats, Americans will get the five seater only.

Fiat thinks that North Americans won’t buy a 7-seater as small as the 500L – and they’re probably right. At a 23 inches longer, the 500L is about the size of a Mini Countryman. Power will likely come from the 1.4l MultiAir engine in North America, with Europe getting a TwinAir variant as well as a diesel. Based on the size of this car, the third row will be great for buckling your child’s stuffed animals in – humans need not apply.

Patrolling  the interwebs for TTAC-worthy content, we find a woman selling Nissan Leafs on the streets of Davos. Rachel Konrad, formerly spokesperson of Tesla, is now the Communications Director of the Renault-Nissan Alliance. Her boss Carlos Ghosn is a fixture at the World Economic Forum, which ends today in Davos. Rachel is using the fact that Davos has received more snow than in the 42 years before to praise the virtues of the Leaf in winter weather. At the same time, three topless women steal her thunder and get arrested.

Ms. Konrad says that the Leaf is perfect on slippery roads, because there is no lag between touching the accelerator and the car getting torque. Also, an electric motor is impervious to the altitude sickness that besets the ICE. Ms. Konrad forgets that people think something else when they see snow and an EV: Won’t running on battery be just awful when it’s cold?

Thankfully, her Japanese colleagues at Nissan just came back from Hokkaido, which is a stone-throw from Siberia. There, they covered that topic. Here is the video.

Back to women of Davos. Three women from the Ukraine demonstrated how easy it is to get attention: They took their tops off. Works all the time. After they climbed a fence and attacked a female police officer, they were arrested.  A massive media contingent then set out to pixelate video and to close-crop photographs. Jobs creation in action!

Nevertheless, in a prude company (or in prude company), watching the following report from snowy Davos may get you in hot water.

The Chevrolet Cruze hatchback that’s sold in virtually every market except the United States still won’t be coming to America – but we may have the chance to get a Cruze wagon, if Automotive News has their story straight.

GM is apparently working on a Cruze wagon, essentially a stretched version of the already attractive Cruze hatch. Yes, general wisdom says that Americans don’t buy hatches. But the Ford Focus, Hyundai Elantra Touring (which debuts next month), Volkswagen Golf, Kia Forte5, Toyota Matrix and Mazda3 all exist – why not something from the bowtie brand? As AN notes, the Cruze did very well in 2011′s sales charts and all of the volume was composed of 4-door sedans. Surely a Cruze 5-door would add something to the mix? Canada, a strong market for the Cruze, and hatches in general, would gobble this thing up. A Cruze Eco hatch with a 6-speed stick would be a fantastic way to get around in my books. Or what about the prospect of a wagon version of the Cruze diesel? Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves here…

For a brand that seemingly doesn’t have two nickels to rub together, a Super Bowl ad spot is quite an expenditure. Suzuki, makers of…umm…the GSX-R motorcycle, and some other assorted wares, will be broadcasting an ad during the Super Bowl. Apparently, the products have four wheels, not two. Who knew?

This is also the second year in a row that Suzuki has run a Super Bowl ad. Doesn’t seem like it’s brought them a positive ROI, has it? The spot, which highlights the Kizashi sedan’s AWD drivetrain, does have some adorable Husky sled  dogs in it, but that’s not going to be enough to convince people to fork over money for one. Maybe it’s an awareness campaign to let Americans know that Suzuki still exists?

Click here to view the embedded video.

As if the Ford Escape pricing details weren’t exciting enough, Toyota has priced their new 86 sports car in Japan, with a base price of $25,848. But to get anything approaching normal equipment levels, you’ll pay $31,000

Four trim levels – Customize Grade, G, GT and GT Limited – will be offered. The Customize Grade has unpainted bumpers and seems to be targeted at those who want to customize their 86. The G Grade will cost $31,000, a GT will cost $36,239 and a GT Limited will set you back $38,578.

Options include a limited-slip differential, projector headlights, aluminum pedals and an automatic transmission. A strong yen is going to make pricing the Scion FR-S difficult for Toyota USA. Scion previously claimed it would start below $30,000, but that’s hardly encouraging in the context of “affordable sports car”.