Savvy Shopping: New concept cars

A `softer' SUV from Infiniti

The 2009 Infiniti FX50 luxury SUV has been "softened up" in hope of drawing more women into Infiniti dealerships and having them drive out in FXs, Auto Week recently reported in a review of the new sport-ute. "An unduly high percentage of Infiniti FX buyers were men - 65 percent - and only 20,000 FXs were sold last year," stated Auto Week. Further, the magazine quoted an Infiniti spokesman addressing this male/female buyer issue. "The brand has had a reduced percentage of female buyers over the last five years. When ride comfort becomes a rejection reason, we have to address it." And, for the most part, Auto Week says the issue has been addressed. The 2009 model, which has an estimated base price of $56,000, went on sale at U.S. dealerships on June 26.

A Buick concept

A cool looking Buick was shown at the auto show in Beijing last month. As Auto Week reported, the Buick Invicta sedan concept looks like "a mildly camouflaged" replacement for the existing front-wheel-drive Buick LaCrosse. This concept likely garnered lots of attention at the show because China is now Buick's biggest market, with 332,115 sales in 2007, compared with just 185,791 sales in the United States.

Visit MotorMouth blog

Are you a fan of collectible or classic cars? If you are, then check out the MotorMouth blog at Startribune.com/cars. MotorMouth Kris Palmer, freelance auto writer and editor, who also puts together this section's Weekend Garage column every Saturday, blogs about vintage cars, the collectible auto scene and just about everything else that goes vroom. And, as with any good blog, you can participate. You can post comments and converse with others about a wide variety of vintage car topics.