How about Nissan's Murano? While Nissan's PR department couldn't supply the fleet numbers I needed within the timeframe
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| The Freestyle is now more popular than Nissan's stylish Murano, probably due to its spacious interior and resulting 7-occupant seating. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
I needed, Ford had some numbers from its fleet department that were surprising. What's the connection between Nissan and Ford? There isn't one, other than the healthy competition any rival would have with another after years of fighting over the same customers, but such information is reportedly available to any industry insider who needs it, if they know where to look.
So, according to Ford, the Murano is an extremely popular fleet vehicle, with 2,247 units or close to 54 percent apportioned to business clients out of the 4,184 total sold. Now, this is where I throw in the point that, upon verification, Ford's numbers weren't altogether correct. For instance, the blue-oval automaker was about 200 units high with total Murano sales, and as we go on to other manufacturers, low with Chrysler Pacifica and Dodge Magnum sales, plus a few models under with regards to the Buick Rendezvous. Oddly, the figures I received had the Rendezvous fleet numbers reversed, showing 74 percent fleet instead of 26. They also showed the Dodge Magnum as having 88 percent fleet customers, which I find impossible to believe.
So, to set things in order, or at least make a somewhat educated guess by
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| The Freestyle offers more cargo capacity than its rivals too, while delivering a minivan-like flat loading floor. (Photo: Ford Motor Company of Canada) |
using suspect numbers supplied by a rival automaker, it appears that Buick's Rendezvous is also popular with the business community, with GM apportioning 1,039 units or 26 percent to fleet out of its 4,004 total sales. DaimlerChrysler either sold 2,226 Pacificas (62 percent) or 1,365 (38 percent) to fleet buyers out of its 3,593 total, depending on whether you flip the numbers around to compensate the same way I had to for the incorrect Buick numbers. The Dodge's Magnum is either especially hot in the fleet segment, with 3,698 or 88 percent of its 4,373 going out the door for business use, or more popular with individual buyers (my guess), with only 525 or 12 percent sold via its fleet department. OK, that last one is a stab in the dark, but the Pacifica appears to be more popular in business fleets than the Freestyle, at least, a correction of which I would be happy to report if Chrysler were capable of supplying me with the accurate numbers. Toyota, by the way, couldn't provide any fleet numbers for its Highlander, and neither did Ford.
