Another tumultuous year for the automobile industry – another great year for consumers!

The industry shakeout isn’t over; VW turned the tables and acquired Porsche along with a significant stake in Suzuki, managing to take the #1 spot from Toyota in one month. The domestics appear to be back on a more solid footing; GM pulled back the sale of Opel, but shed Hummer (sold), Saab (TBD – Sold or extinguished), Pontiac (extinguished) and Saturn (extinguished); Ford concluded the sale of Jaguar / Land Rover, Aston Martin and Volvo (pending). Global sales growth is now being driven by the emerging markets of China and India. In Canada; Audi set a new sales record (+22.0%), Mercedes-Benz (+19.2%) and BMW (+6.4%) grew significantly.

There was a substantial focus on reducing fuel consumption, with new benchmarks set in the performance to consumption ratio - check out the Top 10 details on our website; many performance vehicles now consume 10 litres/100km or less! Diesels, the real world economy champs, and Hybrids are becoming more mainstream with a significant number of new entrants; pure Electrics are queuing up for the not too distant future. The industry also continues to redefine vehicle categories; the ‘Activity’ vehicle redefined in the BMW 5 series GT and the Acura ZRX; Porsche stretched the 4-door Coupe into the sports car segment with the Porsche Panamera.

Finally, I'd like to thank our members and associates for making 2009 a record year for DreamFleet and wish everyone the best for 2010.

Edmond Helstab
President - DreamFleet Inc.

	Events - 2009 Sampling
	DreamFleet Top 10
	Automobile Reviews & Offers

EVENTS

2009 Sampling             
Stratus – Le Clos Jordanne – Tawse

What a fabulous day in Niagara!

This was a highly anticipated day, not only as we were being hosted by three of the top boutique wineries in Niagara, but also as this was the conclusion of our 2007 Futures program – exclusive pre-release access to the 2007 vintage from Le Clos Jordanne, Stratus and Tawse.

The day began with Le Clos Jordanne hosting us at the beautiful Jackson-Triggs winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Since breaking onto the scene; a joint venture between Vincor and Boisset of France; Le Clos Jordanne continues to make a name for itself. Here we were treated to an engaging update on the winery and private sampling of their extraordinary 2007 wines, walking away with our 2007 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay – prior to public release.

Next stop, Stratus. Our tour of the winery was followed by a delightfully elegant vertical tasting of the 2005, 2006 and 2007 vintages of each of the Stratus Red and Stratus White paired with food bites by renowned Chef Tony DeLuca.
> Stratus Whites were savored with; Mushroom goat cheese duxelle, Smoked duck on polenta cake with peach jam, and White fish mousse with cucumber & toasted almonds
> Stratus Reds were savored with; Pork and pistachio terrine, crustini, Beef tartar with garlic crustini, and Tomato balsamic sip with balsamic drizzle.

The Vehicle Showcase outside the Stratus winery was a big hit. We had an ‘assemblage’ of the latest from Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz; all in black. The sophisticated new BMW Z4’s folding hardtop amazed; BMW’s X6 impressed with it’s exterior and interior design; the new Mercedes-Benz E350 a serious mid size luxury contender; the Mercedes-Benz GLK a unique take on the compact SUV; and finally, Audi’s 2.0T version of the A5 Coupe an accessible beauty.

Tawse, our final stop, was buzzing; seems this boutique winery has been discovered! On arrival, we were pleased to see that the former Governor General of Canada, Adrienne Clarkson has a nose for quality Canadian wines as well. Most of our time was spent in the barrel cellar, sampling a number of ‘works in progress’ from the 2008 vintage. The finale, of course, was the delivery of our Futures program wines; 2007 Tawse Estate Pinot and Robyn’s Block Chard; one not yet released, the other already sold out.

To top things off, the wonderful weather stimulated top down driving. The only downside of the day was learning that we’ll have to wait 3-5 years for our 2007 Futures wines to mature to their full potential – darn!

Unleash Yourself™ - 2010 Driving Experience
June 15 and Aug 28
Calabogie Motorsports Park - Stay tuned.

2010 Porsche Panamera

I’m sold on the concept of the 4 person sports car!

The 2010 Panamera Turbo created a lot of buzz at Mark Motors’ 50th Anniversary celebration at the National Art Centre in Ottawa. The Panamera gets almost everything right; it sets the benchmark in sport luxury interiors, the packaging is perfect - you’re in a sports car regardless of which of the four seats you choose, and dynamically it is true to the Porsche brand. My only complaint is the exterior design; it appears large and the rear end is uncomfortably bulbous. From a purely design standpoint, Porsche needs to articulate a design vocabulary that is not a continual reinterpretation of the venerable (and beautiful) 911 form – instantly recognizable as a Porsche is good, looking like a plumped up 911 is not as good.

Audi TT Roadster
Enjoy top down driving this coming summer!
$1,599/mth (+tax).

Click here or contact DreamFleet for details.