The avocado’s about to get respect in the one place where it can finally meet the masses: fast food

Subway today will unveil plans to roll out avocado next week as a sandwich option nationwide. The public embrace of avocados by the sandwich giant, which with 24,188 U.S. stores has more domestic locations than McDonald’s, is pegged to the healthier eating theme that’s been crucial to Subway’s success.

The move is expected to nudge other major fast-food chains to elevate the vitamin-, mineral- and calorie-packed fruit to their menus. At Subway, avocado makes its debut as preservative-free, 100% avocado spread in a Turkey & Bacon Avocado sandwich that sells for about $7.

Customers will have to pay from 50 cents to $1 to have the mashed avocado spread added to most other sandwiches. On the West Coast, instead of the spread, sliced avocados are offered at many Subways. Both have sold very well in tests, Subway marketing chief Tony Pace says.

“We’ll help avocado go mainstream,” Pace says. So mainstream, that upcoming TV spots will showcase spokesjocks Michael Phelps and Apolo Ohno juggling avocados.

The move comes at a time avocado is showing up in new chips, dips and cooking oils. More than 75 new products made with avocado have rolled out over the past five years, Datamonitor reports. And domestic avocado sales rocketed to 1.3 billion pounds in 2010, up 16%, the Hass Avocado Board says.

Don’t be surprised if some burger giants — under pressure to add nutritional offerings — soon embrace avocados, says Tom Vierhile, director of product launch analytics at researcher Datamonitor.

Subway’s move is a bid to separate itself from major fast-food chains while luring customers from fast-casual chains such as Panera and Chipotle, where avocado is common. Rival Quiznos has sold subs with guacamole for years.

Subway is eager to boost its own better-for-you image. Last month it announced that it had cut sodium in its sandwich line by 15%.

Subway will tout the slogan “Grab the Green” in TV spots that promote avocados as well as the upcoming summer flick Green Lantern. Avocado also will be available on its breakfast sandwiches, Pace says.

“It’s very good news nutritionally if you’re substituting avocado for mayo,” dietitian Hope Warshaw says. But she says, with the avocado spread at 70 calories per serving, “from a calorie perspective you can’t do better than mustard and vinegar.”

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2011-05-26-avocados-at-subway_n.htm

General Motors Co.’s U.S. deliveries rose more than analysts’ estimated as increasing demand for fuel-efficient models pushed the industry’s annual sales rate above 13 million for the third straight month.

GM’s U.S. sales climbed 26 percent to 232,538 vehicles from 183,997 a year earlier, the Detroit-based automaker said today in a statement. The gain topped the 14 percent increase estimated on average by seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Ford Motor Co. said its sales rose 13 percent to 189,778, and Toyota Motor Corp. deliveries increased 1.3 percent to 159,540.

The U.S. auto sales rate in April was 13.2 million on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, topping the 13 million pace that was the average estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. GM’s Chevrolet Cruze compact car set a record for sales since its introduction last year, and Dearborn, Michigan- based Ford’s Fiesta subcompact exceeded 9,000 deliveries for a second consecutive month.

“Gas prices are the story,” Michelle Krebs, an analyst for Santa Monica, California-based Edmunds.com, said in a telephone interview. “It looks like $4 a gallon is the magic number to shift consumer behavior.”

Confidence among U.S. consumers rose more than forecast in April, signaling that six straight months of job growth are helping Americans endure the highest fuel prices in almost three years. The average U.S. price of regular unleaded gasoline rose 37 percent in the past year to $3.97 a gallon yesterday, according to AAA. The price peaked at $4.11 in July 2008.

‘Vote of Confidence’

“This is a sort of vote of confidence for the recovery,” said John Canally, an economist and investment strategist at Boston-based LPL Financial Corp., which oversees $330.1 billion in assets. “You have a better backdrop today than you had in 2008, when energy prices rose the way they are now. The economy is early in the recovery rather than late and you have some pent-up demand for autos.”

GM climbed 81 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $32.99 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Ford fell 7 cents to $15.38.

The rate for light-vehicle sales was 13.1 million in March and 13.4 million in February, according to Autodata Corp. in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

Ford’s 13 percent gain trailed the average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg for a 14 percent increase. Sales of the Focus compact car rose 22 percent to 17,265. F- Series pickup sales rose 11 percent.

Nissan, Honda Sales

Nissan Motor Co.’s 12 percent sales gain trailed the 33 percent increase estimated on average by four analysts. The Tokyo-based automaker today won a contract to supply New York’s fleet of yellow taxi cabs. U.S. sales gained 9.8 percent at Honda Motor Co., less than the 14 percent average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

The increase in deliveries at Toyota, whose position as the world’s largest automaker is under challenge by GM, trailed the 1.4 percent average estimate of four analysts.

Toyota’s Lexus, the top-selling luxury brand in the U.S. for the last 11 years, trails Bayerische Motoren Werke AG’s namesake brand and Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz by more than 6,000 vehicles through four months this year.

Mark Templin, head of U.S. Lexus sales, last month said the brand doesn’t expect to retain its volume lead in the U.S. this year because of supply disruptions following the March 11 earthquake. All but one Lexus model is made only in Japan.

‘Japan’s Problems’

“We haven’t felt the biggest brunt yet of not having enough cars in inventory due to Japan’s problems,” said Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends at TrueCar.com in Santa Monica, California. “In May, we’re going to start seeing this become more of an issue, and in June it’s going to become a severe handicap for the industry.”

Less than two years after declaring bankruptcy, GM is poised to reclaim the global auto sales lead from Toyota as the March 11 earthquake in Japan disrupts supply, and reviews by industry researchers such as Consumer Reports show the automaker’s quality has slipped.

The Japan earthquake may result in “constraints” to industry supply that will affect the industry selling rate in the second and third quarters, Don Johnson, GM’s vice president of U.S. sales, said today on a conference call. The automaker still predicts total sales for the year will be 13 million to 13.5 million, including medium- and heavy-duty trucks, as inventory and sales may recover in the fourth quarter, he said.

Incentive Spending

GM lowered incentive spending by more than 10 percent, or about $400 per vehicle in April from a month earlier, Johnson told reporters yesterday in a conference call. Ford said its discounts fell by more than double the industry average of $300, George Pipas, Ford’s sales analyst, said today on a conference call.

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s largest automaker, said sales in April rose 40 percent from a year ago to 61,754 vehicles. Kia Motors Corp., Hyundai’s affiliate, reported a 57 percent U.S. sales increase. Combined, the Seoul-based corporate partners sold a record 108,828 cars and light trucks last month.

Chrysler Group LLC, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, said sales rose 22 percent to 117,225 vehicles. The results topped the 18 percent average of five analysts’ estimates, as deliveries of the Grand Cherokee sport-utility vehicle more than doubled.

U.S. light-vehicle sales climbed to 11.6 million in 2010 from a 27-year low in 2009. Deliveries still were 31 percent fewer than the 16.8 million annual average from 2000 to 2007, according to Autodata. A 13 million light-vehicle sales rate this month would be a 16 percent increase from the 11.2 million pace in April 2010.

–With assistance from Esmé E. Deprez in New York, Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles, and Keith Naughton, Tim Higgins and David Welch in Southfield, Michigan. Editors: Kevin Orland, Jamie Butters.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-05-03/gm-beats-estimates-as-auto-sales-rise-to-13-2-million-pace.html

Microsoft and Toyota have announced plans to work together to bring internet services to Toyota vehicles

Toyota hopes the technology will be available to all its customers by 2015

The world’s biggest carmaker and the world’s biggest software company are investing $12m (£7.3m) in Toyota Media Services, a Toyota unit which handles digital information services.

The aim is to provide features like GPS, power-management and multimedia services.

Toyota’s 2012 hybrid vehicles will be the first to get the services.

The carmaker hopes to be able to offer them to customers worldwide by 2015.

The services will use Microsoft’s “cloud computing” – the remote storage and handling of data – system called Azure.

“This new partnership between Microsoft and Toyota is an important step in developing greater future mobility and energy management for consumers around the world,” Toyota president Akio Toyoda said.

Microsoft has been involved in the auto industry for several years but has so far focused on working with Ford.

It designed Ford’s Sync entertainment system, which was rolled out in 2007 and allows drivers to make phone calls, listen to text messages and use GPS.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12994083