I talked to Perry Stern of MSN Autos back in July, and we had a chance to catch up a bit yesterday.The main topic was the economy and its impact on the auto industry. It’s pretty ugly out there right now. J. D. Power is predicting than less than 13.6 million autos will be sold in 2008, down from 16.1 million in 2007. And of course the Detroit automakers are in turmoil. Perry thinks that GM is the best positioned in Detroit, in terms of its current model lineup and vision for the future. And Perry believes that Honda is probably the strongest of all the automakers right now, largely because they stuck to their core strengths and avoided the temptation to get into big trucks and SUVs.

I asked Perry what test car had impressed him recently, and he told me that he had loved the Maserati Gran Turismo S. He thought that the gearbox—with shift technology borrowed from the Ferrari 599—was awesome. And he said that the exhaust sounded so good he was driving around looking for tunnels to blast through. Meanwhile, Perry has added a new ride to his personal garage—a 2009 Subaru Impreza for his wife.

On Monday I had a nice chat with Perry Stern, MSN Auto’s Editor. Perry has been there since it started in 1995 (it was called CarPoint back then) and has been running the show since 2002. As Perry says, it was “the first Microsoft product not to come in a box.” Our conversation was supposed to center on fuel efficient vehicles, gas prices, etc., but I figured you guys are sick of hearing about that stuff, and anyway, I was curious about his site. Continue reading…

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In its unrelenting quest for total world domination, Toyota exceeded Ford in total sales for 2007, selling 48,226 more vehicles than the blue oval and becoming the No. 2 selling make in the US. Keeping, for now, its tenuous hold on the US market is GM, though industry forecasts hint that this won’t be for long, and that the US auto industry as a whole is soon to be beat at its own game as Toyota churns out Tundra pickups and sinks its money further into NASCAR. It’s sure to be an interesting next few years! Get the story at MSN Autos.

If you drive, there’s not a whole lot you can do about getting screwed on gas prices, but one small way to bite back is to support only the lowest-priced gas retailers in your area. If you aren’t already on one of the pricing-watching sites, start using one to plan your gas-getting expeditions. MSN‘s got a good reliable one that’s updated pretty regularly; all you have to do is enter your zip code. The site has told us that cheapest gallon of gas anywhere near CarDomain headquarters is $3.14.9, at a Safeway grocery store of all places. How about you—who sells the cheapest gas in your ‘hood, and will they be getting your business?