This 2014 VW Passat SEL Premium features a new, fuel-efficient 1.8-liter turbocharged engine.In time for Black Friday, Kelley Blue Book has named the Chattanooga-made Volkswagen Passat as the best car deal nationwide.
Kelly said the 2014 Passat, with a manufacturers suggested retail price of $22,915, can be bought at $19,890, or what other buyers have been paying for this car recently. Also, VW is offering the car at zero percent interest for 60 months.
The other top five deals are the 2014 Cadillac ATS, the 2014 Nissan Altima, the 2014 Infiniti Q50, and the 2015 Chevrolet Malibu.
"Black Friday represents one of the hottest shopping days in America, and new-car shopping is no exception," said Jack R. Nerad, executive market analyst for KBB.com.
Steam Logistics adds Atlanta unit
After quadrupling revenues this year, the Chattanooga-based Steam Logistics is opening an office in Atlanta to meet the airfreight demand of its customers and overseas agents.
The office on the south side of Hartsfield-Jackson Airport "underscores our ongoing commitment to offer unparalleled service to our current and future customers," Steam President and CEO Steve Cox said.
"This opening will support the robust growth and expansion by companies in the southeastern part of the United States," he said. "Atlanta is one of several international gateway offices we have scheduled to open as we continue to build-out our global network."
Steam Logistics, LLC is a full service international freight forwarder and customs broker headquartered in Chattanooga, providing air and ocean transportation services between the United States and the rest of the globe. Steam is a member of the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA), a licensed Ocean Transportation Intermediary by the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), and is an approved Indirect Air Carrier by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Home prices continue to rise
The median sales price of U.S. single family homes and condos in October was $193,000, up 2 percent from the previous month and up 16 percent from a year ago, according to RealtyTrac, the online real estate service. Home prices were the highest since September 2008.
RealtyTrac said median home prices in Tennessee rose in October to $132,000, up 14 percent from a year ago, and increased in Georgia to $145,000, up 16 percent from a year ago.
"This U.S. recovery is largely being driven by investors, and as the lower-priced, often distressed inventory most appealing to investors dries up in a given market, investor activity will slow down in that market and move to other markets with more ideal inventory available," said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.