Auto Industry Archive

Despite generous discounts, including the “Employee Discount for Everyone” promotion from General Motors,  expect the bad news in auto sales to continue, based on a couple of forecasts posted this week, ahead of August sales announcements from the car companies, slated for Sept. 3. GM sales would have been even worse without the sale, said Jesse Toprak, executive director of...

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It looks like Chrysler will dump the Dodge Viper, just as GM jettisons Hummer. Ford already sold Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover. It makes you wonder what’s next? Now that Toyota arguably overtook GM as the world’s largest automaker last year, maybe it’s time for Toyota to admit it has some excess baggage, like the underachieving Scion youth brand, or the bloated Lexus...

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Forget what I said in April about General Motors “getting out of the volume game.” Having said that, here’s another prediction: U.S. auto sales will stink in January 2009. I’ll come back to that. With regard to my April statement about GM’s strategy, I definitely should have added, “within reason.” Obviously, as the nation’s biggest automaker GM is in...

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In another sign that trucks are “not quite dead yet,” to quote Monty Python, auction prices for some used-truck segments improved from June to July. That’s important, because used-vehicle demand and new-vehicle demand usually move in tandem. It’s also important because falling used-truck vales have cost the car companies a ton of money on the value of trucks that come...

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The Chevrolet Cruze is a Euro-styled model that represents a big bet by GM that the tastes and spending habits of American customers will start to more closely resemble those of Europe, where people are willing to spend a premium price for a small car that’s richly appointed, handles well and saves gas. That sure would be convenient for GM, and also for Ford, which is pursuing the same...

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Ford Motor Co. has accelerated its time table for adopting fuel-saving technologies. “We need to really accelerate,” said John Viera, director, sustainable business strategies, in an Aug. 11 presentation to a group of New York-based auto writers. Ford originally gave itself until 2020 to achieve what it calls “full implementation of known technology.” Based on consumer...

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Another ominous sign for GM, although they don’t intend it that way: Cadillac on Aug. 15 provided “sneak preview” photos of next year’s replacement for the Cadillac SRX. It would also be a good guess that the new crossover will also replace the Saab 9-7X, an SUV based closely on the Chevy TrailBlazer. As I’ve noted a couple times now, you know a car company is...

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Moody’s Investors Service on Aug. 13 downgraded its credit rating for General Motors, putting it in the same “Caa1″ category as Chrysler LLC, which Moody’s downgraded on Aug. 7. Readers may recall from my blog at the time that any rating that starts with a “C” is bad news. Credit ratings aren’t report cards. There is no “D” or...

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Keep it handy, but hold off for now on that last nail in the coffin for pickups and SUVs. Maybe the psychological barrier for $4-per-gallon gas works both ways, according to Edmunds.com. Since gas prices have moderated below an average of $4 per gallon, truck owners suddenly are less likely than they were, to consider other product segments, like cars, crossovers and hybrids, according to...

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Moody’s Investors Service today cut credit ratings for Chrysler even lower into junk status, and indicated it may cut them further. The latest cut lowered Chrysler’s ratings one level, to “Caa1.” (Finance company Chrysler Financial got cut to B2.) That doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it’s more significant than it looks. Everybody knows the auto industry...

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