Auto Industry Archive

Auto dealer chain Sonic Automotive won a round in its ongoing fight with Mercedes-Benz USA, over the car company’s attempt earlier this year, to veto the dealer chain acquiring an additional Mercedes-Benz franchise. Sonic is based in Charlotte, N.C. That’s also where the dealership in question, Beck Imports, is located, but Sonic is no local, mom-and-pop operation. Sonic has 166...

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Profit for the Volkswagen Group rose 28.5 percent to 3.7 billion euros (about $5.6 billion, depending on the exchange rate) for the first nine months of 2008, bucking the downward trend for most automakers, and in sharp contrast to the troubles of the Detroit 3. VW said it continues to expect that its sales, revenue and operating profit for the full year will be ahead of 2007, “despite...

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The Smart car franchise is off to an excellent start for 2008, with everything most other brands lack, in today’s terrible market for U.S. auto sales: a backlog of orders, customers willing to pay sticker price, and dealers asking for more inventory. That’s according to Roger Penske, chairman of Penske Automotive Group, which has the U.S. distributorship for the Smart franchise....

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Another major auto retailer, Asbury Automotive Group, reported sharply lower earnings thanks to slower sales, tighter credit, and the ongoing downturn in stocks and the housing market. Asbury on Oct. 30 reported net income of $6 million, down 68.4 percent from the year-ago quarter. Year-to-date earnings fell 31.5 percent from the year-ago period, to $27.4 million. “The headwinds facing...

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The falling value of the traditional Detroit 3 domestic franchises helped drive two of the nation’s biggest auto dealer chains in the red for the third quarter. Sonic Automotive, based in Charlotte, N.C., had a net loss of $25.3 million, versus a net profit of $26.1 million in the year-ago quarter. This year’s results included a write-off of about $14 million, part of...

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Bailouts are the name of the game these days and Rick Waggoner wants his cut. The CEO of General Motors has been hounding the U.S. Treasury Department for about $10 billion so he can proceed with his takeover of Chrysler. Why not? Treasury Secretary Henry “Hank” Paulson seems to be bailing out everyone else, such as banks, investment houses and insurance companies. And, Waggoner is trying...

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It looks like the 2009 model year is off to a truly terrible start, with U.S. auto sales in October expected to be the lowest yet this year. By one measure, if sales were to continue for a whole year at the estimated sales pace for October, it would be the worst 12-month total in more than 25 years. “Industry sales of light vehicles have weakened significantly in the past few weeks, amid...

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Shares of Germany’s Volkswagen AG hit an almost unbelievable high of more than 1,000 euros per share (about $1,275) on Oct. 28, versus a 52-week low of around 144 euros (about $183). The shares immediately started falling back to earth on Oct. 29, for instance a share price of 518.82 euros at 1:12 p.m. local time. Sports car maker Porsche SE, which is in the process of taking over VW,...

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Chrysler Chairman and CEO Bob Nardelli cited “unimaginable times” for the auto industry, in announcing additional cuts that reportedly amount to an additional 5,000 white-collar jobs, on top of 29,000 blue- and white-collar jobs Chrysler has already cut in the last two years. Employees will be briefed on their options from Oct. 24 to Nov. 5. Often when “voluntary”...

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NEW YORK — With the Detroit 3 automakers fighting for their lives, it’s sobering to be reminded that there’s still a big community of federal, state and local governments, safety advocates, high-tech suppliers, engineers and automakers focused on safety, technology and the long, long-term effects of traffic and congestion. “The vision is an environment where cars...

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