The Senate Banking Committee set its hearing for a proposed auto-industry bailout for Dec. 4. The Senate hearing is parallel to a similar hearing on Dec.5 before the House Financial Services Committee. The House committee scheduled its hearing previously. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate committee, simply called the hearing, “The State of the Domestic Automobile Industry:...
Auto Industry Archive
November 2008
Nissan North America changed its mind about having a display at the Chicago Auto Show in February. According to a spokesman for the Chicago Auto Trade Association, which produces the show, Nissan decided late on Nov. 26 to have a Chicago display, after all. The trade association cited this statement from Nissan: “At the national level, Nissan North America decided to withdraw from both...
The Wall Street Journal characterized the fresh dispute between Daimler and Cerberus over Chrysler as “open warfare.” That’s overstating the case, but the fight has the makings of a nasty dispute, with roots dating back to the first days of the turnover of Chrysler from Daimler to Cerberus. Cerberus bought 80.1 percent of Chrysler for about $7.2 billion in August 2007. In...
Top Ten Reasons to be Thankful, U.S. Auto Industry Version: 1. Gas prices are down: According to AAA, the national average for regular unleaded was about $1.85 per gallon on Thanksgiving Day, down from about $3.01 a year earlier. True, it may not last, but just imagine for a moment if it had kept climbing after it hit $4. 2. The election is over, and Obama won: The uncertainty surrounding...
The downturn in U.S. auto sales has evolved to the point where many consumers are simply sitting on their wallets. At first, gas prices were the big problem. Consumption fell slightly, and gas prices have fallen a lot. Yet overall, people still aren’t buying cars. Scarce credit was, and to a great extent still is, the big problem. Even the most credit-worthy customers are finding it...
Daimler AG went public today with what sounds like a potentially ugly dispute with Cerberus over Chrysler. Cerberus bought 80.1 percent of Chrysler for about $7.2 billion in August 2007, undoing the DaimlerChrysler merger, which took place back in 1998. In September, the two companies disclosed they were in negotiations for Cerberus to acquire the remaining 19.9 percent of Chrysler. Meanwhile,...
The House Financial Services Committee set a Dec. 5 hearing to review revised turnaround plans from Ford, GM and Chrysler. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., called the hearing, “Review of Industry Plans to Stabilize the Financial Condition of the American Automobile Industry.” That at least narrows the scope of the hearing. Last week, the Detroit Big Three ran into severe criticism on a...
Luxury automotive brands have a reputation for being “last-in, first-out,” of a recession. That’s not quite the same as being recession-proof, as Porsche AG illustrated in a Nov. 25 announcement that it is cutting eight days worth of production through the end of January, on top of normal holidays. “Even Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, cannot escape the current...
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services downgraded Ford Motor Co. recently to the same “CCC+” rating as General Motors and Chrysler, despite Ford’s recent efforts to play up the fact that it is in better shape financially than it crosstown rivals. To an extent, Standard & Poor’s agrees that Ford’s greater liquidity is an advantage, said credit analyst...
Chinese automakers are coming to the Detroit auto show in January, but reflecting hard times in the U.S. market, Nissan Motor Co. and some other brands are going to skip it, according to published reports. Before the current crisis, it would have been unthinkable to skip the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, without at least a token presence. Automakers have scaled back their...
- Aptera's EV: A Hot Car with Cooling Prospects
- U.S. Car Sales Have Spring in their Step
- Toyota and Lexus: A Tale of Twin Brands
- A Modest Proposal for Toyota: Release the Code!
- Cellulosic Ethanol's Time May Finally Have Come
- Volkswagen's Million-Car U.S. March Off to Slow Start
- Piling on Toyota: The Media Storm Needs Some Context
- Chrysler is a 1,000-Piece Puzzle, in Pieces
- Are Toyota's Problems Becoming an Industry Problem?
- A New Frontier for Hackers: Your Car
- What the Auto Industry Can Learn From the Music Business
- As Toyota Counterattacks, Feds Investigate Latest Runaway Car
- Digg This: Ford Launches the Fiesta with Social Marketing from the Young and Restless
- Size Matters, After All: GM Brings Back Fired Dealers
- Gas Prices Rise Again, But There Are Some Interesting Upsides
- Are Toyota's Problems Becoming an Industry Problem?
- Batteries Included: The Dodgy Economics of the Electric Car
- Toyota Problem Isn't Millions In Recall, It's That No. 3 In Loyalty
- Detroit Auto Show: GMC Granite Concept Doesn't Fit the Brand
- Hummer, RIP (and Good Riddance)
- Toyota Counterattacks, but Cars (Even Fixed Ones) Are Still Running Away
- Nissan hopes its new electric car will change consumer behavior
- It's Over for Saab: GM to Possibly Sell the Pieces
Subscribe to Auto blog comments RSS 
- Carsala Guns For CarMax in Used Car Wars
- As Toyota Counterattacks, Feds Investigate Latest Runaway Car
- Awash in Common Stock, Ford Motor Issues More Shares to UAW-Run Healthcare Trust
- Our Computerized Cars: They're Scary at 70 MPH
- GM To Build its Own Electric Motors; Motor Supplier Remy Looks Elsewhere
- Gas Prices Rise Again, But There Are Some Interesting Upsides
- Thinking Outside the Bloom Box
- Indian EV Maker Reva Makes Bid for World Dominance (Starting With Iceland)
Industry Transcripts by Seeking Alpha
Brought to you by CBS MoneyWatch.com
- Best- and Worst-Paid College Degrees
- 6 Things You Should Never Do on Twitter or Facebook
- How Much Sleep Do You Really Need?
- 6 Big Myths about Gas Mileage
- 5 Rules for Immediate Annuities
- Death in the Family: 12 Things to Do Now
- Dumbest Things You Do With Your Money
- 6 Online Networking Mistakes to Avoid
- 401(k) Mistakes to Avoid
- 5 Economic Scenarios to Keep You Up at Night
- The Real ‘Best Places to Retire’
- Best Credit Cards for You
- 12 Tough Questions to Ask Your Parents
- The Real ‘Best Colleges’
- Home Buyer Tax Credit: How to Cash In
- Why You Shouldn't Bash Cash
- 8 Phony 'Bargains' and Better Alternatives
- Danger: 3 Debit Card Scams to Avoid
- 6 Myths About Gas Mileage
- 29 Fees We Hate Most
- Quick and Easy Ways to Boost Returns
- Best Stocks to Buy Now
- Lower Your Taxes: 10 Moves to Make Now
- New Jobs: 8 Lessons from Real-Life Career Switchers
- The New Job Market: Who Wins and Who Loses?
- Health Care Reform's Public Option: Everything You Need to Know
- Volunteer Work When Unemployed: Should You Work for Free?
- Whose Recovery Is This?
- Long-Term-Care Insurance: 4 Biggest Risks to Avoid
Archives
Recommended Sources
About Auto Industry
Everyone has their eyes on the automotive industry lately. BNET Automotive gathers and supplies daily industry trends and news coverage with specific insights for managers and executives, focusing on the major auto companies and parts manufacturers. In addition to detailed auto company trends and profiles, we report on new alliances and partnerships, new models, mergers and acquisitions, labor management, auto unions, investments, and other key issues related to this sector of business.