Auto Industry Archive

General Motors sent up a big “S.O.S.” in its third-quarter results and a related document, amounting to a loud and clear distress call for help from the federal government. GM warned on Nov. 7 that despite its efforts to raise money by cutting costs and selling assets, it will run short of cash – that is, it won’t be able to pay its bills – in the first half of 2009. GM...

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The auto industry is now cashing in some goodwill in Washington, with regard to $25 billion in federal funding for developing more fuel-efficient cars, and potentially for additional assistance. Alan Mulally, Ford president and CEO, said indirectly that the industry purchased that goodwill in part by dropping its objections late last year to tougher federal gas-mileage requirements. Ford has...

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GMAC Financial Services reported a deeper third-quarter net loss than a year ago, as losses at its mortgage subsidiary continue to dog the company, with the added factor of a sharp downturn in both the quality and quantity of its auto lending business. GMAC reported a net loss of $2.5 billion in the third quarter, versus a net loss of $1.6 billion the year-ago quarter. As expected, most of the...

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A third auto dealer chain, the nation’s largest, reported a third-quarter net loss. Like the others, AutoNation Inc. cited a “toxic” combination of the downturn in U.S. auto sales, the credit crunch, falling consumer confidence, and a big write-down on the value of its Detroit 3 domestic franchises. AutoNation on Nov. 6 reported a net loss of $1.4 billion in the third quarter,...

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In an otherwise disastrous month for U.S. auto sales, only five brands out of 43 showed higher sales in October than the year-ago month: Audi, Ferrari, Mini, Rolls-Royce and Smart. Audi is engaged in its biggest, boldest and most iconoclastic advertising and marketing push ever, which started this year with ads during this year’s Super Bowl, the mother of all big-splash advertising....

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BMW net income fell 62.9 percent in the third quarter, to 298 million euros (about $447 million), thanks to the international financial crisis and lower sales in traditional markets like the United States, the brand’s single biggest market for car sales. Through nine months, net income was down 39.7 percent from the year-ago period, to around $2 billion. “The major traditional car...

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Fisker Automotive claimed victory in a lawsuit filed against it by former design client and current rival Tesla Motors, in which Tesla had accused Fisker of stealing trade secrets. “My clients have been completely vindicated of any wrongdoing,” said Thomas Newmeyer, one of Fisker’s lawyers in the case, in a Nov. 3 statement. The case was referred to arbitration in June, at...

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GMAC Financial Services is in discussions with federal regulators, seeking official status as a bank holding company. That could make GMAC eligible for the federal government to buy shares in the company, as part of the financial-industries bailout. GMAC owns a so-called “industrial loan corporation” chartered in Utah, which functions much like a bank. GMAC is probably already...

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General Motors executives were stunned at the size of the drop in U.S. auto sales in October, to the lowest annual sales rate in 25 years, as the credit crunch and low consumer confidence kept shoppers at home. “In my 27 years in the business, I never saw a month like this,” said Mark LaNeve, vice president, GM North America vehicle sales, service and marketing. He said that...

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As mature markets like the United States and Western Europe market have cratered, luxury brands like Porsche and Rolls-Royce are turning more and more to developing markets in Asia, India, and in Central and Eastern Europe. So are less lofty brands like Buick, which sells far more cars in China than it does in the United States. And while Americans have turned their backs on Hummer, and General...

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