Auto Industry Archive

 Consistent with the rest of the truly dreadful second half of 2008, U.S. auto sales in December are expected to fall about 38 percent from the year-ago month, despite “incredibly generous deals,” according to Edmunds.com. If there is a silver lining for Chrysler, Ford and GM in this very dark cloud, it’s that truck sales are expected to outnumber cars for the first time...

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A new wave of Cute Cars is upon us, and fans of Hello Kitty, frequent visitors to cuteoverload.com and real-life Jeanketeers will have a lot to like in the next couple of years. Cute Cars like the Nissan Cube, the Chevy Beat and probably the Ford Ka are coming. The Cube, which is only one letter away from “Cute,” is right around the corner, with a U.S. debut planned for late April...

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Driving events for owners and for well-chosen prospects are a powerful way the most desirable automotive brands stay that way. With a global automotive recession underway, and car companies cutting marketing budgets, here’s hoping that the money will continue to be found for events where owners can put the product through its paces, whether on a racetrack, through a stream, or just...

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Chrysler, Ford and GM got a symbolic boost from a rival, as Toyota Motor Corp. announced today in Japan it expects to post its first operating loss of the post-World War II era, for the fiscal year ending March 31. That’s an indirect boost for the Detroit Big Three, because it supports their argument that the domestic automakers deserve a U.S. government bailout, in part because the...

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Despite all the drama, the auto industry bailout President Bush approved today still amounts to a quick fix, postponing for now a lot of heavy lifting to be done by the Obama Administration. “This is a band-aid for the auto industry; the amount of money being loaned to the automakers is insufficient to see the automakers through what is shaping up to be a worst-case sales scenario in...

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Chrysler and GM won a $17.4 billion bailout from President Bush, but as expected the terms are tough, with all stakeholders sharing the pain. If there’s any winner in the bailout, politically it could be Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., because the bailout terms resemble a last-minute proposal he made shortly before the Senate balked at passing a bailout earlier this month. The auto industry...

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Which one is worse off, GM or its former captive finance company, GMAC Financial Services? A one-paragraph filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission hints that as badly off as GM is, GMAC may be harder up for cash right now. The two companies filed identical documents on Dec. 15. Both companies are racing to avoid a potential bankruptcy filing. GM is looking for a direct government...

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Ford says it’s encouraged by early acceptance for its all-new Fiesta model in Europe. Popularity in Europe doesn’t always translate into popularity in the United States, but Ford is placing big bets that will begin to change, starting with the Fiesta in 2010. The all-new Fiesta will be the first of a half-dozen cars Ford plans to bring to the United States that were designed...

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First-quarter auto production for the U.S. market keeps falling, as Chrysler announced today it will extend its holiday shutdown an extra two weeks. All told, Chrysler said it will close its manufacturing operations from Dec. 19 to at least Jan. 19. The announcement left the door open to extend the shutdown, since it said,  “impacted employees will not return to work any sooner...

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Subaru is far and away the largest-selling brand that has managed a U.S. sales increase this year, despite the severe downturn for the rest of the market. Granted, it’s a small increase, which has gotten smaller as Subaru sales fell in the last few months, along with most other brands. Nevertheless, through November, Subaru’s U.S. sales in 2008 were up 1.2 percent from the year-ago...

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