Auto Industry Archive

It’s a wonder to many people outside and inside the auto industry how fast the industry hit the skids, when auto sales began to fall in the second half of 2008. Just a few months of a really pronounced sales downturn left Chrysler and GM on their knees, begging for government help. Ford is only a little better off. Japanese manufacturers like Toyota, Nissan and Honda are also tightening their...

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GREENWICH–According to New York magazine, by 2007 some 40 percent of the world’s 351 hedge funds with more than $1 billion in assets were located either in the Upper East Side of Manhattan or Greenwich, Connecticut (which the magazine calls “Lower Hedgistan”). Sure, some of those funds have taken big hits, but Greenwich (whose showplace, Round Hill Road, is one of the most dazzling...

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Time is money, and GM doesn’t have enough of either one. GM’s latest losses reported today show that the company is falling behind in the race against time. GM is trying to shrink itself to the point where it can become profitable at much lower volume. So are Chrysler and Ford. But that point is getting lower and more difficult to achieve all the time, because sales and revenues are...

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General Motors is on the verge of junking its Saturn brand, and that raises the possibility that a foreign automaker, particularly a Chinese or Indian manufacturer, could see Saturn as found treasure that offers easy entry to the U.S. market. Struggling GM intends to sell of spin off Saturn — price TBD — and a buyer would get a well recognized brand name and a national dealer...

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Volkswagen is teaming up with Toshiba to build an electric drivetrain for VW vehicles, and is feeling really confident about it all. VW has proclaimed its intention to become the first carmaker to produce what it describes as an “affordable” and “large-scale production” electric vehicle. Other carmakers taking part in this worldwide race could beat VW to the finish line, but those two...

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It would be difficult to exaggerate the problems that suppliers to the auto industry face, with Chrysler and GM fighting potential bankruptcy, Ford only a little better off, and even major import brands like Honda, Nissan and Toyota cutting back in North America, too. Lower North American auto production is a hardship for suppliers like ArvinMeritor, American Axle, BorgWarner, Dana, Johnson...

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A number of converging factors are making certified pre-owned cars and trucks more popular, especially for luxury brands like BMW and Mercedes-Benz. First and foremost, many consumers who could afford a new car before the present downturn can’t afford it any more. Second, some consumers who mathematically can still afford a new car won’t buy one because they’re spending more...

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Toyota’s Lexus division is launching an all-new 2010 version of its luxury SUV, the V-6-powered RX350, in the teeth of a deep recession. But the suddenly vulnerable company says it is confident it can sell more than the 65,000 that moved out of showrooms last year. It’s a new model, they said hopefully. The $36,800 car goes on sale this week. But Lexus also sold 15,000 400h hybrid...

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From the point of view of parent company GM, the present auto industry crisis turned Saab from a fixer-upper to “The Money Pit,” so GM decided to cut its losses. Saab lost about $341 million in 2008, and was expected to lose around the same amount in 2009, according to court documents filed last week with Saab’s request for protection from creditors. Before the present auto...

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U.S. auto sales will hit bottom this quarter, according to the five-year plan GM submitted this week to the U.S. Treasury. That’s the good news, such as it is. The bad news is that GM says it could need more than double the amount of government loans for which it received approval in December. GM’s forecast shows U.S. auto sales in the first quarter of 2009 bottoming out at a...

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