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Source: MSNBC
Toyota Motor Corp. announced Thursday a surprise profit last quarter and trimmed its projected red ink for the year, underlining the gradual recovery under way for Japan's giant automakers.
The world's largest car company attributed the unexpected profit — its first after three losing quarters — to measures by governments around the world designed to boost sales of environmentally friendly cars and other vehicles.
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GM, Ford Report Sales Gains As Economy Perks Up
Source: The Detroit News
General Motors Co. reported its first monthly sales increase in nearly two years on Tuesday and Ford Motor Co. also racked up gains in October, providing further evidence that the U.S. economy appears to be on the mend.
Overall vehicle sales were level with last October's totals, ending a streak of year-over-year declines as the market continued its slow climb out of the steep downturn that began in 2008.
On an annual basis, last month's selling rate was 10.5 million cars and light trucks, compared with 10.82 million a year ago and 9.22 million in September, according to Autodata Corp.
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Ford Reports Surprise $1 Billion Profit
Source: MSNBC
Ford, the only Detroit automaker to dodge direct government aid and bankruptcy court, surprised investors with net income of nearly $1 billion in the third quarter and forecast a "solidly profitable" 2011.
The automaker said Monday earnings were fueled by U.S. market share gains, cost cuts and the Cash for Clunkers program, which drew flocks of buyers to showrooms this summer. Ford's shares rose 53 cents, or 7.6 percent, to $7.53 in afternoon trading.
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GM Signs Deal To Sell Hummer
Source: Motoring
General Motors has signed a deal to sell its iconic but tarnished Hummer brand to an investment partnership headed by an obscure Chinese machinery maker.
The deal with China's Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery, seen as underscoring the fast rise and global ambition of the Chinese auto industry, has capped a year-long struggle by GM to shed the military-derived SUV brand that had become synonymous with gas-guzzling excess.
Luxury Car Market May Never Look The Same
Source: MSNBC
Timing is everything, or so goes the old saying. And the timing couldn’t have been worse for BMW when it launched an all-new version of its flagship 7-Series, late last year.
Though the big sedan won praise from reviewers, sales fell way short of the luxury automaker’s expectations. It didn’t help that the big Beemer's debut coincided with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, and the sharp economic downturn that followed.
“Given we have an all-new 7-Series, it’s clearly not doing as well as we wanted,” said Jim O’Donnell,” CEO of BMW North America. “I think some people can still afford it, but when you’re a CEO of a company and you’re laying people off, do you want to be seen driving a new 7-Series?”
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GM To Hire Back Workers As Auto Output Picks Up
Source: Motoring
General Motors plans to restore about 3000 jobs at US assembly plants and is preparing to raise North American production by up to 45 percent in 2010.
Shifts will be added at three assembly plants as the automaker consolidates production from those that are closing or retooling, a process that would not add immediately to its production schedule for 2009.
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Car Sales Lead Increase in U.S. Retail Sales
Source: The New York Times
Retail sales surged in August as consumers swapped their old cars for new under the government’s "cash for clunkers" program, and spent more on gasoline at convenience stores.
The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that retail sales in August bounded higher by a seasonally adjusted 2.7 percent over the previous month, surpassing economists’ expectations of 1.9 percent. It was the largest monthly increase since January 2006.
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Some Dealers Suffer Post-‘Clunkers’ Hangover
Source: MSNBC
As Gene Butman Ford opened its doors Saturday, salesmen outnumbered the shoppers looking at a depleted stock of cars and trucks, and it didn't appear that many customers were ready to buy.
Like many dealers across the country, the dealership in Ypsilanti Township, Mich., west of Detroit, is suffering from a Cash for Clunkers hangover, and Sales Manager Paul Grahl isn't sure when it will end.
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Auto Market Has Shifted, And It May Be For Good
Source: MSNBC
Big cars and trucks are out. Smaller ones that offer more for your dollar are in. And many drivers will hang onto the new cars they buy longer.
We've seen some of this before — in the 1970s. But there's reason to believe that this time, American car-buying habits have changed forever.
Scarred by the worst financial crisis since the 1930s and still leery of high gas prices, people are walking into showrooms intent on spending less. The trend is strongest among baby boomers, who are 44 to 63 years old and make up a quarter of the population, dealers and industry analysts say.
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GM Offers Refund To Car Buyers To Win Them Back
Source: Associated Press
Looking to regain consumers' trust, General Motors Co. said Thursday new car buyers will be able to return their vehicles within two months of purchase for a full refund, part of a long-awaited new marketing campaign for the biggest American automaker.
The effort will begin next week, seeking to make connections again with American consumers who may be leery of the company since it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year. Chairman Edward Whitacre Jr. will appear in the initial burst of ads, telling consumers in a folksy, Texan accent he too had doubts about GM when he joined on this summer. But he likes the cars he found, and consumers should too.
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'Buy American' Alive And Well In Auto Industry
Source: Market Watch
In a Consumer Reports survey of almost 1,800 adults, 81% of those in the market for a new car said they were likely to consider a domestic brand. That compares to just 47% looking at Asian brands and 46% in the market for European models.
Ford Motor Co. looks to be the biggest beneficiary from the increasing interest in U.S. vehicles.
General Motors Co., fresh out of bankruptcy, also saw a spike, though not nearly as pronounced as Ford's.
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Auto Industry Posts Best US Sales Of Year
Source: CNN Money
The auto industry temporarily awoke from its slumber last month thanks to the
U.S. government's "Cash for Clunkers" program, led by a 17% sales jump at Ford
Motor Co. and higher sales from Japan auto makers Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. .
Sales were jolted in the U.S. and foreign markets from government incentive
programs promoting fuel-efficient cars, but a number of auto makers, including
General Motors Co., Chrysler Group LLC and Nissan Motor Co. still
reported lower sales.
The two largest Japanese auto makers - Toyota and Honda - reported single- digit increases as the clunkers program helped boost market share for some foreign auto companies. The Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic and Toyota Camry were the three most popular vehicles purchased under the program.
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GM To Form China Venture, Invest $293 Million
Source: Reuters
General Motors said on Sunday it has agreed to set up a light commercial vehicle production venture with major Chinese automaker FAW Group, with total investment of 2 billion yuan ($293 million).
The 50-50 joint venture, based in the northeast China city of Changchun in Jilin province, will make light-duty trucks and vans, GM said in a statement.
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Ford Adds Shifts As US Demand Returns
Source: Motoring
Are Americans getting back their taste for trucks and SUV's? Ford is adding shifts in two states to build more F-150 pick-ups and Escape and Mariner SUV's.
The company's Dearborn, Michigan, plant will return to a three-shift operation in September, a move that will boost production of F-150 pickup trucks by about 10 000 in 2009.
Ford will also adding a third shift at its Kansas City, Missouri, assembly plant in October, which will increase production of Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner SUV's by 2400 by the end of October.
‘Cash for Clunkers’ Program Will Close on Aug. 24
Source: Bloomberg
The U.S. "cash for clunkers" vehicle trade-in program, credited with reviving auto sales and criticized by dealers for slow reimbursements, will close on Aug. 24, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said.
The clunkers plan, which offers auto buyers discounts of as much as $4,500 to trade in older cars and trucks for new, more fuel-efficient vehicles, has recorded more than 457,000 dealer transactions worth $1.9 billion in rebates, the Transportation Department said in a statement today.
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GM To Give Dealers Cash Advances For 'Clunkers'
Source: The Detroit News
General Motors Co. said today it will immediately start paying cash advances to dealers who have not been reimbursed for vehicles sold through the federal "cash for clunkers" program.
GM said the move will allow dealers "to have the liquidity to run their businesses effectively in the midst of this extremely successful program and to continue immediately delivering new vehicles to GM customers."
Some dealers in New York have stopped participating in the program amid complaints over delays in processing vouchers.
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GM Listens, Quickly Kills New Buick
Source: The Detroit News
General Motors Co. pulled the plug on a new Buick compact crossover, including a plug-in hybrid version, just days after the vehicle got critical reviews from groups essential to the automaker's success.
GM's executive committee scrapped the plan on Friday after earlier last week unveiling the crossover, and other new and future products, to potential customers, employees, analysts, dealers and the media at GM's Tech Center in Warren and its proving grounds in Milford.
The fast action illustrates the speed and flexibility with which GM is adjusting its vehicle portfolio, Tom Stephens, GM's vice chairman for product development, wrote Wednesday on the automaker's FastLane blog.
GM To Sell Saab To Tiny Swedish Carmaker
Source: MSNBC
General Motors signed a deal on Tuesday to sell its Saab car business to a tiny Swedish luxury carmaker, the first in a series of big sales the U.S. group is planning as it slims down.
The agreement comes after weeks of uncertainty about the degree of support for the bid from Koenigsegg's backers, after a preliminary deal for the sale was struck in June.
