|
Browse by Tags
All Tags » Big3 ( RSS)
-
|
Filed under: Government/Legal , Chrysler, LLC. , Ford , GM , Celebrities While there is definitely a huge rift between those who favor a Detroit bailout and those who would rather see the Big 3 fade away, you'd think that someone like Flint-native and documentary maker Michael Moore would be all in favor of helping the Big Three succeed. After all, Moore rose to fame for his first documentary entitled "Roger and Me" that featured then-CEO of General Motors Roger Smith. According to this piece in the Detroit News , however, Moore doesn't profess unconditional support for a Big 3 bailout. It seems he has mixed feelings about the whole situation. Moore was on Larry King last night saying that the automakers ignored the wishes of consumers by continuing to build bigger vehicles just to maximize profits. Foreign automakers, on the other hand, built SUVs and more fuel-efficient vehicles in other categories. Moore elaborated by saying that the current managers don't deserve...
|
-
|
Filed under: Government/Legal , Earnings/Financials Matthias Wissmann, current head of the Verband Deutscher Automobilhersteller (VDA, or Association of the German Automotive Industry for us non-German speaking folks), is none too pleased with the passing of a $25 billion financing package for the Detroit automakers. Under the terms of the legislation, which has been approved by the House and is expected to pass through the Senate as well, the Detroit 3 will receive low-interest loans in order to finance the cost of bringing more fuel-efficient cars to America. Of course, it's not entirely unexpected that Detroit's competitors aren't happy about the federal loans, but at least one piece of Wissmann's argument certainly makes a lot of sense. "If the U.S. car industry does not resolve its structural problems, then all the subsidies in the world won't help." Ain't that the truth. The hope, of course, is that this financial aid is just what the automakers need...
|
-
|
Filed under: Government/Legal The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill this afternoon approving a $25 billion low-interest loan for domestic automakers. The bill passed with an overwhelming majority - 370 to 58 - and is on its way to the Senate for a vote on Friday before the White House gets the opportunity to lay pen to paper on March 6, 2009. The rates and rules of the loan are required to be spelled-out by the U.S. Department of Energy within 60 days of the bill becoming law, but automakers could be allowed to repay the loans over as long as 25 years, along with the Energy Department deferring payment for up to five years. Detroit's Big Three (or 2.8, or whatever) are counting on the loans to retool factories for more fuel-efficient vehicles, protect jobs and help fund the escalated development costs of fuel-efficient drivetrains. Having seen more government bail-outs than we'd like to over the past couple weeks, we're not ready to call this one a full-blown bail...
|
-
|
Filed under: Car Buying , Chrysler , Ford , GM Showing great discipline amid declining sales, the Detroit 3 have held back on the temptation to dump vehicles on fleet customers in order to boost numbers. As we reported last month , selling vehicles to corporate fleets and daily rental companies has been a long-practiced method to offload automobiles when sales slow down. Unfortunately, it also results in lowered residual values in the marketplace as these vehicles are dumped in quantity at auctions at the end of their service. Over the years, some models have even earned a "fleet" or "rental vehicle" stereotype, additionally damaging their public image, and sales, at the retail level. The Ford Taurus, for instance, was only sold to fleet customers during the last generation's final year of production, which may have further damaged the brand and affected sales of the renamed 2008 Taurus. Even though the Detroit 3 are limiting fleet sales, it is still a large chunk...
|
-
|
Filed under: Car Buying , Trends , Earnings/Financials Just less than a year ago, the Big 3 domestic automakers' combined market share dropped to less than 50-percent of the overall automobile market. That sobering statistic was made factual when the combined sales of vehicles from both Asian countries, such as Japan and Korea, were combined with sales from European companies, like Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. It seems that this sad state of affairs did little to stop the bleeding coming from Detroit, as last month marks the first time in history that Asian automakers alone, with a combined share of 47.8-percent, sold more vehicles in the United States than companies actually based there. Ouch. Large pickup trucks and SUV's have long been the last stronghold for Detroit's struggling automakers. While the Big 3 still have a commanding lead in sales of these large vehicles, it's the smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles which are taking the largest bite from the overall...
|
-
|
Filed under: Chevrolet , Ford , GM , UAW/Unions Until Detroit automakers signed landmark deals with the UAW that shifted retiree health care costs to the union, it was cheaper to make vehicles in Canada. Government health care saved automakers about $6 per work hour, a savings of over $12,000 a year per worker. Since Ontario produces more vehicles than any state in the Union, that represented huge savings for the Detroit Three. However, after the new deals were struck with the UAW, that advantage has disappeared. To make the situation worse, the loonie has made huge advances over the dollar. At one point you needed $1.61 in Canadian cash to equal one greenback, but new oil wealth for our northern neighbors coupled with a growing US credit crunch have brought the two currencies neck and neck. With Canada's higher taxes and unfavorable contracts, the northern frontier could soon be the world's most expensive place to build cars and trucks. Wards Automotive thinks the CAW will soon...
|
|
|
|