hondasaurus
Member
japan cars, currency manipulation
It turns out that the so-called "visionary" automakers of Japan haven't been nearly as brilliant or good at controlling costs and making profits from selling cars and trucks as their press clippings would have you believe. A staggering portion of those profits - as much as 30 percent - directly resulted from taking advantage of the yen's valuation vs. the dollar. Japan Inc. is more than a little worried, and now the Japanese government finance gurus are openly talking about "officially" revisiting the idea of yen manipulation for the first time in over a decade, even though they've been doing it unofficially for years and years. Not good.
Takeo Fukui, president and chief executive of Honda Motor Co., as reported by the Associated Press): "First of all, the U.S. market has to recover," he told reporters. "The yen is at an abnormally high level. The Japanese economy needs its export industries." Quote No. 2 came from Toyota's President Katsuaki Watanabe: "We tried to create a business that can withstand currency fluctuations, but the latest changes have been too much."
sales
December vehicle sales capped-off the worst sales year in more than 15 years for the U.S. auto industry. The grim numbers for the month? BMW down 35.9 percent, Chrysler down 53.1 percent (ouch, Baby), Ford down 32.3 percent (although the company actually increased market share for the third straight month for the first time since 1997), GM down 31.2 percent, Honda down 34.7 percent, Mercedes-Benz down 24 percent, Nissan down 30.7 percent, Subaru down 7.7 percent (but amazingly enough actually up just under 1 percent for the entire year), Toyota down 36.7 percent and VW down 14 percent. Overall the industry lost almost 3 million in sales in 2008.
toyo plant temp closures
Toyota. More from the "Not Good" File. As first reported by the Associated Press, Toyota will suspend production at all 12 of its Japan plants for 11 days over February and March, a halt of unprecedented scale for the global automaker. A stunning drop in global demand is forcing the move. Toyota last stopped production at all its Japan plants in August 1993, when demand plunged because of a rising yen, but that was only for one day, according to company sources.
http://www.autoextremist.com/on-the-table1/
chrysler/gm, no more loans needed?
United Auto Workers union president Ron Gettelfinger says Chrysler and GM may not need additional federal funds beyond the $17.4 billion already approved.
In an exclusive interview at the UAW’s Solidarity House, the union leader told Automotive News that sales in 2009 will determine whether more money will be needed to keep the automakers solvent. Gettelfinger is hopeful the market will stay above 12 million units which is in line with projections from Ford and General Motors but about a million sales more than Chrysler is forecasting.
The funding that GMAC will receive as a bank holding company, combined with the loan package for Chrysler and GM should be enough to avoid any liquidity problems as much of the money can be used to finance dealer and consumer sales. The freezing of the credit market was one of the major contributors to the cash crisis that forced the Detroit automakers to look to Washington for financial assistance.
http://www.allpar.com/news/index.php/2009/01/gettelfinger-chrysler-gm-may-not-need-additional-loans/
chrysler lowest amount of recalls of big 6
http://www.allpar.com/news/index.php/2009/01/chrysler-has-fewest-recalls-among-big-six-automakers/
It turns out that the so-called "visionary" automakers of Japan haven't been nearly as brilliant or good at controlling costs and making profits from selling cars and trucks as their press clippings would have you believe. A staggering portion of those profits - as much as 30 percent - directly resulted from taking advantage of the yen's valuation vs. the dollar. Japan Inc. is more than a little worried, and now the Japanese government finance gurus are openly talking about "officially" revisiting the idea of yen manipulation for the first time in over a decade, even though they've been doing it unofficially for years and years. Not good.
Takeo Fukui, president and chief executive of Honda Motor Co., as reported by the Associated Press): "First of all, the U.S. market has to recover," he told reporters. "The yen is at an abnormally high level. The Japanese economy needs its export industries." Quote No. 2 came from Toyota's President Katsuaki Watanabe: "We tried to create a business that can withstand currency fluctuations, but the latest changes have been too much."
sales
December vehicle sales capped-off the worst sales year in more than 15 years for the U.S. auto industry. The grim numbers for the month? BMW down 35.9 percent, Chrysler down 53.1 percent (ouch, Baby), Ford down 32.3 percent (although the company actually increased market share for the third straight month for the first time since 1997), GM down 31.2 percent, Honda down 34.7 percent, Mercedes-Benz down 24 percent, Nissan down 30.7 percent, Subaru down 7.7 percent (but amazingly enough actually up just under 1 percent for the entire year), Toyota down 36.7 percent and VW down 14 percent. Overall the industry lost almost 3 million in sales in 2008.
toyo plant temp closures
Toyota. More from the "Not Good" File. As first reported by the Associated Press, Toyota will suspend production at all 12 of its Japan plants for 11 days over February and March, a halt of unprecedented scale for the global automaker. A stunning drop in global demand is forcing the move. Toyota last stopped production at all its Japan plants in August 1993, when demand plunged because of a rising yen, but that was only for one day, according to company sources.
http://www.autoextremist.com/on-the-table1/
chrysler/gm, no more loans needed?
United Auto Workers union president Ron Gettelfinger says Chrysler and GM may not need additional federal funds beyond the $17.4 billion already approved.
In an exclusive interview at the UAW’s Solidarity House, the union leader told Automotive News that sales in 2009 will determine whether more money will be needed to keep the automakers solvent. Gettelfinger is hopeful the market will stay above 12 million units which is in line with projections from Ford and General Motors but about a million sales more than Chrysler is forecasting.
The funding that GMAC will receive as a bank holding company, combined with the loan package for Chrysler and GM should be enough to avoid any liquidity problems as much of the money can be used to finance dealer and consumer sales. The freezing of the credit market was one of the major contributors to the cash crisis that forced the Detroit automakers to look to Washington for financial assistance.
http://www.allpar.com/news/index.php/2009/01/gettelfinger-chrysler-gm-may-not-need-additional-loans/
chrysler lowest amount of recalls of big 6
http://www.allpar.com/news/index.php/2009/01/chrysler-has-fewest-recalls-among-big-six-automakers/
