May 2009 sales figures have been released and it appears that Ford and GM fared far better than their Japanese competition. GM sales dropped 29.55% compared to May 2008, and Ford saw a sales drop of only 24.25% from the same time last year. Toyota, Honda and Nissan all posted larger drops in sales, at 40.72%, 41.46% and 33.10% respectively. The redesigned 2010 Ford Fusion and Fusion Hybrid are just part of the success story there, while larger incentives are most likely the reason for the slightly lower drop at GM. For all of the details, head on over to Autoblog.
That’s right folks. Ford is predicting that truck sales will climb in the 3rd Quarter of this year, despite gas prices that have continued their climb for the past month and a half or so. The increase is expected as a result of the $788 billion stimulus package that the Obama administration has begun handing out, as construction projects begin to ramp up.
Ford says they are not looking to beat on their nearly dead rivals with increased production, and Ford President Mark Fields insists this is just “us working our plan.” Hopefully the sales that Ford steals come from where it really matters; Toyota and Honda (who don’t really make competitive trucks, so we’ll see how it goes.) For more, head on over to the Wall Street Journal.
2009 Cadillac CTS-V Hennessey (Hennessey)
There’s something you will never read about a Toyota or Honda. Their cars would just implode at the thought of being powerful and fun to drive. The team at Hennessey has come up with 4 packages that basically turn the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V into a four door Corvette ZR1. For all of the details, head on over to Hennessey.
As with most Hennessey products, I’m sure these packages aren’t cheap, but a guy can dream can’t he? Now if only I could win the lotto…
Honda posts fiscal fourth quarter loss, larger than Ford’s
Super-awesome-madness Honda Civic!
More proof that the Detroit 3 automakers are not the only ones loosing money: Honda reported a $1.92 billion loss for its fiscal fourth quarter ending in March. Honda sales dropped 42% to $18.4 billion from $31.6 billion. This is also Honda’s first quarterly loss in 15 years. On the heels of this news is word that Toyota will also be posting a loss for the same period.
For its last fiscal quarter, Ford reported a loss of $1.43 billion; which now all of a sudden doesn’t look so bad. Sounds like Ford is on its way to becoming a leaner and more efficient automotive company; good job Ford, and keep it up!
For more information, read the full article at The Wall Street Journal.
2010 Mustang reveal (Ford)
The Ford Mustang turns 45 this month, and to celebrate, tons of events are being planned by the Blue Oval. In it’s long history, the Mustang has sold over 9 million copies, which is quite an impressive feat, considering I can think of only a few other name plates that can say the same thing (and non are from Toyota or Honda…imagine that!) For full details on the events, head on over to www.MustangEvents.org.
From the original in 1964 all the way to the 2010 that went on sale just a few weeks ago, the Mustang is an American icon. For anyone who hasn’t seen the new Mustang, I highly encourage them to take a look and see how much this pony car for all ages has grown up – inside and out.
Stop by AmericanMuscle.com and check out their large selection of Mustang Stripes.
Sales decline (blogspot.com)
Sales figures for March 2009 vs. 2008 are in and, as expected, they’re pretty bad. Every automaker saw sales declines except for Subaru and Kia (in terms of the daily average sales rate, not monthly.) The one spot of good news is that domestic sales were not as bad as they were expected, and even more interesting is the fact that Honda, Nissan and Toyota all posted sales declines that were very close to those seen at Chrysler, Ford and General Motors. For the full list, head on over to Autoblog.
Unsold Honda vehicles (Marvin Fong/ The Plain Dealer)
That’s right. Honda is using Ford’s former Lorain Assembly plant to store up to 10,000 units of unsold inventory. Honda operates a number of plants in Ohio, so it makes sense that they would try and find a location near the plants to store vehicles. The plant was closed back in 2005, due to slow demand for the vans and SUVs that were being built there, and then eventually sold to the Industrial Realty Group. The facility has been rented out to various companies over the years, but this is the first case of a once domestic owned plant being used by a foreign automaker (even if it is just for storage.) As much as I dislike the foreign car companies, I’m glad to hear that there is one less completely abandoned commercial property out there. Ohio has been hit hard by the hurting auto industry. For more details, head on over to blog.cleveland.
Honda may follow Toyota and ask Japanese Government for aid
Honda needs cash
Basically it all stems down to the rough credit market here in the US. Toyota and Honda cannot get financing for all of their potential buyers, so they’re asking the Japanese Government to help them out. So even the guys who sell some of the most fuel efficient cars in America are having trouble…something tells me hybrids aren’t so great afterall. Head on over to Bloomberg for the full story.
Automakers struggling to retain America’s support for aid
Abandoned GM Plant
In a recent USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, 1 in 4 Americans say they are for continued government funding for the American automakers. This is down from 61% approval found in December, before the government approved bridge loans for the Detroit 3. According to Porter Stansberry, head of Stansberry & Associates Investment Research, the more people understand what is wrong with General Motors, the less willing they are to support more money from the government.
I see a major flaw in this reasoning, because from everything I read on the Internet, most Americans have no clue what is wrong at GM. GM had 8 recommended buys from Consumer Reports this month, they have won tons of awards in the past few years. Their quality, warranty, pricing and products are better than they have ever been. I am constantly bombarded by people who say no one buys their vehicles, well GM still outsold Toyota last year in the U.S. Toyota barely outsold GM throughout the world, so it’s a bit of a stretch to say that no one buys their vehicles.
Maybe people are against support because they don’t feel that it affects them. I will be posting an article later today that outlines how GM is cutting back, starting with a $800 million cut back in their marketing budge. Think about all of the marketing companies that will be affected, the empty billboards, cable providers will lose out on revenue, magazines and newspapers will lose out on missed ads as well. The affect of people not supporting AMERICA and American businesses is starting to have an affect.
In Japan, people fight to see Japan survive, and to see Japan do well. It’s in their culture. Toyota wants Honda to win, and to see Mazda succeed, because it’s in Japan’s best interest. In America, it’s every man for himself. If I can get ahead by putting you down, then I will do just that. We should be pulling together and realizing that what happens to the Domestic 3, will affect us all. It already has and it is going to get worse until people learn what the true problem is with GM and Chrysler…overall public stupidity. People need to stop pushing the stereotypes that their cars are not competitive and take the time to read the facts. They are safety leaders, fuel economy leaders, technology leaders, and besides that, they employ directly and indirectly, millions of people in this country.
It’s not just US automakers that are in trouble; Japan’s market, home of the world’s largest automaker, is also in a deep recession. Auto sales are down 28% in Japan, the largest drop in over 35 years. Toyota sales are down 22%, not including the Lexus brand (whose sales probably dropped even more), and Honda sales are down 35%. The companies are cutting wages and jobs as a way to deal with the greatly reduced consumer demand.
Read the full article at Bloomberg.
