Auto sales at General Motor, Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. plunged in October as the U.S. industry braced for what may be the weakest monthly sales report in a quarter century. GM plummeted 45 percent from a year earlier. Ford sold 132,248 cars and trucks last month, down 32 percent. Toyota outsold Ford on its way to its 23 percent decline. Daimler AG and American Honda were down more than 24 percent, while Porsche, Isuzu, and Suzuki fell more than 45 percent. The results reinforce the projections of analysts, who had said that the global credit crisis and plunging consumer confidence would contribute to the industry's 12th-straight monthly decline and the second-straight monthly year-to-year drop of more than 25 percent. "If you adjust for population growth, this is probably the worst industry sales month in the post-WWII era," said Mark LaNeve, GM's vice president for sales and marketing. "Until the credit markets open up and consumer confidence improves, the entire U.S. economy, and any industry like autos that relies on financing, will suffer." No hot segments Ford sales analyst George Pipas had projected an industrywide October decline of 20 to 30 percent. He and some analysts also had forecast sales at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 11 million. That would be the lowest since March 1983, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. "When the industry is hovering around 11 million, there are no hot segments or hot products," Pipas said today. "These are very challenging times.'' U.S. auto sales averaged 16.8 million this decade through 2007. Ford's U.S. brands -- Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury – fell 29.2 percent. Its Volvo unit plunged 52.1 percent. Ford's comparisons factor in 5,267 Jaguars and Land Rovers from October 2007; the U.K. brands are now owned by India's Tata Motors Ltd. Lowest since March 1983 After nine months of this year, U.S. volume was off 12.8 percent from a year earlier. Of the four biggest automakers in the United States, only two had reported monthly sales increases: General Motors in January and Toyota in April. Ford's last increase was in November 2007. Chrysler has posted one monthly gain under its current owner, Cerberus Capital Management LP, in December. Analysts project it will report its third-straight monthly decline of more than 30 percent as Cerberus continues its effort to sell Chrysler. Audi posts a gain Volkswagen's Audi unit said it may be one of the few brands to have an increase for the month. It was up 0.3 percent. The VW brand dropped 7.9 percent. "This is the toughest economy we've seen in a long time," Mark Barnes, COO of VW Group of America, said in a statement. Jim Tidwell Ford in Atlanta sold 132 new and used vehicles in October, said Blake Dobbs, new-car sales manager. At the start of the year, the monthly average was about 250. A 31 percent decline in average U.S. gasoline prices during the month helped trucks, he said. But one new Ford vehicle, the Flex has been a disappointment, said Dobbs. "We ordered a bunch to help Ford out, but the price point is too high,'' Dobbs said. "We only sold two in October.'' Ford's volume dropped 36 percent in September and Toyota was down 32 percent as the industry's sales totals fell below 1 million for the first time since February 1993.
Very interesting, it's odd that as I read what you posed Deep Gloss I remembered what was said about the Canadian auto market, surprisingly the Canadian auto sales just barely increased. We are all in for a long recovery...but remember what ever goes up must come down and what ever goes down must go back up eventually. One thing is for sure, there will be many opportunities in the near future :thumb:
with economy being in deep sh!t ,thanks to Bush, which should of never even won the second term, but people voted for him so houses' so called "value" can increase enormously absolutely for no reason whatsoever...he has done such a bad job in his second term (he obviously didn't care), that I think even Michael Jackson would have done a better job... Now people simply refuse to buy...their lower their prices just to get rid of cars and still struggle... Audi doesn't sell well in America, therefore it doesn't hold it's value...Same goes for Cadillac, and a few others... Even Honda and Toyota struggle...
When your 60% of total sales come from leased or finaced goods you are doom in credit pinch like now. Unless the company financing dept has boatload of cash. Well, even Toyota and BMW have limits (BMW is acused by Audi fans to jack up residual of their cars, there maybe truth to that). I saw not too long ago $429 amonth with 7month safety deposit on 335i drive of; BTW the 7-month safety deposit is returneable at the end of lease. try that with other luxury imports. in my eyes, the problem of big-3 is not quality. This is why I am not in the bandwagon of bailing them out with tax payer money. Reason: 1) Executive is paid way too much 2) UAW 3) bad company culture 4) Oversight of pension/healthcare for retires policy* Number 4 is what our social security pre-view in 2025, that is way too scary for me. Hint, number of active workers to retires ratio goes from 10:1 to 2:1:yikes: How can big-3 sucessful when every car they sell $2000 goes to pension/health fund for retires. I am not asking to kill this program(it's promised to those workers long time ago)cause it'll be hardship for midwest but try to apply the same tax on Toyota for the rest of company life wou think Toyota will be #1 for long???
I would check the auctions for a car, alot have people have lost their new car and the bank repoed them, very cheap prcies
and prices shall never all of a sudeen be ridicuosly raised again for no reason...people that initiate it, shall be punished...enough of idea I wanna make more money by raising the prices...
My buddy was offered 0% financing for 5 years at the Caddy dealership the other day. Things are not looking good for them.
Dodge is giving 40% off their trucks... It actually is a good time to buy a car, but not a good time to sell one.
I completely agree but add inept management. They never thought more than a few years ahead. They focused on gas guzzlers. Yes, prices have dropped but will they forget again? I would also like to add they resisted virtually ever positive change (safety, emissions, fuel economy) regulation. I am in favor of hellping them to some extent but they need to "give" rather than just "take". My view is they should accept a 20% across the board pay cut (execs more). Now inept mgmt will give out exec bonuses (like AA did) while the workforce pays the price.
Maybe all ceo's and upper management should let the books be open for other eyes to see as well as the rest of the workers. This started back when the steel companies ruled, meaning higher wages through the union and carried over to the auto industry. They where paid rather well back in in the late 60's and set the tone for the future.They had it good for pretty long.
hey guys lets not forget here possibly the biggest reason that auto companies are foundering at the moment... Government restrictions. Look all around the world and cars ford and chevy cars are selling fine, its because the US govt tries to step in and tell car companies how to build cars. most of the time for stupid reasons and with bad results. We go any further on the track we're heading with government control of the auto industry and we're gona be communists... anybody here wana drive a Lada? didnt think so
I seen Jeremy Clarkson driving it on TOP GEAR. Such a shitty car...here it is - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvfQ45jNiWA
