FEATURED ARTICLE
As '09 Inventories Deplete, Who Will Blink First - Carmakers or Customers?
After the sales plunge in the auto market began in earnest in the fall of 2008, automakers scrambled to reduce production schedules, sell off swollen inventories and otherwise deal with a drastically contracting U.S. market.
Now, after months of production cutbacks orchestrated by many automakers and the summer's outsized demand from the $3 billion Cash for Clunkers rebate program, bloated inventories are a thing of the past. Now, data researchers at Edmunds.com say the coming months may be a tug of war between still-cautious buyers and right-sized-but-cash-strapped automakers anxious to hold the line on pricing.
It could be a battle that sees winners and losers on both sides as uncommon market and industry forces collide in what will be an unpredictable sales environment.
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GM Sees 11 Million SAAR Month Possible for November
November 19, 2009
It's early, admit General Motors prognosticators, but November could hit a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate of 11 million vehicle sales, making it the highest level this year outside of the Cash for Clunker months of July and August.
GM's top analyst Mike DiGiovanni told media in a conference call Thursday that the automaker is encouraged by positive economic signs and the automaker may turn in its fourth consecutive month of market share gain.
Edmunds.com's forecast, issued early Thursday, is less rosy, putting the predicted SAAR at about 10.34 million vehicles sold in November, which in the best of times is the worst month for vehicle sales except for January.
Posted by Michelle Krebs at 12:34 PM under Analysis , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | Seed Newsvine
GM Engineers Call Customers Who Returned Cars
November 19, 2009
At the request of General Motors' new chairman, Ed Whitacre, the automaker's top 
engineers are calling the couple hundred customers who are returning or exchanging their GM cars under the 60-day money-back guarantee policy to find out why.
Mark Reuss, GM's recently appointed vice president of global engineering, told reporters Thursday that he personally is calling customers.
This evening, Reuss will call a customer who was dissatisfied with and returned a Chevrolet Malibu under the program. And he will call the buyer of a Chevrolet Silverado who reported the interior room wasn't roomy enough and the exterior paint and finish were unsatisfactory.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 11:13 AM under Business , GM , Personalities | Comments (9) | digg this | Seed Newsvine
Latest Hybrids Probably Won't Help Build the Market
November 19, 2009
In order to prod soccer moms across the nation to plug a visit to the BMW dealership into their Blackberrys, BMW North America Inc. this week nonchalantly announced the price for its first "full" hybrid-electric vehicle, the ActiveHybrid X6: $89,725.
Welcome to hybridization as seen by German luxury marques, who, given their choices for showcasing hybrid technology, seem to be more intent on using their new hybrids to prove why their diesel-powered models make much more sense in terms of actually appealing to consumers.
At nearly $90,000, the ActiveHybrid X6 has a total of 485 horsepower, weighs more than 5,600 pounds, delivers a 2-mpg improvement over than the 6-cylinder X6 (4 mpg better in the city and 1 mpg worse on the highway than the V8 X6) - and still has plenty of extra-price options.
In the spring, BMW will follow up with the ActiveHybrid 7, the hybridized version of its 7-Series flagship. The car is certain to crack the 6-figure price barrier.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 9:30 AM under Business , Chrysler , Companies , GM , In the Media , Technology | Comments (1) | digg this | Seed Newsvine
Automakers Launch Holiday Promotions to Offset November Sales Blues
November 19, 2009
November is living up to its reputation as one of the worst months of the year for car sales, prompting automakers to launch holiday promotions in an effort to end one of the worst years for sales on a slightly higher note.
November sales in the U.S., both retail and fleet, are expected to total 710,000 vehicles, a 4.5 percent decline from November 2008 and a 15.0-percent decrease from October, according to Edmunds.com's forecast. That would put the Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) at 10.34 million vehicles, down from 10.43 million in October. Except for January, sales in November typically are the lowest of the year.
"Everyone is hopeful that Thanksgiving weekend will boost the sales numbers," said Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Jessica Caldwell. "But automakers have already launched holiday season incentives in order to pick up the pace, and that sense of desperation suggests that bigger discounts - but smaller selection - may be available for those who wait to buy."
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:22 AM under Analysis , Companies , Featured | Comments (0) | digg this | Seed Newsvine
The Street's Already Abuzz About 2011 Hyundai Sonata
November 18, 2009
Think of four words you might use to describe a Hyundai Sonata. Got 'em? Did any of the 
following come to mind: "Sharp"? "Distinctive"? "Aggressive"? "Radical"? If not, then perhaps you haven't seen the all-new for 2011 Hyundai Sonata because that's how car shoppers and enthusiasts on Edmunds' CarSpace Forums are talking about Hyundai's latest design.
A formal introduction doesn't come until the Detroit auto show in January -- and the car likely won't hit showrooms for months after that - but Edmunds.com members are already buzzing, calling it "probably the most original of the new Hyundai lineup" and "the first Hyundai design that has attitude" -- high praise considering the award-winning Genesis sedan and coupe that Hyundai already released this year.
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Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:46 PM under Commentary , Companies , Featured | Comments (6) | digg this | Seed Newsvine
Tough New Roof Test Whittles Down Field of IIHS 'Top Safety Pick' Winners
November 18, 2009
A rigorous new roof-strength standard means a lot fewer new models earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's "Top Safety Pick" award for 2010.
This year, just 27 individual models were named Top Safety Pick by the IIHS, compared with last year's record 94 models that earned the award. Most of the reason so many new vehicles couldn't grab the brass ring comes down to a newly instituted roof-safety test presumed to indicate superior protection in rollovers, which are involved in about one-third of all fatal accidents.
"With the addition of our new roof strength evaluation, our crash test results now cover all 4 of the most common kinds of crashes," said IIHS president Adrian Lund in a release. "Consumers can use this list to zero in on the vehicles that are on the top rung for safety."
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 10:00 AM under Business , Chrysler , Companies , Ford , In the Media , News , Technology , Volkswagen, Audi | Comments (0) | digg this | Seed Newsvine
Ghosn Confirms Nissan to Persevere with Titan, Other Trucks in U.S.
November 18, 2009
In a recent meeting with automotive media, Nissan-Renault chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn said Nissan intends to stick with fullsize pickups in the U.S. and also said there is a future for other trucks and SUVs in Nissan's model range, including the Quest minivan.
The fullsize pickup market has been battered by the U.S. economic upheaval and the auto industry's resulting plunge, and import-brand fullsizers have had the worst of it. Sales for Nissan's Titan were down a striking 50.2 percent through October, to a meager 15,393 sold.
After a deal in which Nissan arranged to have the next-generation Titan based on the Dodge Ram pickup and manufactured by Chrysler Group LLC evaporated earlier this year, questions began to circulate about whether Nissan would remain in the domestic-nameplate-dominated segment that has proven difficult for import brands to invade.
But Ghosn said despite the setback from losing the Chrysler connection, Nissan is hanging in the fullsize-pickup game.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 3:05 AM under Business , Companies , News | Comments (0) | digg this | Seed Newsvine
Chevy Volt Less Than One Year Away
November 18, 2009
Engineers at General Motors Co. working on the 2011 Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle yesterday told the media development remains on track and that the start of production for GM's game-changing, fuel-saving 4-seater now is less than a year away.
When GM unveiled the Volt at the Detroit auto show in January, 2007, the promise of production seemed tantalizingly far-flung - and improbable, given the myriad technical problems GM admitted had to be solved. But chief engineer Andrew Farah says the accelerated development program is on schedule and GM will begin producing the Volt in less than a year's time.
And despite the recent drama involving the proposed sale of GM's Adam Opel AG European operations and the company's eleventh-hour decision to keep the division, Farah says Opel's version of the Volt, the Ampera, remains on target to hit showrooms about a year after the Volt.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 3:00 AM under Companies , GM , News , Technology | Comments (0) | digg this | Seed Newsvine
For GM, It's North America - Or Bust
November 17, 2009
The good news after General Motors Co.'s report on its financial health was released Monday: the "new" General isn't dying.
But the patient's long-term prognosis, admitted CEO Fritz Henderson, isn't exactly a clean bill of health just yet.
"When you come away from it, we lost money (in the period from July 10 to Sept. 30)" said Henderson, calling the situation "not satisfactory."
And while GM's operating cash flow figure for the period was a healthy-enough $3.3 billion, one recurring malady has popped up on GM's first-ever post-bankruptcy report: North American operations didn't get the job done.
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Posted by Bill Visnic at 4:33 PM under Analysis , Featured , GM | Comments (5) | digg this | Seed Newsvine
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