Mercedes-Benz
Lux-taposition: 2010 Premium-Brand Finish Means 2011 Up for Grabs
By Bill Visnic January 6, 2011In one of the luxury market's closest finishes in years, fewer than 10,000 sales was the difference between the industry's top luxury player in 2010 - still Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus - and the second- and third-place finishers, German standard-bearers Mercedes-Benz and BMW. That suggests the luxury sales crown is up for grabs in 2011. more
Industry Sees 2010 as Prelude to Even Better 2011
By Michelle Krebs January 4, 2011By Dale Buss, Michelle Krebs and Bill Visnic Don't look now, but U.S. automakers may be counting on a stronger-than-expected finish to 2010 to launch a stronger-than-hoped-for beginning to the new year. Industry-wide U.S. sales reached about 11.5 million units, automakers reported on Tuesday, up 11 percent from 2009 sales of about 10.4 million units. That final tally was about what auto executives were predicting throughout 2010. But their confidence grew during a particularly robust fourth quarter, when the Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate of sales (SAAR) actually exceeded 12 million units in each month. This means that the American more
November Sales Uptick Feeds Industry Expectations
By AutoObserver Staff December 1, 2010Holiday spirits are bright across most of the U.S. auto industry this week after carmakers posted November sales about 18 percent higher than a year earlier, and at a strengthening seasonally adjusted annual rate sales pace of about 12.2 million units for the second consecutive month. more
Sturdy Sales Gains in November: Ice Breaking with Consumers?
By Bill Visnic December 1, 2010As automakers began to report the results of November sales today, firm double-digit gains for most in what historically is one of the year's weakest sales months could indicate the standoff with consumers and the still-wavering economy could be easing. General Motors Co. reported a sales gain of 11 percent, and 20 percent when accounting only for the four brands - Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC - it has retained. Sales continued on an upward trend for all of the brands, with Buick leading the way with a 36-percent improvement compared with last November. Sales at surging Ford Motor more
Los Angeles Auto Show Heralds Uncertain but Hopeful New Year
By Bill Visnic November 16, 2010There is much hopeful and upbeat as the Los Angeles auto show opens to the media today. Automakers are making an increasingly credible collective effort to open a new era of advanced, more-efficient and more environmentally friendly personal mobility. There's a growing sense such a transformation might even evolve into profitable business. And, of course, there's the rebound - so far a stunted, jerky one, but 2010 will be kinder to the auto industry than was 2009. Many automakers, however, still are licking wounds from the protracted recession, the battle for market share is more cutthroat than ever and more
New Models Drive Luxury Sales in October; Momentum Continues for Others
By Michelle Krebs November 2, 2010October sales reports began rolling in Tuesday and, as predicted, the rate of sales could be the highest of the year. The Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) of sales is forecasted by Edmunds.com to be close to 12 million units. "However," cautioned Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds.com's director of industry analysis, "the actual sales volume will be low. October probably will be the third lowest month for actual unit sales, behind January and February." And that's typical. Edmunds.com's analysis of sales trends from 2002 through 2009 shows October traditionally is the third worst month of the year; January is the worst, November more
Auto Sales Firmed in September, Brightening Picture
By Bill Visnic October 1, 2010U.S. auto sales steadied last month, rising slightly from the seasonal pace of August and reassuring carmakers that they'll still finish the year ahead about 10 percent in sales volume compared with a dismal 2009. Industry-wide sales were about 958,835 units in September, up a healthy 30.8 percent from year-earlier sales of 733,069 units. The percentage increase this year was discounted because it was such an easy comparison with September, 2009, when sales dropped off atypically after the federal government's "cash for clunkers" program touched off a buying frenzy in August. But the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate for more
August Sales Portray an Auto Industry Going 'Sideways'
By AutoObserver Staff September 1, 2010U.S. auto sales have entered a period where treading water is the best the industry can hope for as American consumers deal with sobering economic realities and grim expectations. August sales results underscored that trend, coming in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 11.5 million units, solidly within the narrow range of the last few months - and consistent with previous expectations for the rest of the year and 2010 as a whole. more
Analysts Bet on Declining Auto Demand for Bearish Daimler Options
By Michelle Krebs August 11, 2010Daimler AG, parent company of Mercedes-Benz and smart among others, is poised to reverse this year's vehicle sales rally, according to a new analysts' report out of Europe, cited by Bloomberg News. Reports from analysts at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group note concern with production overcapacity in Europe and lackluster consumer demand due to pressure on disposable incomes come and fragile household balance sheets. more
Industry Looks for Sales-Pumping Buzz from Detroit Auto Show
By Bill Visnic January 7, 2011"Somber" might best describe the atmosphere of the past two Detroit auto shows, the international auto show that opens and often sets the tone for the new year. Automakers aren't prepping for a re-visit of the rollicking Detroit-show days when the industry was booming along at 16 million-plus sales, SUVs were smashing through plate-glass walls and cattle were driven on downtown-Detroit's Jefferson Avenue, but the 11-percent U.S. sales rebound in 2010 is enough to maybe lift the cloud that's hung over the domestic automakers' hometown auto show. At least a bit. more