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Category Archives: economy
EU Commercial Vehicle Registrations -8.5% in October
In a demonstration of the murky answer to the question “is the ongoing European-recession glass half-empty or half-full?”, ACEA* said today that the EU market for new commercial vehicles continued to scuffle, declining for the sixteenth month in a row at -8.5% vehicles.
However, year-to-date registrations of new commercial vehicles across the European Union contracted by 16.8% to 1.3 million units. So things are improving somewhat since the rate of decline is decreasing. Moreover, the truck and bus segments performed better than in October 2021. Continue reading
Posted in economy, news analysis, sales
Tagged acea, auto industry commentary, autoinformed.com, eu, Ken Zino
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November US New Vehicle Sales Forecast Record Consumer Spending of $42.8B. Global Sales Good, but Fluid
New-vehicle transaction prices continue to rise, but slower than earlier this year. The average price in November will set a record for the month of $45,872, an increase of 3.1% from a year ago. The record transaction prices mean that buyers are predicted to spend nearly $42.8 billion on new vehicles this month, the highest level ever for the month of November and a 7.0% increase from November 2021 as the Biden Administration recovery continues. Continue reading
GM Raises 2022 Earnings, Offers 2023-25 Performance Goals
General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) at its annual investors’ meeting in New York City significantly raised its 2022 financial results predictions. GM now projects full-year 2022 adjusted automotive free cash flow will increase to $10-11 billion from its previous guidance of $7-9 billion. GM now projects 2022 EBIT-adjusted for the full year will be in a range of $13.5-14.5 billion, compared to its previous guidance of $13-15 billion. Continue reading
California Leading Transition to Clean Fuels, Technologies
Since California is the fourth largest economy in the world*, it will have a tremendous impact on other US States and international economic blocks as the demand created for cleaner fuels and methods will be a so-called virtuous circle that encourages innovation and then adoption of what emerges for economies of scale. Continue reading
October Global Light Vehicle Sales at 7.1M Units
Year-to-date (YTD) sales are off ~1% compared to the weak covid-afflicted base of the 2021 plague. “Despite China experiencing a third consecutive month of slowing selling rates, YTD sales were up 8%. However, North America and Europe continue to struggle YTD as supply constraints hamper performances ahead of worsening macroeconomic conditions,” LMC observed. Continue reading
President Biden at COP 27 Pledges US Leadership on Solving the Climate Crisis
The bold initiatives ended a week when the Climate Change and Election Denying Republican party , the GOPe-nope-dopes, were thumped in US mid-term elections that they and their propaganda outlets falsely predicted would be a red tsunami. Continue reading
Nissan Motor Posts ¥156.6B Profit
Consistent with what other Japanese companies said during earnings week, increased revenue and operating profit were achieved despite “a severe business environment in the first half of the fiscal year, with raw material prices rising sharply and sales volume falling below the previous year’s level due to semiconductor supply shortages and the impact of COVID-related lockdowns in Shanghai, China,” Nissan said. Continue reading
Posted in economy, financial results
Tagged auto industry commentary, autoinformed.com, Dong Feng, Ken Zino
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Mixed Economic Signals in October US Vehicle Sales
Nonetheless, automaker discounts persist at record lows. Average incentive spending per unit per Power is forecast to total $882, which is down 44.7% from October 2021. This is the sixth straight month below $1000. The question is when do vehicles become un-affordable as the Federal Reserve is deliberately sending the economy into a recession to fight inflation, which the Fed caused by years of of cheap monetary policy that mostly benefited the rich. In a mass market for automobiles, the rich can’t buy all the vehicles as production resumes to pre-pandemic rates that were running at 17 million vehicles annually. Continue reading
Posted in economy, news analysis
Tagged auto industry commentary, autoinformed.com, j.d power, Ken Zino, nada, Patrick Manzi
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US October Light Vehicle Sales Grow 11.4% to 1.2 Million
The market viewed by automaker shows that Mercedes-Benz enjoyed the strongest YoY growth in October, with a 53.0% YoY gain. Among higher-volume manufacturers, General Motors showed the strongest growth, up by 51.2% YoY. GM also led the market, with a 17.2% share, 0.9 percentage points (pp) ahead of Toyota Group. Honda Group’s struggles continue with sales down by 16.0% YoY. Stellantis and Ford Motor also saw YoY declines, of 14.0% and 10.2%, respectively. Continue reading
Posted in economy, news analysis, sales
Tagged auto industry commentary, autoinformed.com, David Oakley, GlobalData, Jeff Schuster, Ken Zino, lmc automotive
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Ford Motor US Sales Drop 10% during October 2022
A look at the sales by model reveals that Ford is now essentially a truck and SUV maker with dwindling car sales of ~41,000 year-to-date. Lincoln sold no cars at all ytd. Mercedes Benz posted a huge increase in sales of more than 50%. The difficulty in analyzing what the data mean comes from what sales were from previously placed orders, and when the US will return to a normal sales environment, which might be undefinable at this time. Ford no longer holds sales calls for media and analysts. Continue reading
Posted in economy, news analysis, sales
Tagged Andrew Frick, auto industry commentary, autoinformed.com, Ken Zino, tesla
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GM Earns $4.3 Billion in Q3 2022
“This keeps us on track to deliver our third consecutive year of full-size pickup leadership, and our 22nd year as the full-size SUV leader. To build our truck leadership and help maintain our strong margins, Chevrolet and GMC recently unveiled new mid-size and heavy-duty pickups that will launch next year,” said GM chair and CEO Mary Barra. Continue reading
Posted in economy, electric vehicles, financial results, news analysis
Tagged auto industry commentary, autoinformed.com, bolt, cruise, GM, GM Q3 2022 earnings, Ken Zino
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Renault Group Q3 – 20% Increase in Revenue at €9.8B
The Group’s orders in Europe remains at an historic level – the same in volume compared to the end of June. Renault Group also confirmed its 2022 financial outlook*, which will probably meet with analyst skepticism given the ongoing economic crisis in Europe and the negative global effects of Putin’s war against Ukraine. Balancing this is a renegotiation of the Alliance with Nissan, which could bring Renault ~$3.3 billion if it cuts it stake to 15% from 43%. Continue reading
EPA Hydrofluorocarbon Rule Attacks Global Warming
The proposal follows the Senate’s bipartisan ratification of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, a global agreement to phase down HFCs and avoid up to 0.5-degrees Centigrade of global warming by the end of this century. It’s the latest step in assuring US Global Leadership on fighting Global Warming and Extreme Climate Change, which are people, jobs and planet killing. Continue reading
Statistical Quirks Show September EU Car Sales up 10%
This is really a mathematical quirk since the “increase” came from a low base of comparison from September 2021, when the semiconductor shortage hindered vehicle production. This is an economic calamity because 12.7 million Europeans work in the auto industry, directly or indirectly, comprising 6.6% of all EU jobs. Moreover, 11.5% of EU manufacturing jobs, ~3.5 million, are in the automotive sector. Motor vehicles are responsible for €398.4 billion of tax revenue for governments within key European markets. Continue reading
Posted in economy, sales
Tagged acea, auto industry commentary, autoinformed.com, EU Passenger car sales, Ken Zino
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Federal Reserve Chair Powell Says Inflation Remains Too High
The remarks today are important to the US auto industry since it is responsible for a total of 10.3 million American jobs, or about 8% of private-sector employment as well as $650 billion in direct, indirect, and induced paychecks, according to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation*. More than $272 billion annually is contributed in the form of federal, state, and local tax revenues. This includes more than $70 billion in income taxes and $10 billion in corporate profit taxes.
Auto companies in our view need to demonstrate a degree of flexibility and speed of analysis and reaction that – much like the Covid Pandemic and Putin’s war against Ukraine – were not part of the usual operating procedures. Continue reading →