Category Archives: economy

General Motors Sells Opel/Vauxhall to PSA Group for €2.2B

The deal includes all of Opel/Vauxhall’s automotive operations, comprising Opel and Vauxhall brands, six assembly and five component manufacturing facilities, one engineering center (Rüsselsheim, Deutschland) and approximately 40,000 employees. GM will retain the engineering center in Torino, Italy. Continue reading

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GM to Announce Sale of Opel/Vauxhall this Monday with Investors’ Call and a Press Conference

If the deal goes through, it would mean GM’s presence in Europe would be limited to niche sales of Cadillac, and Chevrolet Camaro and Corvette models – all of them exports. PSA is the third largest automaker in Europe behind Renault. Volkswagen Group leads in Europe PSA Group’s sales were 1,930,000 vehicles and increased by 3.6% in 2016. In 2016, global sales increased by 5.8%, to 3,146,000 units. Continue reading

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February 2017 U.S. Sales Dip Slightly as Cars Tank

There was a rout in car sales with an overall decline of -12.1%. The Detroit Three lead the car sales decline: at GM -21.9% Ford Motor -21.2%, FCA -30.8%. Other that fared badly in the dwindling market included: Honda -8%, Nissan -10.7%, Hyundai -5.5%Kia -8.5%, Porsche -18.9%. Continue reading

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Australian Union Calls for Action on Chinese Steel

The Commission has the power to impose tariffs to address dumping. However, in 2004, Australia became one of only two major developed economies to grant market economy status to China (after New Zealand), severely hampering its policy options for addressing Chinese steel dumping. Continue reading

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Win, Win? GM to Sell Opel to PSA

The combined volume of the groups could exceed current second-placed Renault-Nissan but would still be well short of market leader VW group. Continue reading

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Affordable Used Vehicles Becoming Scarce

For consumers considering trading in older used vehicles, 2017 could be the time. The latest study predicts a record number of off-lease vehicles will fill dealer lots and that a declining number of older trade-ins will put significant upward pressure on the late model used market this year. Continue reading

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General Motors to Sell Opel/Vauxhall and Leave Europe?

If the PSA deal goes through, it would mean GM’s presence in Europe would be limited to niche sales of Cadillac, and Chevrolet Camaro and Corvette models – all of them exports. Continue reading

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General Motors Announces ~7000 US Manufacturing Jobs

GM also said it will begin work on in-sourcing axle production for its next generation full-size pickup trucks, including work previously done in Mexico, to operations in Michigan, creating 450 U.S. jobs. Continue reading

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Un-Sweet Tweet – Trump Outburst Against Chevrolet Cruze

Incoming U.S. President Donald Trump today raged against General Motors, threatening to impose a “big border tax” for making some Chevrolet Cruze cars in Mexico. Continue reading

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Holiday Travel Put at 36.8 billion Miles

Americans are expected to log 36.8 billion miles on the road visiting family and friends – a 46% increase (11.6 billion miles) compared to 2015. Continue reading

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Pew – Digital Commerce Platforms Help and Exploit Workers

About 24% of Americans earned money from the digital platform economy in the past year as gig work is blurring the lines between formal and casual labor, “jobs” and hobbies. Continue reading

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Collision Course – Trump, Mexico, NAFTA

Despite what appears to be Trumps ill-informed trade views – if they are informed at all – CAR using data, not diatribes, observes that the major reason for this rapid growth of the auto industry in Mexico comes from the injection of $13.3 billion in investment to move 3.3 million units of vehicle capacity from Japan, Germany, and South Korea to Mexico Continue reading

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Record Number of Auto Buyers Underwater on Trade-Ins

A growing number of auto shoppers have negative equity – underwater in industry terms – on their trade-ins when they’re purchasing their next vehicle. Per Edmunds data, an estimated 32% of all trade-ins toward the purchase of a new vehicle through Q3 of 2016 were underwater. Continue reading

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Trump versus Auto Industry – Outcome Could be Ugly

The crucial question – and unknown – is to what extent campaign rhetoric translates into real policy decisions under a Trump administration. In gridlocked Washington, this won’t be known for, well, who knows how long? Continue reading

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Wages Rising at New Car Dealerships. Turnover Problematic

During 2015, America’s new-car dealerships created new jobs and provided median weekly earnings of $1,026, which exceeded non-farm, private-sector median weekly earnings of $825 by 24%. Over a five-year period, average compensation across all dealership positions increased steadily at an average annual rate of 3.2%, while median income growth of all positions grew at an average annual rate of 2.6%. Continue reading

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