Category Archives: results

Toyota Bests VW and GM as largest Automaker at 2014 Half

Toyota Motor Corporation retained its Number One global sales lead over a formidable and expanding Volkswagen Group by selling 5.1 million vehicles through the first two quarters of 2014. Continue reading

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Ford Motor Posts Q2 Pre-Tax Profit of $2.6 Billion

It was a solid quarter particularly when compared with Q1 results of a pre-tax profit of $1.4 billion, a decrease of $765 million compared Q1 of 2013. It’s possible that Ford moved charges into Q1 to pave the way for the CEO change that took place on 1 July with Mark Field replacing Alan Mulally. Continue reading

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GM Q2 Flops with $200 Million Net Income. Stockholders Whacked with $1.2 Billion in Recall Charges

GM is taking a $900 million non-cash pre-tax special charge in Q2 for the estimated costs of future possible recalls for up to the next 10 years on 30 million GM vehicles on the road today. A special charge of $400 million was taken for the GM ignition switch compensation program. GM said this is the best estimate of the amounts that may be paid to claimants. It guess-timated the total cost could increase by approximately $200 million. Continue reading

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Auto Loan Subprime and Prime Losses Increase In May

Losses for U.S. prime auto loan asset backed securities and subprime ABS increased in May but strong used care values propped up the results. Continue reading

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GM Delivers 2.5 M Vehicles in 2014 Q2. Falls Behind Volkswagen Group at Half

Since Toyota Motor has not yet reported sales, all that remains is Toyota’s ranking. Smart money would bet on Toyota being Number One, but that will not be known until the end of July when the Japanese giant reports. During 2013, Toyota sold 9.7 million vehicles last year, compared to GM’s 9.29 million and VW’s 9.1 million. Continue reading

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2015 Chevy, GMC Pickups and SUV derivatives Have 8-Speed Transmissions in Fuel Economy Upgrade

In theory, fuel economy should improve on the EPA sticker, but estimates will be announced closer to the start of production in Q4 of 2014. Continue reading

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All Star Game MVP Mike Trout Picks Corvette Prize

The action packed bout – surrounded by too much marketing hype, special promos and just plain commercial silliness that went on too long, including egomaniac announcer Joe Buck being asked out of the locker room just before the game was going to start by NYY #2, aka the Captain, proved how badly the 162 game season has been damaged by, on average 3 to 4 hour matches where pitching dominates. Continue reading

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Ford Motor Declares Q3 Dividend

The Board of Directors of Ford Motor Company declared a Q3 dividend of $0.125 per share on the company’s outstanding Class B – controlled by the family – as well as shares of common stock. Continue reading

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US June Auto Sales Strong Despite Recall Mania

Led by the Detroit Three, June auto sales bode well for the second half of 2014 even as recalls pervade the industry. Detroit Three brands finished June with a 46.2% market share with sales of 656,965 vehicles because of strong SUV and pickup truck sales – hurting Asian brands, whose share dropped almost 2 percentage points at 632,027 vehicles, compared to 743,937 vehicles last month. For the GM watchers, sales of 268,000 resulted in a share of 18.8%, meaning the ignition switch tragedy and fiasco has not hurt its brands thus far.
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Transaction Prices at Record High for the First Half of 2014

As total new-vehicle retail sales in the United States are projected to reach 6.5 million for the first half of 2014, consumers are paying record prices for new vehicles. Continue reading

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Automakers Flub Launch of High Tech Vehicles, IQS Shows

The latest IQS or quality data revealed today at the Automotive Press Association meeting in Detroit shows that the number of problems experienced by new-vehicle owners has increased from the previous year, as automakers continue to have severe problems with complicated technologies now being deployed in new vehicles. Continue reading

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EU Car Market Sales up 4.5% in May

Registrations of new passenger cars increased 4.5% in the EU during May, the ninth consecutive month of improvements year-over-year. While seemingly good news, the 1,093,448 units registered was the second lowest result to date for a month of May since ACEA – the automaker’s trade group – began tracking numbers in 2003 with the enlarged EU. Continue reading

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GM to take $700 Million Charge for Q2 Safety Recalls

GM said today in an SEC filing that it expects to take a charge of up to $700 million in the second quarter for the cost of recall-related repairs announced. This amount includes a previously disclosed $400 million charge for recalls announced May 15 and May 20. Continue reading

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EPA Forces Ford to Lower Fuel Economy Ratings

Given the ongoing fuel economy rating scandals, with Hyundai and Kia being an egregious example, as well as numerous road tests from independent sources on other make vehicles, including AutoInformed, we no longer have confidence in EPA fuel economy stickers. Buyers beware; mpg is in a lot of cases ‘meaningless per gallon. Continue reading

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US Vehicle Sales at Nine Year High in May

The calendar helped US light vehicle sales to a nine-year record during May of 2014 as the Federal government continued to print money and hold interest rates low. Overall, the light vehicle market expanded 11.4% to 1.6 million units. The real change was in the light truck market, which grew 13.3% to 815,000 units. Continue reading

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