Category Archives: results

U.S. New Car Transaction Prices Continue Slow Rise

The average transaction price for new light vehicles in the United States was $31,657 in August 2013, an increase of $221 or +0.7% year-over-year. Continue reading

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Chrysler IPO Filing this Week

The UAW says the stock is worth $10.3 billion; Fiat says it is worth $4.2 billion. Fiat, of course, saved Chrysler from oblivion in 2009 as part of a controversial U.S. Treasury financed bankruptcy proceeding that essentially handed over Chrysler to Fiat for Fiat’s promise to save UAW jobs and reinvest in the company, but no cash. Continue reading

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China Auto Sales Continue Upward. GM Sets August Record

China’s entire light vehicle market posted a solid start in Q3, with locally‐made light vehicle sales according to the latest data available reaching 1.43 million units in July, up 9.3% from a year earlier. Continue reading

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2014 Toyota Corolla Ups Ante in Compact Car Game

Toyota Motor coming off two straight months knocking Ford Motor out of its traditional Number Two sales position in the U.S. market is introducing an all-new Corolla model. Not only will this present formidable competition for the Ford Focus, but it will also challenge Honda Civic, Nissan Altima, Mazda3 as well as the rest of compact cars in this high volume segment. Continue reading

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August European Auto Sales Down Again

Auto sales in Western Europe fell by 5.3% in August dashing the hopes of auto executives that the market had finally bottomed out while continuing a five year negative trend as the results continue to confirm the bleak conditions facing the industry. Continue reading

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Ford Motor Company Credit Ratings Raised by S&P

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services today raised its credit ratings on Ford Motor Company and Ford Motor Credit to an investment grade of ‘BBB-‘ from ‘BB+’, and revised the outlook on both companies to stable from positive. Continue reading

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Asian Brands Dominate U.S. August Sales

While the pickup truck market dominated by the Detroit Three exploded during August, in the crucial and larger car market, Asian brands ruled. Continue reading

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Chrysler, Ford, GM Post Double Digit August Sales Gains

Chrysler, Ford and GM all recorded double digit gains in U.S. August sales as the market went back to the pre-Great Recession levels of 2007. Robust pickup truck sales, a relatively trouble free changeover to the production of 2014 models, cheap credit and strong retail demand, all were factors in an overall industry that is now running at more than 16 million units annually. Continue reading

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Ford Motor Used Vehicle Sales Running at Record Levels

In general, automakers are setting record used car sales through their dealers as the U.S. economy slowly recovers – more than 80% of workers commute to work in vehicles – and interest rates remain at absurdly low rates as taxpayers continue to subsidize the bankers and Wall Street firms that caused the Great Recession. Record high new vehicle prices – more than $30,000 on average for a car, +$40,000 for a truck – are also forcing some buyers into used vehicles. Continue reading

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2.95 Trillion Miles Travelled on Interstate Highways During 2011

Drivers tallied 2.95 trillion miles during 2011 on U.S. interstate highways, according to a new report from the Federal Highway Administration, or nearly double the number of highway miles traveled in 1980. Continue reading

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August Auto Sales Forecast at a Robust 13.1 Million SAAR

U.S. new vehicle sales in August are projected at 1,270,400 units, a 12% increase from August 2012 and the highest monthly sales tally since 2006. Continue reading

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Georgia Most Expensive State to Drive in, Oregon Cheapest

California ($3,966), Wyoming ($3,938), Rhode Island ($3,913) and Nevada ($3,886) round out the five most expensive states. Alaska ($2,227), South Dakota ($2,343), Montana ($2,660) and Indiana ($2,698) join Oregon among the five cheapest states. Continue reading

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Ally Closer to IPO as it Plans to Buy Back Treasury Stock

If several complicated agreements and transactions go as planned, U.S. taxpayers will recover $12.1 billion or more than two-thirds of the bailout they subsidized. Ally has currently paid the U.S. Treasury $6.2 billion. Continue reading

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North Carolina Joins Electronic Title and Lien Parade

Legislation just signed in North Carolina directs the Division of Motor Vehicles (aka NC DMV) to start an electronic titling and lien program by July 2014. Within a year of implementation, banks, credit unions and other automotive lenders in the state will begin to replace their paper liens with an electronic exchange of data with the NC DMV. North Carolina would be the 20th state to do so. Continue reading

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Save Highland Park the $5 a Day Model T Plant with a $5 Donation

The Woodward Avenue Action Association, aka WA3, has bid $550,000 to buy two of the buildings at the famous Ford manufacturing complex: the Administration Building, which fronts Woodward, and the adjacent 8,000-square-foot executive garage. Continue reading

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