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Category Archives: results
General Motors U.S. February Sales Up 1% as Last Year’s Incentives Are Claimed to have Hurt Results
General Motors Company today reported total sales of 209,306 vehicles in February, up 1.1% compared with the company’s February 2011 results, which were boosted by high incentive levels. Overall the industry was up almost 16% based on preliminary numbers. A question remains whether GM’s recovery has stalled in the face of a strong seasonally adjusted annual selling rate or SAAR of 13.7 million light vehicles. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, marketing, results, sales
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, GM, gm february sales, Ken Zino, results
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Ford Motor February U.S. Sales Increase 14%
Leading the way at Ford was the F-Series pickup truck sales totaled 47,273 pickups, up 26% – V6 engines made up 57% of F-150 retail sales in February; the expensive EcoBoost option accounted for 43% of mix. Trucks continue to be the real strength at Ford with trucks up 21%. Cars were up 16%, utilities up 5%. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, marketing, results, sales
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, february sales, Ford, Ken Zino, results, sales results
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GM Buys 7% of PSA Peugeot Citroën to Share Parts, Vehicles
PSA already has partnerships with Ford on diesel engines, and Toyota, BMW, and Mitsubishi on components and engines. A previous GM venture started in Europe with Fiat in 2000 failed in 2005 when GM spent $2 billion to buy its way out of a put option in the deal that allowed Fiat to sell its automotive company to GM for market value. Globally, alliances have had mixed results at automakers. Continue reading
Fisker Automotive Makes Tom LaSorda CEO
Nevertheless, the future of Fisker is not clear. In 2010, the U.S. Energy Department awarded Fisker $529 million in loans as part of an effort to help development of so-called advanced-technology vehicles. Part of the loan was for redeveloping a closed General Motors plant in Wilmington, Delaware – home state of vice president Joe Biden – to build a small electric car, code named Nina – that has yet to appear. Fisker said that about one-third of the total loan amount – $190 million – has been drawn, mostly for Karma design and development. Continue reading
GM Annual Report Says No Dividend is Planned for Common
Even though GM common stock traded as high as $39.48 a share – arguably irrational exuberance by small investors after what now appears to be a high IPO price of $33 in November of 2010 – the financial condition of the GM is not strong enough to distribute money to common shareholders. This affirmation comes even though GM posted a record $9.1 billion profits in 2011. Continue reading
Toyota Prius Plug-In Gets California and Federal Subsidies
Prius Plug-in is Toyota’s first application using a lithium-ion battery pack, which it claims increases its overall fuel economy and has charging times of only 2.5 to 3 hours using a standard 120-volt outlet or 1.5 hours using 240v, which would cost at least $1,000 for a home installation.
The largest Japanese automaker, and hybrid technology leader, resisted using lithium ion batteries for years. However, political and marketing pressure, as well as government regulations favoring the controversial technology, has forced Toyota to embrace the plug-in concept, which is years or more from practical use unless you use the new “green math” to justify its steep price. Continue reading
Volkswagen Group Posts Record Profit of €11.3 Billion
Volkswagen Group is now the second largest vehicle maker in the world behind General Motors Company and just ahead of Toyota Motor Corporation, which struggled to maintain production because of natural disasters last year. GM earned a record € 6.78 billion ($9.1 b) in 2011; Toyota – on the Japanese fiscal year that ends in March of 2012 had profits of €1.50 billion (¥162.5) during first 9 months. Continue reading
Honda Sets January North America, U.S. Production Records
Honda Motor Company said today that it produced almost 317,000 vehicles in January 2012, with North America and the U.S. posting all-time monthly records of 150,000 and 108,000 respectively. However, production in regions outside of Japan experienced a year-on-year decrease … Continue reading
Posted in auto news, manufacturing, results
Tagged asia, auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, china, honda, honda production, Ken Zino, results
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Porsche Recalls Cayenne SUVs for Headlights Falling Out
Porsche is recalling more than 20,000 four-door Cayenne SUV models in the U.S. because the headlights can become loose and possibly fall out. Globally 100,000 Cayenne SUVs are affected. Letters are now being sent to owners of the affected vehicles, Porsche said in a required filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The repair takes approximately 45 minutes. Continue reading
U.S. Light Vehicle Sales in February Trending Up 5%
Total light-vehicle sales in February are projected at 1,064,700 units, only a 3% increase from February 2011. After a fleet mix of 25% in January 2012, levels are expected to be in the 19% range in February, slightly below levels one year ago, according to J.D. Power and Associates. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, marketing, results, sales
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, february sales, j.d power, Ken Zino, results, u.s. light vehicle sales, u.s. sales
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PSA Peugeot Citroën in Alliance Talks with GM
Neither General Motors nor PSA have officially confirmed the talks, other than to say that discussions with other automakers routinely occur. Last week Peugeot posted weak results as Group operating income declined to €1,315 million from €1,796 million in 2010. GM has been losing money at Opel for more than a decade – $700 million in 2011 alone. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, economy, financial results, news analysis, results
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, citroën, gm europe, gm psa, Ken Zino, opel, pas group, psa gm, psa peugeot citroen, psa results
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EU Car Sales off 7% in January, Fifth Year of Declines?
EU car sales dropped yet again in January by 7.1% compared to a year ago, a troubling trend since car sales have declined for four straight years in the moribund European Union. The latest sales data from ACEA, the trade group of EU automakers, confirm what individual car company financial results have been indicating – the European economy continues to contract, and at rates greater than automakers anticipated as recently as last quarter or the quarter before that.
In total, 968,769 new registrations were recorded in the 26-nation EU region during January, which had on average one more working day than January 2011. Particularly hard hit were France (-20.7% for the second largest market) and Italy (-16.9% for the third largest market), with large negative consequences at PSA Group (-14.9%), Renault Group (-25.2%) and Fiat Group (-16.2 %.)
Germany (-0.4% for the largest EU market) and the United Kingdom (0% or flat for the fourth largest market) remained stable, with beneficial results for the biggest automaker in Europe, VW Group with its commanding 24% market share. Continue reading
GM to Freeze U.S. Pension Plans and Convert to 401Ks
GM’s global pension plans were underfunded by $24.5 billion, an increase from $22.2 billion at the end of 2010, GM reported today in its year-end results. Of that potentially crippling debt $13.4 billion is in the U.S. Continue reading
GM Posts Record $9.1 Billion Profit in 2011 – $7.6B on Common
GM’s latest results will no doubt add more fodder as the elite political ruling class continues a contentious debate about the proper roll of government in the weak U.S. economy in general, with the $80 billion auto bailout one of the focal points. One wag suggested that Democrats should run on “Bin Laden is Dead, GM is Alive.” Continue reading
Posted in auto news, financial results, results
Tagged 2011 results, auto bailouts, auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, financial results, GM, gm results, Ken Zino, results
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Milestones: Cadillac Electric Starter Eliminates Hand Cranking
One hundred years ago the electric starter debuted in the 1912 Cadillac Touring Edition helped establish Cadillac’s reputation while increasing its sales. It’s hard to imagine but before the invention of the electric starter by Charles Kettering it took hand cranking, considerable muscle, and some luck to wake up a Tin Lizzie or one of its ilk. Cranking fathered the American slang term ‘cranky,’ which was said to describe someone’s mood after struggling to start a car. Continue reading
