Filed under: Car Buying, Earnings/Financials
Up until 2008, vehicle sales in the U.S. crested 16 million units for nine straight years. Though November of this year, sales were down overall to 12.35 million vehicles - 16.3% off the same 11-month period in 2007. There's no doubt that 2008's new car sales won't be anywhere near the 16.15 million units sold in 2007, and 2009 is sure to worse.According to the consulting firm CSM Worldwide, new car and truck sales in the States next year will total approximately 11.5 million units, down some 4.65 million sales over the high-water mark in 2007. Consumers current inability to secure a line of credit for vehicle purchases, or simply their unwillingness to spend thousands of dollars during an economic downturn, is sure to continue into the new year, and that spells disaster for the Detroit 3. CSM maintains that Motown's marketshare is like to drop to between 43 and 44 percent in 2009, down from 47.4 percent through the first 11 months of this year. And that's assuming that one of the Big Boys from Detroit doesn't go under in the interim.
[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]
Study says U.S. sales will fall to 11.5 million in 2009 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read�|�Permalink�|�Email this�|�Comments Complete news at...Filed under: Car Buying, Government/Legal, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Plants/Manufacturing, Chrysler, LLC., Earnings/Financials
The automotive analysts at CSM Worldwide are predicting what many of us have known all along: Chrysler can't survive in its current form, despite the Feds' bailout bucks, and that the Detroit Trio will be performing as a duet in the very near future.
The firm cites its report that estimates a reduction in Motown's market share in 2009 as consumers continue to purchase fewer vehicles overall. With the three domestic automakers battling it out for the hearts, minds and high-interest loans of consumers, something's got to give, and Chrysler isn't in a position to weather the economic storm.
CSM's vice president of global vehicle forecasts, Michael Robinet, maintains that Chrysler should be gradually phased out in order to "go away in a controlled, staged process," going on to say that Chrysler, "doesn't really have the scale, in most vehicle lines, required to survive in this market."
The idea would be to avoid bankruptcy at all costs by selling off Chrysler's most viable assets (Jeep and ummm...) to a number of different buyers, essentially parting-out the automaker, something that Chrysler's private equity owner, Cerberus, has vowed never to do.
CSM's vehicle forecast for 2014 already factors in the elimination of Chrysler's production capacity and products, although the rebirth of the "Detroit 2" is likely to happen much sooner.
[Source: The Detroit News, Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Getty]
ANALYST: Chrysler can't survive even with gov't aid originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Nekkei index plumments, GM retains the services of bankruptcy advisorsAt a little after 11:00 PM EST on Thursday, the U.S. automaker bailout bill failed to pass through the Senate. The legislation is dead and there are no plans for another bill to go through the process until the end of the year. To quote Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, this will be "a very, very bad Christmas" for many Americans.
Over the past day, Senators have tried to resolve the House-passed bill so it could pass Senate Republican muster, but reports suggest that the UAW was unwilling to accept GOP demands that workers accept parity in pay and benefits.
News of the failed bill has already spread to the markets across the Pacific, with the Nikkei index nose-diving over 6%. Things on this side of the world are bound to be worse when trading on the New York Stock Exchange begins tomorrow.
According to reports, General Motors has got bankruptcy and restructuring advisors on speed-dial in preparation for the bad news and Chrysler has already retained CH11 counsel.
Countless economists and industry analysts are warning that if any one of the Detroit 3 goes under, it will spell disaster for an economy already suffering in a recession. More to follow tomorrow.
[Sources: Reuters, Detroit News, Automotive News - Sub. Req.]
Senate fails to approve automaker bailout originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 11 Dec 2008 23:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Click above for more high-res renderings of the Freight*Bus concept
Boris Johnson, London's latest mayor and replacement for congestion charge-loving Ken Livingstone, has started a competition called "A New Bus for London," which, as you may have gathered, looks to replace the aging double-decker people mover with something a bit more modern. Hugh Frost has answered the call with a design he calls the Freight*Bus, and it hides plenty of innovative new features in its classic two-story shape. For instance, the bus would be powered by in-wheel electric motors that would get their power from batteries (likely) or hydrogen fuel cells (much less likely). Cutting petrol out of the equation would have the obvious benefit of improving the bustling city's air quality.
When not carrying a bus-load of people, foldaway seating allows the Freight*Bus to accept standard European shipping pallets. So far, Johnson has yet to name the winner of his competition, but that hasn't stopped Frost from soliciting investors to help bring his intriguing concept to commercial fruition.
[OnRouteBus via Jalopnik]
Double-decker buses due for makeover, how 'bout this? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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click to visit AutoblogGreen
Like its namesake, the Phoenix Motorcars company came back from the apparent dead yesterday with an announcement it would bring electric vehicles to Maui in 2009 (their electric SUT is the white vehicle seen above). Another EV start-up, our friends at Tesla Motors, say that without ederal loans, the Model S sedan is in trouble. It's smoother sailing over at EnerDel, where the Th!nk City project is moving forward as planned.
- Tesla says federal loans needed for Model S sedan
- Phoenix Motorcars is not dead, will bring electric vehicles to Maui
- Jungle Motors now selling Prius PHEVs in Orange County
- VIDEO: Ford Fiesta, outruns Corvette, assualts beach, and it's green!
- First test drive of the new '09 Zap Xebra
- All-electric race car to be unveiled at Performance Racing Industry show
- Wrightspeed X1, a casualty of our economic woes
- Fiat installing Bosch Stop/Start system in the 500 for 5-8% fuel reduction
- Diesel hybrid technology will be in Peugeot and Citro�n showrooms in 2011
- Reasons to quit: Millions of gallons leaking from oil sands tailings ponds daily
- Europe to introduce EURO 5 emission standards for motorcycles
- Kymco to enter electric bike market with the SunnyBoy
- New CNG and LPG conversion facilities open in Italy
- EDTA 2008: EnerDel's Th!nk City
- UK's expensive CO2-based tax system re-examined
- Renault introduces eco2 version of Twingo, 104 g/km CO2
AutoblogGreen for 12.11.08 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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