Search results for automotive
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Posted
Nov 17 2008, 01:51 PM
by
Anthony Mirhaydari
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler are at the epicenter of intense maneuvering in Washington D.C. as those taking a tough stand for free-market principles lock horns with pragmatists worried about massive layoffs in the rustbelt.
Political reality will lead to some form of assistance given the popularity of Keynesian fiscal stimuli these days and the amount of pressure being applied by industry. Unfortunately, people like to assume that once Detroit retools its factories and stocks its showrooms with the fuel efficient cars and car-based SUVs of the future, happy days will return. They won't.
As I wrote last summer, we simply have too many vehicles to sustain the Big 3's current production capacity. The United States now has 981 cars for every 1,000 people of driving age compared to 613 in the United Kingdom and just 24 in China. As a result, no amount of government aid will stop
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Posted
Jun 30 2008, 03:59 PM
by
Charley Blaine
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Chrysler exists because Lee Iacocca bet the company on the minivan. Now, thanks to the oil crisis, the minivan looks like it could be on its last legs.
One of the company's two minivan assembly plants will be shut indefinitely on Oct. 31, Chrysler said today. The problem is that families -- the target market for minivans -- have been particularly affected by rising gas and food prices, falling home values and more difficulty in borrowing money.
It's a humiliating development for Chrysler, which spent $1.4 billion on the redesign of its two industry-leading minivans, the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan. And then saw sales go, well, nowhere.
"Everything that a family needs is more expensive right now, and so the last thing they're looking at is, 'Do they need to replace their Honda Odyssey?'" said Rebecca Lindland, an auto analyst for Global Insight, the economic consulting firm
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Posted
Nov 13 2008, 10:05 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
So much for one president at a time.
Bloomberg reports President-Elect Obama is urging lawmakers to rush through a $50 billion bailout for the struggling U.S. automakers. With no formal executive power until January, Obama is asking Democratic friends in the House and Senate to get their Republican counterparts behind a rescue plan. Any plan would also require the support of President Bush, according to Bloomberg.
Also at issue is whether the money would come from TARP -- essentially depleting the first $350 billion installment of bailout funds -- or from fresh legislation.
General Motors' situation is particularly dire, as many analysts believe that the once-largest carmaker in the world won't survive throug
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Posted
Apr 07 2009, 09:48 AM
by
Anthony Mirhaydari
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
General Motors (GM) is making "intense" and "earnest" preparations for bankruptcy, which is now seen as the best option, according to a source familiar with the company's plans. The company is operating under a June deadline from the U.S. Treasury to reduce debt and slash costs as part of its $13.4 billion loan and request for an additional $16.6 billion.
It appears the plan to split the company in two is gaining momentum. Known as a "363 sale" because of the relevant section of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy code, this would see GM divided into one company containing healthy brands like Chevrolet and Cadillac and another holding troubled units like Saturn.
Officially, GM continues to work toward an out-of-court restructuring, which is something Ford (F) has been making great progress on. The catalyst for the apparent change of heart is the ongoing difficultly new chief executive Fritz Henderson and his counterparts at Chrysler are having negotiating with bondholders and the labor union. Creditors are holding out for better terms, secure in the belief that a sympathetic Obama administration won't allow a bankruptcy judge to
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Posted
Jul 08 2009, 12:04 PM
by
Catherine Holahan
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 The models lean seductively over the hood of the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro, wearing only tiny yellow underwear emblazoned with the car's logo. Grasping a wash cloth, they rub down the car until it sparkles as an unseen cameraman asks about the car.
The videos, broadcast on YouTube, use sex appeal to sell Camaros to guys. Only the models aren't women, they're men.
The racy commercials are part of a new advertising campaign targeting gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.
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Posted
Oct 21 2008, 08:28 AM
by
Charley Blaine
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Being a billionaire isn't as much fun as it used to be. Just ask investor Kirk Kerkorian, the investor and casino magnate.
Kerkorian plunked down $1 billion in Ford Motor in the spring, ending with a 6.4% stake in the automaker. In a bit more than four months, he's seen more than two thirds of the value of that investment vanish as Ford and all the automakers have struggled with high gas prices and the crummy economy.
Monday, he said "no mas." In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, he said he sold 7.3 million shares of Ford at $2.43 a share. And he may sell the rest.
Here's how the math works.
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Posted
Jun 08 2009, 01:54 PM
by
Catherine Holahan
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 This story has been updated. Read the new one here.
Drivers are shelling out far more to fill their tanks this summer than last winter, despite the severe economic downturn. And there's likely more pain to come at the pump.
Gasoline prices have risen sharply in the past month. This week, the average price for a gallon rose to $2.67, according to automotive group AAA. That's up more than 35% since December 2008.
To be sure, gas prices are still far less than consumers paid last summer. Oil prices hit a record high of $147 per barrel on July 11, 2008, pushing the average price of regular gasoline to $4.11. But the price of crude has soared in recent weeks. Prices jumped past $72 a barrel late last week, though they fell slightly on Monday as the dollar strengthened. (A stronger dollar reduces the desire to buy commodities as a hedge against inflation.)
Speculation shares some of the blame for price hikes
The recent gasoline price increases are perhaps more difficult for consumers to bear than even last summer's soaring prices. Unlike last July's spike -- which was fueled by increasing demand due to global economic growth, as well as speculation that the good economic times would continue - this year's increase is largely due to anticipation that the worst of the recession is over and that the economy will pick up. Unfortunately for many Americans and businesses, their personal fortunes have not improved along with investors' economic outlook, leaving them ill-prepared to pay higher prices.
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Posted
Jul 31 2008, 05:01 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Through much of the spring and early summer, Wall Street experts and oil analysts said gasoline could break above the $5-a-gallon barrier as oil moved close to $150 a barrel and vacation travel increased. This has broken the back of the car industry and crippled airlines as well.
In some regions of the country premium gas prices did top $5, but now, for the first time in a long time, the move in prices is downward. Data from the AAA show the national price for a gallon of gas falling to $3.96 this week, down from $4.05 a week ago.
With crude still dropping, how far can gas fall and can it make it back to $3 this year? Because of changes in consumption patterns, gas prices could fall sharply and fast.
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Posted
Oct 02 2009, 07:31 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Rumors, credible rumors, are beginning to circulate in the car industry and the automotive press, that Chrysler may not make it another year primarily due to its falling sales and growing financial losses at partner Fiat.
Chrysler sold a 62,197 cars in September, down 42% from the same month last year. The figure was down from 93,222 in August when traffic to dealers was pushed up by the ”cash for clunkers” program.
Chrysler’s problems may only be beginning and, if so, Fiat, the ”managing partner” among Chrysler’s owners may not be able to keep the American company intact.
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Posted
Feb 26 2009, 08:44 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 Get ready to say goodbye to one of the most polarizing and controversial cars to ever hit the road. General Motors (GM) has been desperately shopping its Hummer brand around, but as weeks tick by with no clear buyer it's looking like Hummer production will soon end.
GM has said it would decide by next month whether to kill the Hummer line. But that could happen as early as next week, according to the Financial Times. Hummer's heyday was in 2006, when it delivered nearly 72,000 models in the U.S., but sales fell 51% last year.
Hummer would join a number of other GM models in the automotive graveyard. Saab is also for sale, and will receive bankruptcy protection in Sweden. Pontiac will become a niche brand with just one or two models. Saturn is headed for a 2011 phase-out.
It's sad to see so many names go,
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