Wheels and (bailout) Deals - Vehicle News

You can stop buying new fridges, televisions and cars, but eventually you have to replace the ones you have and at that point the economy starts to move again or you start to move back to the stone age.

Wonder how long, repair and make do, can be made to work with the relatively low life expectancy of many modern goods? When does it become impractical to maintain an old banger.

Also if we move to repair rather than replace then that will generate more local business opportunities. You want to see what some can do with scrap metal. The Afghans can fight the US and Russian army with home made muskets but for some the artistic side is stirred.

expat girl wrote:

Progress, although glacial, is being made...

I've looked for engine size stats for different jurisdictions and found little on the internet except in (unreliable?) wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_economy_in_automobiles

Wiki says there are no avg figures for the US/EU for 2008 but there are for China: 43 mpg.

For the US in 2004 = 27 mpg (cars only)

For the EU by 2012 = 47 mpg.

It's great that older cars can be renovated into newer more efficient ones as there is work created and some little history is preserved, not to mention gas. As well as that it also allows people to finally do openly what they would normally do in their back garages as trainspotting obsessives.

Quote :

U.S. auto sales plunged to a 27-year low in January

DETROIT (Reuters) - , a steeper-than-expected drop that took the slumping U.S. market below China's for the first time.

The two U.S. automakers struggling to restructure under a $17.4 billion government bailout led the market lower. Chrysler LLC posted a 55 percent sales plunge. Sales for General Motors Corp were down 49 percent.

The bleak results were one of the first indicators of the depth of the recession at the start of 2009, underscored by sharp declines by the industry's stronger players.

Toyota Motor Corp, the world's top automaker, was hit with a 34 percent sales decline. Sales were off almost 30 percent for Nissan Motor Co and 28 percent for Honda Motor Co.

Industry-wide sales dropped 37 percent, taking the annualized sales rate to 9.57 million vehicles, the lowest level since 1982. But that understates the depth of the downturn since the U.S. population has increased about a third since.

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5124RB20090203?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

GM to layoff 10,000 salaried emloyees - just saw this on Bloomberg on the television. They are doing this in an attempt to remain viable as their previous bailout deadline approaches in March. Bloomberg's Betty Liu just said as well, that the American Government could push GM into bankruptcy...


GM is in the process of finalising the dirty details of the dreaded viability plan, ahead of the United States federal government's deadline of February 17. More job losses could be part of the package. Bloomberg reports that the General plans to cut as many as 5,000 salaried workers as part of a broader restructuring plan.

..

GM also offered packages to its entire union workforce with the aim of convincing 10,000 or so to resign with bonuses. The offer to leave General Motors includes $20,000 in cash and a $25,000 vehicle voucher. GM's larger goal is to shrink its union and salary workforce in North America from 95,000 to as few as 65,000 men and women by the year 2012.

With uncertainly over how much of the plan will be made public, GM's February 17 deadline, just over a week away, will set everything in concrete.

http://www.sgcarmart.com/news/article.php?AID=1835

50,000 jobs to go as carmakers beg for billions

General Motors and Chrysler’s request for US government aid ballooned to a staggering $39bn (€30.9bn) today – only months after receiving billions in loans.

And the car makers revealed shock new plans for massive job losses and intense restructuring to survive the deepening recession.

Vauxhall owner General Motors presented a survival plan that calls for a total of 47,000 job losses around the world and closing five more US factories – the largest workforce reduction announced by a US company in the economic meltdown.

Chrysler said it would axe 3,000 more jobs and stop producing three vehicles - the Dodge Aspen, Durango and Chrysler PT Cruiser.

The grim reports came as the United Auto Workers union said it had reached a tentative agreement with GM, Chrysler and Ford on contract changes. Concessions with the union and debt-holders were a condition of the government bailout.

GM said it could need up to $30bn (€23.7bn) from the Treasury Department, up from a previous estimate of $18bn (€14.26bn). That includes $13.4bn (€10.6bn) the company has already received.

The world’s largest car maker said it could run out of money by March without new funds and needed $2bn (€1.58bn) next month and another $2.5bn (€2m) in April.

“We have a lot of work to do,” GM chairman and chief executive Rick Wagoner said. “We’re still going at this with a great sense of urgency.”

GM’s request includes a credit line of $7.5bn (€6bn) to be used if the downturn is more pronounced than expected. But the firm claimed it could be profitable in two years and repay its loans by 2017.
http://www.breakingnews.ie/business/mhsnsneycwau/



Ths sh*t is hitting the fanbelt

Quote :

Porsche First-Half Earnings Rise on Volkswagen Stake

March 2 (Bloomberg) -- Porsche SE, maker of the 911 sports car, said fiscal first-half earnings rose because of gains from the manufacturer’s stake in Volkswagen AG.

Net income and pretax profit both increased in the six months ended Jan. 31, Stuttgart, Germany-based Porsche said in a statement today. Revenue fell 13 percent to 3.04 billion euros ($3.83 billion) as automotive markets shrank. The company said it will release full earnings figures later this month.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aujXD99Vfd3Q&refer=home

Just saw this on the Pin :

Quote :

New figures have shown that in December, for the first time ever, there have been more cars sold in China than the United States.

A total of 735,000 automobiles were sold in China last month, compared to 656,976 vehicles were sold in the US.

The reason, analysts say, is that the slump in sales in China has been less severe than the slump in the US - not exactly a cause for celebration for carmakers here.

And some interesting statistics from the bbc article

Quote :

* Car industry analyst Yale Zhang points out that in the US there are on average 800 cars for every 1000 people.

* Here in China the figure's a tiny fraction of that - just 20 per 1000 Chinese.

* China has been regarded as the fastest-growing automobile market in the world, with sales growth of over 20% per year for three years.

* "Over 80% are buying their first car"

* This year sales in China are predicted to slow to just 5% - half of last year's figure.

* Among them, the tax on vehicles under with smaller engines (less than 1.6 litres) has been halved to 5%.

* Some analysts believe that the stimulus package could boost sales by between 3% and 6% this year.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7879372.stm

And a most chilling anticipation from Green Bear who posted the article


With the Chinese population buying cars, it means the fall of world oil prices will cease and the US will begin seriously competing with the Chinese for fuel.

http://www.thepropertypin.com/viewtopic.php?p=218786#p218786

Quote :

Car giant General Motors was warned its future is in “substantial doubt” by auditors, it emerged today.

The company said it may have to seek bankruptcy protection if it cannot execute a huge restructuring plan.

...

GM has received $13.4bn (€10.7bn) in government loans as it tries to survive the worst auto sales climate in 27 years. It is seeking a total of $30bn (€23.9bn) from the government. During the past three years it has piled up $82bn (€65.4bn) in losses.

The company has until March 31 to sign agreements of concessions from creditors and the United Auto Workers union to show the government it can become viable again.

Last month it submitted a restructuring plan to the Treasury Department that includes laying off 47,000 workers worldwide by the end of the year and closing five more US factories.

GM said in its filing that its future depends on successfully executing the plan.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/business/eyaukfojmhmh/

Quote :

Lidl drives forward with car sales

Lidl’s website offers cars at 25% off suggested price.

DISCOUNT supermarket Lidl began selling cars in its native Germany yesterday.

Its website will offer the Opel Corsa for just under e11,000 and the Volkswagen Cross Polo for e14,000 — a discount of about 25% off the suggested price.

Lidl is launching the sales with German car distributor ATG-Automobile.

Germany’s economy is in recession and unemployment is at 8.3%, but Lidl believes it can turn a profit in an industry that is bucking the economic downturn.

New car sales were up 21% in February year-on-year, largely because of a government stimulus plan that pays people e2,500 to replace cars that are at least nine years old with new ones.

more ...
http://www.examiner.ie/World/idgbmheycw/rss2/

This is the issue with deflationary spirals - illustrated below in the Bloomberg article on state funding for euro-area car manufacturers. As demand stays depressed, liquidity keeps getting drained away and now there will be a period of lay-offs, skills lost perhaps or more agile industries could bound into the spot leftover as consumers perhaps waver on whether to buy a 20th or wait for a 21st Century car, because they could be just around the corner after the Prius ...

Quote :

Europe’s EU3 Billion Auto-Loans Package Leaves Carmakers Short

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a9CfcMxHyWcw&refer=home

March 13 (Bloomberg) -- BMW, Fiat SpA and carmakers that received 3 billion euros ($3.8 billion) in European Investment Bank loans yesterday will find it’s not much of a rescue.

The funds from the European Union’s lending arm are earmarked for research into cleaner engines and more efficient cars and can’t be used to save failing companies. EU leaders have so far ruled out a centralized bail-out program and calls to widen the EIB’s remit have been resisted.

Quote :

Europe’s top seven automakers may consume 15 billion euros of cash this year as sales tumble 20 percent, according to estimates from French bank Calyon and the ACEA industry association. PSA Peugeot Citroen and Renault SA, France’s biggest car manufacturers, have secured the most aid, with 6 billion euros in government loans, and General Motors Corp. is in talks with a clutch of European nations in a bid to obtain funds for its unprofitable Opel division.

Quote :

“If the automakers don’t get loans to cover their cash burn they won’t be able to pay wages and suppliers and everything will grind to a halt,” said Peter Schmidt, managing director of Warwick, England-based consulting firm Automotive Industry Data. “Decisions have to be made very, very, quickly. If you dither, huge parts of the industry will go down.”

Quote :

Other loans are also available under various European Union programs, including 2.5 billion euros of “convergence lending” aimed at developing poorer regions of the bloc and 1 billion euros of so-called recovery funding for mid-sized companies such as auto-parts suppliers. The EIB is also able to tap a 3.5 billion-euro reserve to top up the various programs.

“We have 300 billion euros of debt in the European auto sector, so a few million isn’t going to make a big difference,” said Adam Jonas, an analyst at Morgan Stanley in London, the top-ranked analyst in coverage of Daimler.

Continues here
http://machinenation.org/forum/viewtopic.php?&f=43&t=151&start=0