auto sales

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GM Sales Off 41%; Toyota, Ford, Honda All Down 30%

Bad times for autos of every stripe

(Newser) - General Motors' November US sales plunged 41%, while Ford's dropped 31%, dashing hopes that the industry-wide drop in vehicle demand might be easing as Detroit's automakers prepare to state their second case for a federal bailout. Their overseas rivals posted abysmal results as well. Toyota's November sales tumbled 34%, and...

Luxury Car Sales Hit the Skids
Luxury Car Sales
Hit the Skids
Nov 28, 2008 3:01 AM CST

Luxury Car Sales Hit the Skids

Shine wears off top end of auto market as downturn bites

(Newser) - Sales of luxury cars are dropping as fast as their downmarket counterparts, the Wall Street Journal reports. Sales of top-end vehicles plunged 30% last month, spelling major trouble for carmakers who had been relying on fat profit margins on luxury cars to offset falling demand for mass-markets vehicles. Analysts...

And on the Seventh Day, They Stop Selling Cars

In 14 states, Blue laws keep dealerships closed ... and that's just fine with them

(Newser) - With the American auto industry in dire straits, you might think dealers would be working 24/7 to move merchandise. But in 14 states and scattered counties elsewhere, Sunday sales are against the law—and many dealership owners like it that way. The Wall Street Journal visits Rhode Island to look...

GM Sales Off 45% as US Auto Sales Hit 25-Year Low

Asian brands add market share amid sales freefall

(Newser) - US auto sales dived in October to levels not seen since 1983, Bloomberg reports.  GM, Ford, and Chrysler saw sales drop 45%, 30%, and 36% respectively as credit dried up and consumer confidence plummeted. Toyota, Honda, and Nissan all saw sales fall over 20%, but managed to gain market...

Stocks Flat; Oil Falls $3.90
 Stocks Flat; Oil Falls $3.90 
MARKETS
Nov 3, 2008 3:37 PM CST

Stocks Flat; Oil Falls $3.90

Energy concerns take a hit as crude plunges

(Newser) - Stocks held steady today, with the indices ending the session only a few points removed from their opening marks, MarketWatch reports, with General Motors and Ford reporting mammoth October sales drops, and crude plunging $3.90 to $64.25. The Dow fell 5.18 to 9,319.83. The Nasdaq...

GM Calls for Help
 GM Calls for Help 
Oct 14, 2008 12:07 PM CDT

GM Calls for Help

Firm reiterates urge for government assistance

(Newser) - General Motors is not thinking of filing for bankruptcy, Reuters reports. Instead, an exec said, "There is a strong need for coordinated federal action" to weather the economic crisis as US auto sales slide. Filing for bankruptcy "would not benefit our customers, our dealers, or our employees,"...

Ford Put Brakes on GM Merger Talks
Ford Put Brakes on GM Merger Talks
Oct 11, 2008 5:34 PM CDT

Ford Put Brakes on GM Merger Talks

Company vows to survive, may sell Mazda stake for cash

(Newser) - Ford rejected merger overtures from GM earlier this year and decided to ride out its financial issues alone, the Wall Street Journal reports. The GM-Ford talks were “very loose and preliminary, more exploratory in nature than anything else,” a source said. Both companies have denied bankruptcy rumors, but...

American Consumers Stop Spending: 'They All Feel Poor'

Unending bad news has sent consumer confidence reeling

(Newser) - Consumers, hit by a tsunami of economic bad news, have dramatically cut back spending in recent weeks, on everything from clothes to cars to airline travel to dining out, reports the New York Times. The slowdown all but guarantees a drop in consumer spending for the third quarter, the first...

Ford Sales, Off 34%, Key Ugly US Autos Report

Nissan down 37%; Toyota sees 32% drop; GM fares better, but still 16% lower

(Newser) - As expected, early sales reports from automakers paint a dismal picture, MarketWatch reports. Ford reports a 34% drop in US sales in September compared to a year ago; Toyota’s were off 32% and General Motors’ fell 16%, AP adds. Industry-wide, sales are down almost 20% over this time in...

Sales Skid Again for GM, Ford, Toyota

Detroit heavies off at least 20% each; Japanese giant down 9.4%

(Newser) - General Motors, Ford and Toyota reported dramatic declines in sales for August stemming from the weak US economy and record gas prices, Bloomberg reports. Ford's domestic sales plunged 27% and GM's 20%, and both automakers will cut second-half production by the tens of thousands. Toyota fared better, down just 9....

Viper Might Be Luxury Chrysler Can Do Without
Viper Might Be Luxury Chrysler Can Do Without
ANALYSIS
Aug 28, 2008 3:15 PM CDT

Viper Might Be Luxury Chrysler Can Do Without

Automaker needs to raise $1B, and hot rod looks odd model out

(Newser) - Despite a $1.1 billion operating profit in the first half of the year, Chrysler is hemorrhaging money. In a bid to raise another billion, the company is looking to sell off its iconic Dodge Viper line, BusinessWeek reports. The Viper has sold a mere 594 cars since January, and...

Arab Investors Interested in GM's Hummer Brand

As US sales slide, GM looks overseas to unload gas-guzzler unit

(Newser) - There may soon be more Hummers heading to the Persian Gulf, this time as two Gulf Arab investors signal interest in buying GM's troubled brand of SUV—modeled on the military vehicle. Analysts have expected the gas-guzzler to be tough to unload, but low fuel prices, economic prosperity, and Hummer’...

Top 10 Priciest Cars to Own
 Top 10 Priciest Cars to Own
Aug 13, 2008 9:00 AM CDT

Top 10 Priciest Cars to Own

Mercedes takes top four spots on Forbes list

(Newser) - Gas prices may be sinking, but the owners of luxury and high-performance vehicles wouldn't know it. Factoring in $4-plus premium gas, depreciation, insurance, fees, and sales tax, some top cars cost double over a 5-year stretch what owners first paid. Forbes wheels out the priciest (including 5-year pricetag):

GM, Ford Join Chrysler in Retreat From Leasing

As resale values plummet and credit tightens, automakers leave market

(Newser) - Ford and GM are joining Chrysler in moving away from auto leasing, the Wall Street Journal reports, signalling the end of an era in which leases allowed many Americans to drive more expensive cars than they could afford to buy. The move is prompted by falling prices for used SUVs...

Eyeing US Market, VW Plans Tenn. Plant

Company hopes Chattanooga factory will improve market share

(Newser) - Volkswagen will invest around $1.6 billion to build a factory in the US—20 years after the closure of its last plant, Der Spiegel reports. VW hopes to have the plant, located in Chattanooga, Tenn., running by 2011, and operating at a rate of 150,000 cars per year....

Pensions, Benefits Have GM Stalled
Pensions, Benefits Have GM Stalled
OPINION
Jul 10, 2008 9:28 AM CDT

Pensions, Benefits Have GM Stalled

Automaker hamstrung by 1950s promises to unions—maybe fatally

(Newser) - General Motors is suffering as oil prices surge and consumer spending wanes, Roger Lowenstein writes in the New York Times. But the biggest, and perhaps fatal, culprit of its recent troubles—with stock prices near a 50-year low—are the generous health care and pension benefits it agreed to lavish...

Prius Shortage Hurts Toyota
 Prius Shortage Hurts Toyota 
Jul 2, 2008 4:53 PM CDT

Prius Shortage Hurts Toyota

11.5% June drop in US sales blamed on low inventory of popular small models

(Newser) - Popularity is proving quite the pickle for Toyota: Dwindling supplies of hot sellers like its hybrid Prius fueled the 11.5% drop in US sales last month, Reuters reports. With a waiting list 6 months long, Prius sales fell 26%—even as rival Honda bumped its sales 13.8% thanks...

Sinking SUV Values Slap Drivers
 Sinking SUV Values Slap Drivers 
Jul 2, 2008 10:19 AM CDT

Sinking SUV Values Slap Drivers

Resale values plummet as gas price goes up

(Newser) - The end of America's love affair with the SUV is turning into an expensive divorce, the Washington Post reports. Drivers wanting to get rid of the gas-guzzlers as pump prices hit $4 a gallon are losing a lot of money on the sales—if they can even find buyers. Some...

What's Hot? Some Guzzlers Among the Sippers

Sales of hulking vehicles held up by rich, families

(Newser) - Soaring gas prices have predictably driven sales of gas-sipping vehicles such as Honda’s Fit and Toyota’s Scion xB, which have seen increases of 64% and 59% respectively, reports the Wall Street Journal. But guzzlers such as Toyota's Sequoia and Tundra are also selling surprisingly well (29% and 8....

Prius: 1M and Counting
 Prius: 1M and Counting 
May 15, 2008 3:51 PM CDT

Prius: 1M and Counting

Toyota hybrid's sales into seven digits, and company sees no slowdown

(Newser) - The Toyota Prius is a now 1 million units strong, and the landmark gas-electric hybrid, introduced in 1997, is poised to keep growing, the AP reports. Toyota said today it expects to be selling a million a year by sometime after 2010; what’s more, the company claims 4.5...

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