Auto brands are tough sell

Cerberus may want to re-think one of its potential exit strategies from its ownership of Chrysler: selling brands like Jeep. Piecemeal sales don’t seem to be attracting much interest these days, even at fire sale prices.
General Motors announced today that it has been unable to find a buyer for Saab. This follows on its unsuccessful [...]

Sweden to provide emergency loans to Volvo, Saab

The Swedish government may provide $3.4 billion in aid to its two automakers, Volvo and Saab (owned by Ford and GM), which employ around 20,000 people within the country. The plan, which must be approved by the parliament, includes loans, loan guarantees, and research funds. No demands were made on the two companies to slash [...]

All automakers lose in November U.S. sales

While some automakers have not reported in yet, all the others have declared losses in U.S. sales (November 2008 vs November 2007):

BMW: down 27%
Chrysler: down 47%
Ford: down 33% (including Volvo, down 47%)
GM: down 41%
Honda: down 32%
Isuzu: down 74% (from 496 to 130 units)
Mazda: down 31%
Mercedes: down 30%
Mitsubishi: down 36%
Nissan: down 42%
Porsche: down 48%
Subaru: down 4%
Suzuki: [...]

Mighty Toyota drops 34%, Ford falls 30%

Toyota’s US sales fell an amazing 34% in November 2008, compared with November 2007. Both Lexus and Toyota divisions had similar drops; Toyota branded trucks fell 37%, while Lexus branded trucks fell just 27%. The Camry, America’s best-selling car, fell 29%, giving it a year-to-date loss of 6%, while the long-wheelbase, luxury Camry, the Avalon, [...]

Grim October sales pace worst in 25 years

As predicted, October’s U.S. light vehicle sales weren’t pretty. A tough economy and severely tightened credit produced a seasonally adjusted annual rate of just 10.56 million sales, the lowest SAAR since February 1983. Combined reported sales numbers missed even September’s anemic levels, coming in at about 838,000 units, 130,000 units less than last month and [...]

U.S. auto sales plummeted in October 2008 (Chrysler to be reported)

The Big Four – Toyota, General Motors, Ford, and Honda – experienced plunging car sales in the United States in October 2008. The once mighty General saw sales fall by 45% compared with October 2007; Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, saw sales fall by 23%; and Ford saw a decline of 32%, with its captive [...]

Ford sales plunge 33.7%, Volvo down 51.8 percent

Ford, the first of the manufacturers to release September sales numbers, reported sales of its domestic brands were down 33.7 percent. Sales at its Volvo subsidiary dropped by more than half, to just 4,054 units. Total Ford Motor Co. sales were down 34.8 percent, well below analysts’ estimates.