Ford, Subaru and Volkswagen sit atop the insurance industry's annual
list of the safest new vehicles, according to a closely watched
assessment used by car companies to lure safety-conscious consumers to
showrooms.
The Virginia-based Insurance Institute for Highway
Safety awarded its "top safety pick" on Wednesday to 19 passenger cars
and eight sport utility vehicles for the 2010 model year. The institute
substantially reduced the number of awards compared with 2009, because
of tougher requirements for roof strength.
General Motors Co. will announce Monday it will begin repaying its
$6.7 billion in government loans ahead of schedule -- a sure sign that
the Detroit automaker's finances are improving since its exit from
bankruptcy in July.
But GM also will admit it continues to face
significant challenges -- especially in North America and Europe, where
it is still losing money -- when it releases its third quarter earnings
this morning in Detroit.
GM's board of directors and the U.S.
Treasury approved the repayment plan that will begin with a $1 billion
payment Dec. 31, a person with knowledge of the plan said Sunday night.
GM will make payments of about $1 billion every quarter, at least until
the second half of 2010, the earliest that it plans an initial public
stock offering.
About 37 percent of U.S. Saab dealers will
close as part of General Motors Corp.'s planned sale of the ailing
Swedish car brand to Koenigsegg Group AB, a GM spokeswoman said
Saturday.
GM
spokeswoman Ryndee Carney said the company had sent letters to 81 of
the 218 U.S. Saab dealers notifying them they will be expected to
terminate their dealerships when the sale closes around the end of
November.
The remaining 137 dealers will continue operating under Saab Cars North
America, a newly formed company that will run the brand under
Koenigsegg's ownership. All the U.S. Saab dealers had signed deferred
termination agreements during GM's reorganization under bankruptcy
protection earlier this year.
“Safety doesn’t sell,” or so went the
conventional wisdom of the auto industry. But don’t try telling that to
Ford Motor Co.’s Sue Cischke, who thinks it may be a more important
marketing tool than just about anything — including fuel economy.
Cischke,
the Detroit automaker’s “safety czar,” was on hand last week for the
rollout of the automaker’s latest technological wizardry, which combines the advantages of both a seat belt and an airbag.
Dubbed the inflatable belt, it will begin appearing on Ford’s
next-generation Explorer SUV when it launches in mid-2010 and
eventually will roll out “globally,” said Cischke.
General Motors Co. will expand its electric vehicle lineup by
building the Cadillac Converj, a luxury car some feared would never
move beyond the concept stage because of GM's financial troubles.
The
Converj, an extended-range electric car that uses the same technology
as the Chevrolet Volt, was included in a production plan Cadillac
officials presented to GM's board of directors last week, according to
sources familiar with the plan.
Toyota Motor Corp. announced Thursday a
surprise profit last quarter and trimmed its projected red ink for the
year, underlining the gradual recovery under way for Japan's giant
automakers.
The
world's largest car company attributed the unexpected profit — its
first after three losing quarters — to measures by governments around
the world designed to boost sales of environmentally friendly cars and
other vehicles.
General Motors Co. reported its first monthly sales increase in
nearly two years on Tuesday and Ford Motor Co. also racked up gains in
October, providing further evidence that the U.S. economy appears to be
on the mend.
Overall vehicle sales were level with last
October's totals, ending a streak of year-over-year declines as the
market continued its slow climb out of the steep downturn that began in
2008.
On an annual basis, last month's selling rate was 10.5
million cars and light trucks, compared with 10.82 million a year ago
and 9.22 million in September, according to Autodata Corp.
Ford, the only Detroit automaker to dodge
direct government aid and bankruptcy court, surprised investors with
net income of nearly $1 billion in the third quarter and forecast a
"solidly profitable" 2011.
The
automaker said Monday earnings were fueled by U.S. market share gains,
cost cuts and the Cash for Clunkers program, which drew flocks of
buyers to showrooms this summer. Ford's shares rose 53 cents, or 7.6
percent, to $7.53 in afternoon trading.
General Motors has signed a deal to sell its iconic but tarnished
Hummer brand to an investment partnership headed by an obscure Chinese
machinery maker.
The deal with China's Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery,
seen as underscoring the fast rise and global ambition of the Chinese
auto industry, has capped a year-long struggle by GM to shed the
military-derived SUV brand that had become synonymous with gas-guzzling
excess.
Timing is everything, or so goes the old
saying. And the timing couldn’t have been worse for BMW when it
launched an all-new version of its flagship 7-Series, late last year.
Though
the big sedan won praise from reviewers, sales fell way short of the
luxury automaker’s expectations. It didn’t help that the big Beemer's
debut coincided with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, and the sharp
economic downturn that followed.
“Given
we have an all-new 7-Series, it’s clearly not doing as well as we
wanted,” said Jim O’Donnell,” CEO of BMW North America. “I think some
people can still afford it, but when you’re a CEO of a company and
you’re laying people off, do you want to be seen driving a new
7-Series?”
General Motors plans to restore about 3000 jobs at US assembly plants
and is preparing to raise North American production by up to 45 percent
in 2010.
Shifts will be added at three assembly plants as the automaker
consolidates production from those that are closing or retooling, a
process that would not add immediately to its production schedule for
2009.
Retail sales surged in August as consumers swapped their old cars for new under the government’s "cash for clunkers" program, and spent more on gasoline at convenience stores.
The Commerce Department reported Tuesday
that retail sales in August bounded higher by a seasonally adjusted 2.7
percent over the previous month, surpassing economists’ expectations of
1.9 percent. It was the largest monthly increase since January 2006.
As Gene Butman Ford opened its doors Saturday,
salesmen outnumbered the shoppers looking at a depleted stock of cars
and trucks, and it didn't appear that many customers were ready to buy.
Like
many dealers across the country, the dealership in Ypsilanti Township,
Mich., west of Detroit, is suffering from a Cash for Clunkers hangover,
and Sales Manager Paul Grahl isn't sure when it will end.
Big cars and trucks are out. Smaller ones that
offer more for your dollar are in. And many drivers will hang onto the
new cars they buy longer.
We've
seen some of this before — in the 1970s. But there's reason to believe
that this time, American car-buying habits have changed forever.
Scarred
by the worst financial crisis since the 1930s and still leery of high
gas prices, people are walking into showrooms intent on spending less.
The trend is strongest among baby boomers, who are 44 to 63 years old
and make up a quarter of the population, dealers and industry analysts
say.
Looking to regain consumers' trust, General Motors Co. said Thursday
new car buyers will be able to return their vehicles within two months
of purchase for a full refund, part of a long-awaited new marketing
campaign for the biggest American automaker.
The effort will
begin next week, seeking to make connections again with American
consumers who may be leery of the company since it filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection earlier this year. Chairman Edward Whitacre Jr.
will appear in the initial burst of ads, telling consumers in a folksy,
Texan accent he too had doubts about GM when he joined on this summer.
But he likes the cars he found, and consumers should too.
In a Consumer Reports survey of almost 1,800 adults, 81% of those in
the market for a new car said they were likely to consider a domestic
brand. That compares to just 47% looking at Asian brands and 46% in the
market for European models.
Ford Motor Co.
looks to be the biggest beneficiary from the increasing interest in U.S. vehicles.
General Motors Co., fresh out of bankruptcy, also saw a spike, though not nearly as pronounced as Ford's.
The auto industry temporarily awoke from its slumber last month thanks to the
U.S. government's "Cash for Clunkers" program, led by a 17% sales jump at
Ford
Motor Co.
and higher sales from
Japan
auto makers
Toyota Motor Corp.
and
Honda Motor Co.
.
Sales were jolted in the U.S. and foreign markets from government incentive
programs promoting fuel-efficient cars, but a number of auto makers, including
General Motors Co., Chrysler Group LLC and
Nissan Motor Co.
still
reported lower sales.
The two largest Japanese auto makers - Toyota and Honda - reported single-
digit increases as the clunkers program helped boost market share for some
foreign auto companies. The Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic and Toyota Camry were
the three most popular vehicles purchased under the program.
General Motors said on Sunday it has agreed to set up a light
commercial vehicle production venture with major Chinese automaker FAW
Group, with total investment of 2 billion yuan ($293 million).
The 50-50 joint venture, based in the northeast China city of
Changchun in Jilin province, will make light-duty trucks and vans, GM
said in a statement.
