Chrysler Contributes Hugely To 2011 Profit; Must Do So Again In 2012 That’s A Bridge Too Far, According To Some Investors Chrysler made Fiat look good again in the fourth quarter, and one analyst believes the Italians should move quickly to buy all of the American operation, even if it means selling jewel in the […]
Archive | Industry Analysis 2012
Mercedes Strong Profit Forecast Pleases Investors
Superior Pricing Undermined By Higher Costs Compared With Audi, BMW Modular Strategy Might Start To Put That Right Ambitious Long Term Plans Look Risky To Some Mercedes had a nice surprise for investors when parent company Daimler announced that net earnings for 2011’s fourth quarter were up almost 60 per cent, and then came up […]
New Energy Supplies May Rock Orthodox Auto Beliefs
With Fuel Supplies Dwindling, Greens, Industry Had Similar Needs New Gas Reserves Mean Hair Shirts Can Be Removed New discoveries of natural gas threaten to overturn many assumptions about energy supplies and may also bring big changes in the way cars are powered. When the conventional wisdom had it that supplies of oil were going […]
U.S. Sales Expected To Accelerate In 2012
Will New Found Optimism Find An Outlet In Design? “U.S. automakers can do something they haven’t been able to do in the better part of a ½ century. Take some risk on the product side” After years of doom and gloom, bankruptcies, and plant closures, American manufacturers emerged from the Detroit Auto Show with a […]
Talk Of Alliances Focuses On Troubled PSA Peugeot-Citroen
Finances Look Rocky, As Bottom Line Points To Losses Again In 2012 But Some Investors Think Things Can’t Get Worse And Say Buy Shares PSA Talks The Alliance Talk, But Eschews The Walk When Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne’s made his plea for more mergers in Europe to combat Volkswagen’s hegemony, all eyes turned to financially […]
If Consumer Fear Doesn’t Crimp Car Sales, Lack Of Lending Will
Germany Under Pressure Too As Pre-Registrations, Discounts Rise Non-Germans Face More Years Of Losses “Savage discounting in France, with PSA and Renault fighting each other – Clios for 40% off list, Twingos for less than Dacias” Predictions about how far Western European car sales might drop don’t seem to be getting any worse, but the […]
Europe’s Threatened Manufacturers Will Vacillate
As Losses Mount, Need To Slash, Burn Will Increase Germans, After Hard Choices, Will Prosper Don’t Expect Action From Non-Germans Until Disaster About To Strike American manufacturers found themselves lauded as winners for a change at this year’s Detroit Auto Show, especially when investors looked at Europe’s weak markets, grotesque overcapacity, burgeoning losses, and apparent […]
Germans Unlikely To Face Euro Collapse Consequences
Even If Some Countries Break Away, Solid Core Will Remain At Detroit Show, Cadillac Hopes ATS Can Challenge BNW 3 “German car makers would certainly suffer severely but not go bankrupt or anything like this should the mark return” Cadillac’s new little ATS sedan, on show for the first time at the Detroit Auto Show, […]
Bentley In The Money Again, And Plans New SUV
China Sales, Emerging Markets Make The Difference Bentley is back in the black again after two years of losses and is feeling confident enough about its future to talk about introducing a new sport utility vehicle. The British based luxury car maker owned by Volkswagen said its sales spurted 37 per cent in 2011 to […]
Another Law Suit Throws Hurdle At VW Porsche Merger
The proposed merger between Volkswagen and Porsche SE, originally scheduled for last year, was delayed again by a €2 billion lawsuit from a group of investment funds. In 2009, Volkswagen and Porsche agreed to a merger after Porsche’s finances were threatened by a €10 billion debt which it racked up after trying unsuccessfully to takeover […]