GM U.S. July sales down 19.5 percent, Honda up 10.2%

The only "good" news for GM was that Ford and Chrysler were off even
more at 34% for Ford and 37% for Chrysler.

http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/articlehybrid.aspx?storyID=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20060801:MTFH53056_2006-08-01_18-18-15_N01198474&type=comktNews&rpc=44

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060801/latu106.html?.v=60

http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/articlehybrid.aspx?storyID=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20060801:MTFH52516_2006-08-01_17-50-29_WEN2865&type=comktNews&rpc=44

http://yahoo.reuters.com/business/newsarticle.aspx?type=basicIndustries&storyID=nN01439295&WTmodLoc=HybArt-R2-IndustryNews-2

 

According to the news tonight, Toyota is #2 for July, passing Ford.

 

Confrimed in the Business section of our paper today -- "July vehicle sales
rise for Toyota and Honda..." GM sales were off 31.2% for trucks and cars
down for 2.7%. Chrysler was downs 40/23.5 percent respectively. So even
their cars present sales problems.

 

Toyota and Honda sales are bolstered by the midget cars that are in vogue
today. GM and Ford do not offer midget cars. Seems to me that is
temporary. Midget car buyers are not generally the average US new vehicle
buyers that buys a new vehicle every three or four years. Fords hit was the
F150, but it is end of the model year. Major F150 buyers will soon be
buying 2007s, not leftovers.



mike hunt

 

People are nervous. They are, perhaps temporarily, thinking economy.
Soaring gasoline and associated energy costs are making reasoning
people shake their heads in disbelief.

The stock market is making people question the whole economic system
and the wars in the Middle East are not helping either.

Predictions were published the other day, and I dont remember really where,
that Toyota will overtake GM for the world market in the next couple of
years.
Predictions dont mean anything, though, and we can wait and watch.

 

Overtaking GM worldwide is more of a possibility than in the US. GM and
Toyota do not necessarily compete in the same small markets around the
world. The Japs have a better economies of scale in the small and midget
cars, as well. As Toyota starts to sell vehicles in the US in the million
rather than in the hundreds of thousands, as it has for a long time, more
of their not so good ones are starting to come to the surface. Over time
that will erode the buyers perception of their so call superior quality.
Anybody in the business knows that Toyotas vehicles are no better on average
than any other manufactures vehicles.


mike hunt

 

You are the master of SPIN Mr. Hunt. Perhaps you should be working in
PR or as a government Press Secretary.

Yes the market has moved to more fuel efficient vehicles, and no, the US
makers are not strong either in product or brand image with regard to
said fuel efficient vehicles.

Ford and GM lived high off the great 1990s truck boom, but that fad is
over and is not likely to come back. Large trucks are likely to fall
back to the 20-25% of the US market they enjoyed for many decades and
away from the ~50% level of the 90s and early 00s. Fads come and go, it
is their nature. This fad is over and the US makers are caught with
their collective pants down, again.

John

 

You are entitled to your own opinion but I am simply stating facts.
Actually the fuel economy of the comparable cars and trucks that both GM and
Ford have to offer are as good, or better. than import brands. Where they
fall short is in the midget car class where the do not generally offer a
competitive vehicle. When one considers the drive home price difference
between the domestics and most imports, the domestics have the advantage for
an astute buyer. One need prepay for their fuel by spending an extra 20% or
30% to get a few more MPG. The Koreans do a far better job of fuel economy
for the price than the Japs. Both GM and Ford have more vehicles that get
30 or more MPG than any of the imports.


mike hunt

 

What you call the "midget class," oh top posting one, is the class of
the future, at least until some kind of technological breakthrough
allows us to move away from fossil fuels. The US mfgrs. should have
known this but instead of planning long term, they've been milking the
SUV craze while it lasted, and now they're paying for it. You're also
completely disregarding reputation for quality, which is indisputably
in favor of the imports. One thing that you got right in your post is
that the Koreans are likely going to make a strong showing over the
next couple years.

nate

 

Stop, you're killing me. Only a very few mfgrs. have the same
reputation for reliability and durability as Toyota. Really only Honda
has the same kind of "halo" although I am partial to VW myself (but
their shitty dealer network and past issues with poor quality
outsourced components has tarnished their reputation among the general
public.)

Anyone that can say with a straight face that there is no difference in
quality between vehicles is quite simply ignorant. If that were true,
we'd all just buy the cheapest car we could. Simply test driving a
cross-section of the various cars in any given class will show up great
differences in fit and finish, material quality, etc. etc. etc. and to
disregard this is idiotic. Most people realize this, and try to strike
some compromise between quality and price.

nate

 

If what you are saying is true, the Pinto, Vega, Horizon, and other little
crap boxes would still exist. I heard your words many times in the past,
but it was only temporary.

 

The Omni/Horizon were decent cars. They had the 2.2 4 banger -- great
little durable engine. Small cars get bad reps for being junk,
unreliable. Usually it was lack of maintenance. People who buy cheap
cars tend not to maintain them as well as more pricier cars because of
the cheap initial cost of the cars and that these economy car buyers
tend to be of a lower socio-economic class. A lot of Yugo buyers never
bothered to change their oil and would have the Yugos with their seized
engines towed to the dealer angrily demanding a new engine and when told
no, replied "you expect me to change oil on a $3900 car!?" But the Yugo
engine is actually a bulletproof, reliable, easy to maintain engine.

 

well, the Fox-body certainly lasted long enough... I think that had
some Pinto genes in it, no? the Vega was a POS from the get go though,
although it certainly was a sharp *looking* little car. Too bad GM
didn't see fit to put an actual engine under the hood instead of the
grenade they stuffed in there. You forgot to mention the Chevette as
well, which was another GM compact that simply disappeared off the
roads almost as soon as it was discontinued. The Horizon was a poor
imitation of the Rabbit...

meanwhile, up until very recently, any of the import brands offered
just the kinds of vehicles that you sneer at. Now that fuel prices are
going up, they're bringing over some of the smaller models (Yaris,
etc.) to fill the gap left when they moved their existing models
upsized and upmarket.

nate

(still miss my old VW Scirocco... couldn't kill the damn thing even at
240K miles, and it would get close to 30 MPG if you could keep your
foot out of it. Sold it because I thought I wanted a new car, that was
dumb. Can I have it back now please?)

 

No offence, but I wouldn't buy one of those small cars if I was paid too. I
drive a Bonnie. It is a supercharged 3.8L V6 and *still* get's almost 30MPG
on the highway. She will move fast, she looks great, and is safe as safe can
be. If small cars are the 'future' you wish to see, then I want no part of
it and will keep my Pontiac.

 

That's your prerogative, and I can't really fault you for the choice
because the 3.8 is probably one of the best engines GM has made in
quite a while. I just prefer something lighter and more nimble, and I
don't worry about what most people think of when they say "safety" i.e.
passive safety features - I prefer to drive defensively and rely on the
handling/braking/acceleration of the car to keep me from wrecking.
Been working for me so far... (knocks wood) this is why there are
different kinds of cars on the market; you'd probably think my old 944
is too loud, rides too stiff etc. but it makes me happy to drive it

I don't really *want* to see any particular automotive future (although
if it includes more sports cars, I'm totally OK with that) but the
truth is that we're never going to see sub-$1 gasoline ever again, and
maybe not even sub-$2. I'd be happy with sub-$3 right now...

nate

 

It's my personal favorite. I have had two Series I's and am now on my second
Series II (all in different cars, of course ). Love(d) all of them.

I take my sister's '03 Grand Am GT out every now and then, and with the 3400
RamAir, the GT package, and the smaller size, it is a beautiful car to park,
and zip around town in. I personally, wouldn't really want a car even that
small. Grand Prix's/Intrigue's/Regal's are about the smallest I would buy.

I agree with that too. You can have the safest car in the world, but if you
can't drive worth crap, its not much good to you.

I had an '82 Trans Am once. It was damned small on the outside, but I could
sit in the engine bay while working on it. The ride sucked, but she could
turn on a dime.

When I got gas last night, it was 119.9 a LITRE, here in Ontario Canada.
That was for the 91 octane, but even the regular 87 was well over a dollar.
I do see your point though. As gas prices rise, I may one day want a smaller
car. I just don't want to be forced into doing that.

 

If we, as consumer, keep the demand for oil (in any form) up, prices will
stay up. Smaller cars are only a portion of what must be done. Cut use by
5% to 10% and prices will drop over night. But no one want to be first, no
one wants to be inconvenienced.

 

How do you feel about projections? Based on projected sales released
by each company at the beginning of the year, Toyota is expected to
surpass GM in total worldwide sales in 2006. I don't know for sure,
but I am betting that Toyota is doing at least as well as GM at
hitting their sales targets so far this year.

 

I can't really agree with that. I think it doesn't really matter if we all
drove Sunfire's, or each company's version of it (Honda's Civic, etc), gas
would still be where it is now. They know we need it, and that we will pay
for it.

I don't see that happening at all. See above. They know we need it, and they
will charge whatever they want.

I can agree with that. I myself, don't use much gas at all. I mainly stay
in-town, and when I go out, I usually wait until more people have to go out,
and we all go in one car, at the same time (I live with 5 other family
members and friends).

 

We are all entitled to our opinions I guess. What makes you believe the
'fuel(s) of the future' will be less expensive than
gasoline? Hydrogen is currently around $20 a gallon

I've been in all three sides of the automotive business for a long time and
in the real world people buy what they want. History repeatedly tells us
what they ALWAYS want is their vehicles to be bigger and more powerful.
Look at what both Toyota and Honda have marketed over the past ten years.
They are ALL bigger and more powerful, with more new trucks and SUVs than
small cars. Todays Corolla is a bigger car than the Camry of yore. Where
the import have the advantage is that can import the midget cars the make
and sell around the world. They can't afford to build them in the US
anymore than domestics can. Even though the imports have much lower labor
and benefits cost than the domestics in the US. When buyers warm to the
higher gas prices they will shun smaller cars just as they did after the
last big gas price jumps. Teh fact is we use far more gas at $3 than we did
when it was $2

Even if we could develop an alternative fuel to replace gasoline, the cost
of a delivery system alone would be in the billions, IF we can get it built
under the current pollution laws. If we did all that OPEC can simply lower
the price of crude and make ANY new fuel a more expensive option. We sill
never see any fuel for our cars that is less expensive, so the sooner you
become accustomed to it you can buy the big powerful car vehicle you want.



mike hunt