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" dbu," <repubs@waitfor08.com> wrote in message
news:repubs-358C64.16400603012007@comcast.dca.giganews.com...[color=blue]
> In article <12po9n8ljlr1h4d@corp.supernews.com>,
> "Jim Higgins" <gordian238@hotmail.com> wrote:[color=green]
>> GM, Ford sales plunge, Chrysler falls to No. 4
>> [url]http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/03/news/companies/autosales/index.htm?postversion[/url]
>> =2007010315
>>
>> NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors and Ford Motor ended a
>> difficult
>> year with another plunge in U.S. sales, while Chrysler Group reported an
>> unexpected rise in sales in the month, although it wasn't enough to stop
>> its
>> parent, DaimlerChrysler, from falling to fourth place in full-year U.S.
>> sales for the first time.
>>
>> GM (Charts) sales fell 13 percent in the month, although the automaker
>> reported sales on per-selling-day basis that showed only a 9.7 percent
>> decline. The fall left GM with sales 8.7 percent lower in 2006 than the
>> year
>> before.
>>
>> The slide at GM in December was much worse than had been forecast. Auto
>> sales tracker Edmunds.com had forecast only a 5.2 percent drop for the
>> largest U.S. automaker in raw terms, and sales down only narrowly on a
>> per-sales day. Shares of Dow component GM plunged about 5 percent
>> following
>> the report.
>>
>> Still, Mark LaNeve, a GM vice president, said in the statement that GM's
>> December sales topped internal sales targets, especially in full-size
>> pickup
>> trucks and SUVs, where GM debuted new models in 2006.
>>
>> Alex Rosten, Manager of market analysis for Edmunds, said he thinks that
>> much of the problem in GM sales was that it was offering a 2007 model
>> pick-up with little or no incentives to induce buyers, while Dodge and
>> Ford
>> were making big cash-back and other offers to move their glut of 2006
>> model
>> pickups still on dealers' lots.
>>
>> "It shows people were shopping for the best deal, not the newest
>> product,"
>> said Rosten. "Dodge's incentives hit $4,400, which was roughly double
>> what
>> GM offered. But in a nutshell, it wasn't bad news for GM because they're
>> making more money on the vehicles they're selling. Once the '06's are
>> gone,
>> the next six months should be solid for GM trucks."
>>
>> Ford, Chrysler lose ground to Toyota
>> Ford Motor (Charts) reported that U.S. sales fell 12.8 percent from
>> December
>> a year earlier. As bad as that was, it was better than the forecast of
>> nearly a 20 percent drop made by Edmunds.com, and George Pipas, Ford's
>> manager of sales analysis, said Ford topped its internal target and
>> regained
>> lost market share in December after falling short of its own forecasts in
>> November. Ford shares were little changed on the report.
>>
>> Still the nation's No. 2 automaker ended the year with sales of 2.9
>> million
>> vehicles, off 7.9 percent from 2005 total. And it could well be in the
>> No. 3
>> position in U.S. sales in 2007.
>>
>> Ford's December sales were once again less than reported by Toyota Motor
>> (Charts), and its current U.S. market share, which Pipas estimates at
>> 14.8
>> percent, would likely put it behind Toyota's share in 2007. The Japanese
>> automaker, which is also expected to pass GM in global sales in 2007, had
>> better than 15 percent of the U.S. market in 2006.
>>
>> Ford unveils Ford unveils Mustang-based concept
>> While sales of Ford's car models posted a 5.4 percent rise, its light
>> truck
>> models saw sales tumble 14.3 percent. That was crucial for the company,
>> which depends on sales of the more expensive pickups and SUVs for its
>> profits. Even with the plunge, light truck models account for 62 percent
>> of
>> sales.
>>
>> Ford's F-series pickup truck - the best selling U.S. vehicle - saw sales
>> off
>> 21 percent in December from year earlier levels, and saw full-year sales
>> down nearly 12 percent, dropping more than 100,000. Pipas blamed the
>> combination of gas prices and a weak home-building market for the
>> decline,
>> as the pickup is popular with builders.
>>
>> Chrysler reported its U.S. sales gained 1 percent to 190,415 vehicles in
>> the
>> month, up 1 percent from year-earlier sales. Edmunds.com had been looking
>> for a 6.7 percent decline in sales for the period.
>>
>> But Mercedes-Benz, the luxury brand which, like Chrysler, is owned by
>> DaimlerChrysler (Charts), reported a 10 percent drop in sales, leaving
>> the
>> overall company with a 1 percent drop in U.S. sales in December from a
>> year
>> earlier.
>>
>> Even with better-than-expected November results, Chrysler ended the year
>> with U.S. sales of 2.1 million, off 7 percent from 2005, while Mercedes
>> gained 11 percent for the year. That left DaimlerChrysler's sales here
>> down
>> 5 percent to 2.4 million vehicles.
>>
>> The result dropped DaimlerChrysler into fourth place in U.S. sales for a
>> full year for the first time.
>>
>> Toyota meanwhile posted a slightly-better-than 12 percent rise in both
>> December and full-year sales, topping Edmunds forecasts. Its full year
>> sales
>> came in at 2.5 million, and the company is likely poised for more gains
>> in
>> 2007 as it introduces a full-size pickup for the first time and continues
>> to
>> offer fuel efficient cars for those concerned about gasoline prices.
>>
>> Like Toyota, Honda Motor (Charts) also reported record U.S. sales for the
>> full year, although its December sales were narrowly lower than a year
>> earlier, it topped Edmunds' forecast. The sales tracker is looking for
>> the
>> other major Japanese automaker, Nissan (Charts), to report a drop in
>> December sales later in the day Wednesday.
>> --
>> The brave might not live forever but the timid do not live at all[/color]
>
> They sell gas hogs. GM, Ford and the other one need to be innovative
> again if they are to survive. Cut the workforce, get out from the union
> contracts and make killer vehicles, (taken from killer apps in the
> computer world). These guys need to wow a wide body of potential buyers
> not just a few red-necks that only want pick-um-up's. They need to quit
> being followers and instead be leaders in the field.
>
> I doubt it will happen.[/color]

You're right about the gas hogs... Does GM offer a real hybrid, yet? The
CrApVEO gets 37mpg and it's a real POS. There are at least three
different - and nice - Toyotas which eke out 40-41mpg. Toyota's aggressive
moves at the low-end of the market with Yaris and the Scion brand are going
to steal a whole generation of new buyers from GM and Ford (that is, if the
Don Fearns of this world will stop buying them so the kids can get a chance
at them).

I laughed out loud late last summer when I read GM was "rushing the new
GMT-900 pickups" to market to aid in the turnaround. Yes! Gas hogs will
save the company when a gas price shock is fresh in everyone's mind! Gee,
that plan worked sooo well. It also appears GM gets extra hurtin' from
public perception that last year's product is about as good as this years
product, so there's no rush to buy that GMT-900 that GM rushed out, they'll
shop price, thank you very much.

The spin from GM is unbelievable. "[M]et internal sales targets." Who are
they kidding?

In the full press release, however, there were two bright spots for GM (if
you believe their press release):
- They cut inventory significantly (at least, I thought I read this
yesterday, now I can't find the same press release I read yesterday. I
could be wrong about this).
- They cut incentives by $700 per vehicle; prices have firmed a bit (that's
in the release now at media.gm.com)

I disagree with part of your prescription, though. Union agreements are
certainly hurting GM. However, GM agreed to those settlements, nobody put a
gun to Roger Smith's head, and GM further chose not to fund the commitments
they were making, leading to the current cost situation. In spite of the
burden imposed by these agreements, rather than fund them, GM IS PAYING
DIVIDENDS.

I'm prepared to see the union get nothing only if the shareholders and
executives also get nothing. But the latter is not on the table. Chapter
11 would let the shareholders come out with equity and CEO Wagoner's even
got a bankruptcy-proof separation agreement (gee, why would a CEO even think
to negotiate such a thing? And what corporate board would agree to such a
thing?). Alternatively, I'd think a settlement that left the Union with
half ownership in the "new" GM was fair.



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