US auto sales have slowed again. We seem certain to end 2010 at the bottom end of last year’s forecasts for demand, which ranged between 11.5m – 12.5m. This seems the main conclusion from analysing November’s sales figures. The blog has developed the new presentation above, showing sales by month since 2005, to assist comparison […]
Chemicals and the Economy
US auto market remains “very fragile”
US auto sales (black line) in April showed welcome improvement versus 2009, but were still a long way short of earlier demand levels. They were up 19% versus April 2009. But even with this improvement, they were down by 24% by comparison with 2 years ago. On an annualised basis, they were only 11.2m versus […]
Toyota’s discounts drive US auto sales rise
The blog is always grateful for good news, no matter the reason. Thus it welcomes March’s rise in US auto sales to 850k from February’s 615k (black line). The driver for the rise was Toyota’s (red line) record level of price discounts, as it aimed to overcome its disastrous sales slump after the quality problems. […]
US auto sales in 2009 at 1982 level
US auto sales last year at 10.4 million were the worst since 1982. Even this figure was slightly artificial, due to the support provided by the $3bn ‘cash for clunkers’ programme in the summer. This impact can be seen in the chart, with total volumes (black line) picking up again in December under the impact […]
US auto sales enter the “new normal”
The blog is changing its US auto sales chart, now that a year has passed since volumes collapsed last October. Year-on-year % changes become meaningless as a result. Instead, it will now show monthly volumes, on a total US basis (blue line) and for the major producers (dotted lines). Key highlights this month are: • […]
Toyota cuts global auto production
Back in May, the blog suggested that “Chrysler’s bankruptcy marks a ‘tipping point’, when the first major company is finally forced to adjust to a permanently lower level of demand.” Now comes news that Toyota is to follow Chrysler’s lead, and will cut production on a global basis Toyota produced 9.24m autos last year, but […]
Cerberus loses $6bn in just 2 years with Chrysler
Cerberus’ timing was clearly not very good with its Chrysler acquisition in Q3 2007. And Steve Feinberg, Cerberus co-founder, admitted this when he told the New York Times “we were too optimistic on timing. Maybe what we should have done was not bought it.” So far, they have lost $6bn of their original $7.4bn investment. […]
US auto sales continue rebound
US auto sales have not yet followed the European lead, and shown an increase versus 2008 levels. And they certainly don’t match China’s 17% sales increase in H1. But they were down just 11% in July. And Ford did post its first annual sales gain since November 2007. As the chart shows, all the major […]
US demand bouncing along the bottom
The good news from the latest reports on US house prices and auto sales was simple – things have stopped getting worse. US house prices saw “some stabilisation in some regions” according to the S&P/Case Shiller Index for April. Whilst auto sales are clearly bouncing along the bottom, down “only” 29% in June versus May’s […]
Chrysler bankruptcy to last years, not months
More details are now emerging of the US government’s plans for Chrysler. Initially President Obama said he hoped the bankruptcy process would only last 60 days. But according to Bloomberg, the administration now accepts that this period will just cover the “sale of Chrysler’s best assets” to Fiat. Suppliers, including those in the chemical industry, […]
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