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AUTOS' COMMENTS & OPINIONS
* End of the Line for Generous Motors?
USA- The Car Connection, by Joseph Szczesny - 17 Feb 2006: -- It used to be conventional wisdom in American business that "Generous Motors" offered the richest benefits around... GM was an enormously rich company back in the 1950s and 1960s, and GM's top management used the company's wealth to attract and retain talent... Fast-forward 50 years, and the old regime at GM has fallen into disarray... The rich benefits put in place decades ago are now fading into history as the company grapples with the challenges posed by an era of aggressive competition and globalization... In one of the biggest blows to the old regime, GM chairman Richard Wagoner said GM will follow the lead of corporate giants such as IBM and Verizon, and will change the way pension benefits are calculated for active salaried employees hired before 1993... Wagoner said GM still is evaluating ways to restructure salaried pension benefits in the U.S. But he left no doubt that big changes are in the works, including a cap on pension benefits for existing employees that would make them significantly less generous...
* Stronger profits for European car-makers
Dublin,Ireland -The Sunday Business Post -18 Feb 2006: -- European car-makers are reporting stronger profits and keeping their aspirations focused on flashier models and new markets, even as US car companies are slashing benefits and jobs amid sagging results and spiralling gas prices... For car-makers from Italy’s Fiat SpA to German-American DaimlerChrysler AG, profits are improving and sales solid – a stark contrast to the US, where Ford Motors and General Motors have made major job cuts and are scaling back health care and pension plans... Analysts said European automakers are performing well because they’re beginning to exploit markets in Eastern Europe such as Russia and have done better fending off competition from Asian rivals such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co... “The Europeans are already well-structured with diesel and smaller vehicles, whereas the big three had to quickly be forced to spend a little more attention on the passenger car market,” said Michael Robinet, vice president of global vehicles forecasts with CSM consultants...
* Small is the new big
Los Angeles, CAL,USA -Los Angeles Times, by John O'Dell -Feb 18, 2006: -- Japanese take aim at young buyers with new subcompacts - Automakers hope small, fuel-efficient cars will attract youths who otherwise shop for used cars... Not too long ago, the world's automakers were engaged in a virtual arms race to satisfy the American public's appetite for hulking sport utility vehicles... Now Japan's big automakers stand to profit from galloping gas prices as they prepare to roll out a batch of fuel-efficient small vehicles. The move could spell additional trouble for Detroit, which still seems obsessed with gas-gulping muscle cars... The subcompacts from Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co., which established themselves here in the 1970s with small, reliable, fuel-efficient vehicles, will deliver fuel economy in high-30-miles-per-gallon territory at prices starting at about $12,000... The extra sales would continue the growth of the big Japanese companies, while American carmakers keep losing market share to foreign brands, Brown said. Last year, Japan's automakers captured a record 32.2 percent of the U.S. market, up from 22.8 percent a decade ago, while the American companies' share fell to a record low of 56.9 percent, down from 73.5 percent in 1995... If the new Japanese small cars sell well in the U.S., the carmakers probably won't stop... All sell several small-car models overseas that could be tweaked to meet U.S. standards... Nissan executives two years ago in San Francisco showed off a micro-van sold in Japan called the Cube. They said it was a question of only when, not if, it would be sold here...
* It’s hard to be both tough and green
Detroit,Mich,USA -The Detroit News, by John McCormick -Feb 17, 2006: -- The conflicted state of the auto industry in the US is front and center at this year's Chicago auto show... The show, which wraps up this weekend, reveals automakers wrestling with the challenge of promoting new, large truck models at a time when consumers are concerned with fuel economy and environmental issues...
* Ethanol is no silver bullet, has plenty of drawbacks, too
Detroit,Mich,USA -The Detroit News, by John McCormick -Feb 15, 2006: -- Ethanol -- what's the fuss? - Pros and cons: It's a worthy goal for sure, and as far as ethanol is concerned it involves part of America close to us Detroiters, the Midwest. Such a solution could benefit our regional economy and help the country kick its oil habit. So what's not to like?... The big problem is that ethanol, like other alternatives to good ol' gasoline, is no silver bullet. The first issue is that ethanol is energy intensive to produce, more so than gasoline, according to some experts. And more important , the fuel is less energy dense than gasoline, so that a gallon will cover about 30 percent fewer miles... This means that while E85 will have to be considerably cheaper than gas to make it worthwhile financially to consumers. Furthermore, though those who live in corn country might find E85 at a station for a lower price than gasoline but the production of ethanol will have to increase by a huge and frankly unrealistic percentage to have any meaningful effect on America's oil imports... Finding the pump: Then there is the question of finding ethanol; in our neck of the woods it's going to be a rare sight. Currently only 500 of the 180,000 U.S. fueling stations sell ethanol... All can run on 100 percent gasoline, if E85 is not available, so if you want to be prepared for the wider rollout of ethanol fuel, these are the models to consider...
posted by Unknown @ 12:21 PM
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