![[Valid Atom 1.0]](valid-atom.png "Validate my Atom 1.0 feed")
AUTOS' COMMENTS & OPINIONS
* USA - Least-Safe Cars 2007
USA -Forbes, by Dan Lienert -31 Oct 2006: -- You're at the car dealership, excited to seal the deal on your nice new ride. You're assessing your options, and several sound sexy: heated cup holders, GPS navigation system, big alloy wheels. One option that does not: side airbags... But in a pinch, they could make a bigger difference than the navigation system, shiny wheels and coffee-warmer combined. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) rattled the automotive world on Oct. 5 by announcing that side airbags that protect people's heads are reducing driver deaths in cars struck on the driver's side by an estimated 37%. So are side airbags the seat belts of the 21st century?...
* USA - Detroit, Downsizing
USA -Forbes, by Jonathan Fahey -25 Oct 2006: -- Third-quarter earnings announcements from General Motors, Ford Motor and DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler group this week amounted to a public Jenny Craig weigh-in. All three are scurrying to cut as much fat from their bloated cost structures as fast as they can... The results? General Motors is trimming down, Ford is still flabby, and Chrysler has had a setback. All three need more time on the treadmill, though: Together, the companies lost $7.4 billion in the quarter... The smallest loss was that of General Motors, which reported a loss of $115 million, or 20 cents a share. That represents a welcome, $1.5 billion improvement over the third quarter of 2005, much of which was the result of better results at the company's long-struggling North American operations... Ford is in the midst of its own buyout program for all of its 75,000 hourly workers, offering packages of up to $140,000. It is also planning to cut 14,000 white-collar jobs and sell one of its luxury brands, Aston Martin. The goal is a $5 billion reduction in costs by 2008... Chrysler, meanwhile, is in some ways ahead of Ford and GM in reducing costs and complexity by sharing underbodies and parts between different vehicles and brands, and by building vehicles in flexible factories that can build different models in response to demand...
* USA - Mercedes Picks Up The Slack
USA -Forbes, by Jonathan Fahey -25 Oct 2006: -- It's Mercedes' turn again. Since the 1998 merger of DaimlerBenz and Chrysler, the fortunes of the German and American sides of the cross-Atlantic automaker have swung in almost perfect opposition. They are still waiting to succeed together... After the merger, Chrysler almost immediately hit a rough spot, and Mercedes was left to carry the weight of the newly giant company. Then, after former Mercedes executive Dieter Zetsche came stateside to restructure Chrysler, the American division surged on the strength of vehicles like the Chrysler 300 sedan and the company's "stow and go" minivans. It just so happened that that's when Mercedes results sagged, a result of a rash of quality problems and a bloated cost structure in Germany... But Mercedes has fixed itself--just in time for Chrysler to plunge. Mercedes reported an operating profit of $1.2 billion for the third quarter, an improvement of 127% over last year's corresponding period. Chrysler, meanwhile, lost $1.4 billion, slightly less than the company had warned, down from a $390 million profit last year, as revenues decreased 26%...
posted by Unknown @ 4:42 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home