Sales plunge for GM and Ford
http://tinyurl.com/47kny2

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Sales at General Motors and Ford Motor Co.
fell sharply in September as tighter credit for buyers and dealers
during the month combined with stubbornly high fuel prices to sharply
curtail demand for cars and trucks.

General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) reported that sales of cars and light
trucks dropped 16% compared to September a year ago. That was better
than the forecast of a 24% decline from sales tracker Edmunds.com but it
is still clearly a sign of weakened demand for autos. Sales of GM's cars
fell 10% while sales of light trucks, such as pickups, SUVs and vans,
declined 19%

The news was worse at Ford (F, Fortune 500), which reported that U.S.
sales tumbled 35% from a year earlier. The forecast had been for only a
25% drop in sales in the period.

Overall industry sales are expected to fall 20% from year-ago levels.
Experts said many consumers were apparently reluctant to make big ticket
purchases at a time of economic upheaval.

And for those who wanted to buy a car, some were unable to get a loan as
the credit markets tightened during the mounting crisis on Wall Street.

In addition to auto loans being more difficult to get, a growing number
of dealerships also have been hit by the credit crunch and have found it
increasingly tough to get the cash they need to do business.

"Consumers and businesses are in a very fragile place," said Jim Farley,
Ford group vice president. "An already weak economy compounded by very
tight credit conditions has created an atmosphere of caution."

George Pipas, Ford's director of sales analysis, said the company is
projecting that industrywide sales to consumers were down 30% compared
to last year.

If that pans out, total U.S. vehicle sales would fall below the 1
million mark for the first time in 15 years. He said that sales, as well
as traffic in showrooms, were down even more sharply the last 10 days of
the month as the economic crisis got more and more attention.

"There are customers who are adopting a wait and see attitude," he said.
"When the Dow falls 777 points, I can assure you there weren't many
people closing on a car on Monday or an HD TV or a home for that matter."

Market research firm CNW Research, which has tracked dealership traffic
for 22 years, confirmed Pipas' view. The firm's reading on traffic for
the end of September was the worst it has ever reported, down 50%
compared to a year earlier.

"Manufacturer incentives aren't pulling in the crowds. Dealer 'blow out
sales' aren't working. And without showroom traffic, it's tough to sell
anything," said Art Spinella, president of CNW.

But the sales decline for Ford in September was broad based. Sales for
almost every model of car or truck offered by Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and
Volvo fell at least 10% from the same period last year.

Ford's SUV models plunged 57%, while pickup and van sales tumbled 39%.
But Ford even had a rough time selling more fuel efficient vehicles.
Sales of so-called crossover vehicles, which are a more car-like SUV,
dropped 30% despite a high-profile introduction of a new model, the
Flex. Sales of car models were down 19%.

The other top automakers are due to report later in the day. Chrysler
LLC sales are forecast to drop by 37%.

But it's not just U.S. automakers that are being hit by the credit
squeeze. Toyota Motor (TM), Honda Motor (HMC) and Nissan (NSANY) are
expected to post steep declines in U.S. sales as well.


--
Civis Romanus Sum

80_Knight wrote:
> "Jim Higgins" <gordian238@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:LsmdnZyTsKytXn7VnZ2dnUVZ_uKdnZ2d@posted.eagle computertechnology...
>> Sales plunge for GM and Ford
>> http://tinyurl.com/47kny2
>
> Your link directs to a page with "U.S. auto sales plunge, Sales sharply
> lower at Ford, Toyota and GM; auto makers say credit squeeze, customer
> worries led to sharp drops in sales."
>
> Here is the article that you *edited* to make it look like it was only GM
> and Ford having troubles. Editing articles Jim? Do you hate the domestics
> that much that you have to edit articles to make them look worse? That's
> low, even for you. You always claimed you post these GM articles in this
> group because "other people may want to see them", and now you are editing
> them, replacing words and paragraphs to suit your domestic-bashing.
> Very low Jim, very low indeed.
>
>
Don't be such an ass 80, I don't edit and post the link-too easy to
check. The current update is after 8:00PM. These stories are often
updated. For your sake I'll try to remember to include the article time
lest you convulse in another knee jerk.

--
Civis Romanus Sum

"80_Knight" <nospam@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:bMWdndmMJ4_dbn7VnZ2dnUVZ_g2dnZ2d@giganews.com ...
> "Jim Higgins" <gordian238@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:LsmdnZyTsKytXn7VnZ2dnUVZ_uKdnZ2d@posted.eagle computertechnology...
>> Sales plunge for GM and Ford
>> http://tinyurl.com/47kny2
>
> Your link directs to a page with "U.S. auto sales plunge, Sales sharply
> lower at Ford, Toyota and GM; auto makers say credit squeeze, customer
> worries led to sharp drops in sales."
>
> Here is the article that you *edited* to make it look like it was only GM
> and Ford having troubles. Editing articles Jim? Do you hate the
> domestics that much that you have to edit articles to make them look
> worse? That's low, even for you. You always claimed you post these GM
> articles in this group because "other people may want to see them", and
> now you are editing them, replacing words and paragraphs to suit your
> domestic-bashing.
> Very low Jim, very low indeed.

Good point. Toyota sales were actually off more than GM's, and essentially
off as much as Ford's. If Toyota did not have excess small car capacity in
Japan, and the Prius, they would have been in much worse shape. It will be
interesting to see how long Toyota can prop up Tundra sales by dumping them
on the market. I bet the execs in Japan are really sorry they wasted billion
on that turkey.

Ed

"C. E. White" <cewhite3@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:f-udnabT9bFygHnVnZ2dnUVZ_vKdnZ2d@earthlink.com...
>
> "80_Knight" <nospam@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:bMWdndmMJ4_dbn7VnZ2dnUVZ_g2dnZ2d@giganews.com ...
>> "Jim Higgins" <gordian238@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:LsmdnZyTsKytXn7VnZ2dnUVZ_uKdnZ2d@posted.eagle computertechnology...
>>> Sales plunge for GM and Ford
>>> http://tinyurl.com/47kny2
>>
>> Your link directs to a page with "U.S. auto sales plunge, Sales sharply
>> lower at Ford, Toyota and GM; auto makers say credit squeeze, customer
>> worries led to sharp drops in sales."
>>
>> Here is the article that you *edited* to make it look like it was only
>> GM and Ford having troubles. Editing articles Jim? Do you hate the
>> domestics that much that you have to edit articles to make them look
>> worse? That's low, even for you. You always claimed you post these GM
>> articles in this group because "other people may want to see them", and
>> now you are editing them, replacing words and paragraphs to suit your
>> domestic-bashing.
>> Very low Jim, very low indeed.
>
> Good point. Toyota sales were actually off more than GM's, and essentially
> off as much as Ford's. If Toyota did not have excess small car capacity in
> Japan, and the Prius, they would have been in much worse shape. It will be
> interesting to see how long Toyota can prop up Tundra sales by dumping
> them on the market. I bet the execs in Japan are really sorry they wasted
> billion on that turkey.

They did quite the job building the thing too...Seriously though, this isn't
a Domestic-only problem. Nearly all auto manufactures are hurting, and
hurting bad. Something needs to be done.