June 12, 2007
As with sport utilities, the popularity of pickups is in decline. Sales have dropped, rebates and other incentives are climbing, even for companies like G.M. and Toyota that have the newest models on the market, according to The New York Times.
Posted by 
at 10:28 AM | Permalink
June 1, 2007
High gas prices and the slow housing market are expected to result in soft May auto sales, with even venerable Toyota perhaps taking a hit, according to a report in USA Today, citing Edmunds.com
Consumer website Edmunds.com predicts sales reported today will be down 4.2% compared with last year, with blame for the decline resting squarely on energy costs and housing woes. Still, sales are expected to be better than in April, when automakers posted an overall 7.6% decline compared with April 2006.
Edmunds predicts that even Toyota, which has tended to shake off slumping sales when gas prices soar thanks to its fuel efficient models, will see a drop in sales. Only Chrysler is expected to post an increase — and a modest one, at that.
Posted by at 9:28 AM | Permalink
May 16, 2007
Maybe it's that no one in my extended family works for Chrysler or that until Monday's announcement that it had purchased a controlling stake in the automaker, I'd never even heard of Cerberus Capital Management, writes Detroit Free Press columnist Brian Dickerson.But my first reaction -- before I stopped to consider the impact on Michigan's economy or the U.S. auto industry or Chrysler workers -- was to wonder why a company with $60 billion would name itself after a three-headed monster, he writes.
Posted by at 11:07 AM | Permalink
May 15, 2007
In the last year, private equity firms have broken the mold over and over again. They have bought technology and finance companies, previously thought unsuitable for buyouts. The deals have gotten bigger; the financing more creative.
But with an agreement to take control of Chrysler, private equity is venturing into virtually uncharted territory, according to The New York Times.
While private equity firms have bought troubled industrial companies in the past and dealt with unionized work forces, no one has tried to grapple with a company with the problems the size of Chrysler’s and with a union as powerful as the United Automobile Workers.
Posted by at 10:12 AM | Permalink
Can private equity investors fix Chrysler for good, and can they avoid a confrontation with the United Automobile Workers union, Micheline Maynard asks in an analysis in The New York Times.
These are the most pressing questions to arise from the deal announced Monday for Cerberus Capital Management, which specializes in restructuring troubled companies, to pay a total of $7.4 billion to take control of Chrysler, with most of that money to be invested in the newly independent company.
Posted by at 10:03 AM | Permalink
May 2, 2007
Check out business writer Sarah Webster's analysis of the dip in car sales last month in the Detroit Free Press.
"U.S. consumers, whose confidence is being sapped by a sluggish housing market and rising fuel prices, purchased just 1.3 million new vehicles last month, she writes. "That's a decline of 7.6%, or 110,000, compared with sales a year ago -- the worst monthly sales drop this year....
"Automakers told the Free Press that when confidential fleet sales to rental car companies and other businesses are excluded, consumer purchases in dealer showrooms were even worse."
Posted by at 12:24 PM | Permalink
