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The Auto Biz. How bad was it for some auto companies during the month of June? Chrysler sales were down 36 percent (gulp) with Dodge Durango off 67 percent, Chrysler Aspen off 49 percent and Jeep Commander down 68 percent. Ford sales were down 28 percent (F-Series pickups down 40.5 percent, Expedition off 59.8 percent, Explorer down 52.0 percent); GM down 18.5 percent (Hummer down 59.3 percent although Malibu was up 73.4 percent and Cobalt was up 21.6 percent); BMW down 11 percent; Nissan down 17.7 percent, and Porsche down 18.9 percent. Even Toyota was down a stunning 21.4 percent (with light trucks off 31.1 percent, Lexus Division down 21.1 percent). All together now, NOT GOOD.Honda. Having the right product mix at the right time paid off for Honda, as its June sales were up. Honda sold 10,003 of its Smart car killer, the Fit, for a new record. Article was taken from Autoextremist.com

People have so much to spend on transportation, and gas is displacing things like car purchases.What part of "drill now" can't Congress understand?

Quote, originally posted by jimincalif »What part of "drill now" can't Congress understand?Don't get me started. That deserves its own thread in the political asylum.I was glad to see that GM has some cars that are doing well.

only the over priced car's sold well? huh i dont touch honda's for many reasons, sad to see ford/gm doing so poor. But once those hyrbid and EV cars hit the market we'll see a big boom.

Quote, originally posted by K-NINE »I was glad to see that GM has some cars that are doing well.Some, but not enough. Merrill Lynch says a GM bankruptcy is "not impossible".http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/080702/gm.html?.v=3 Contemplating the effect of such on the economy, GM employees and all its related companies/suppliers, etc. is downright ugly. Short run, strengthen the dollar, long run drill everywhere and build nuclear power. Now would be good. Yesterday would be better. Tomorrow could be too late.

The speculators and doomsayers are at work. Last week it was "Toyota may out sell GM in June" headlines. After GM outsold Toyota by almost 70,000 vehicles, the headlines are GM may go bankrupt.

I wish they would open ANWR for drilling

Quote, originally posted by michaelgt »The speculators and doomsayers are at work. Last week it was "Toyota may out sell GM in June" headlines. After GM outsold Toyota by almost 70,000 vehicles, the headlines are GM may go bankrupt.Seems to me that all this proves is that GM can sell cars with incentives and 0% financing for 72 months. Probably not very profitable to do that.Chrysler is also on the ropes. Ford may not be far behind.If oil keeps on this upward trend we will be seeing $200 oil by next spring. That will probebly push a lot of auto companies and airlines into bankruptcy. I doubt that there is enough oil in the U.S. territories to be much more than a Band-Aid on world demand. Certainly at $200 altyernatives to oil such as nuclear power, geothermal etc. have to be cost effective. I just shook my head when reading that the Kennedys and their ilk in Cape Cod nixed windmills in THEIR backyard.

This article came out yesterday about Canadian Auto sales:Quote »TORONTO, July 2 (Reuters) - Canadian auto sales were lower in June with another sharp skid at General Motors of Canada as rising gas prices weighed on demand for SUVs and light trucks, according to company figures released on Wednesday.http://www.reuters.com/article...80702

I still really like the Volt. But for now getting my new apartment I will be able to train it to work and save $$$ on gas. As far as Honda, look at their lineup. They have a car that pretty much suits everyone, no need as of yet for crossovers and the like. They do not offer any V8's and all of their cars pretty much have ULEV ratings which exceed CARB standards in emissions. Heck I got a tax break in CT for having a ULEV Civic. I think they even have SULEV now. (Super Low Emission Vehicle). For the price the Fit beats out most of its competition aside from the Versa that is still doing well. And the V6 engines they offer still get good gas mileage compared to the power and performance. Honda's only issue coming up is not going to be just Toyota, but soon to come Hyundai which is moving into their market more and more with better and better cars.

Quote, originally posted by michaelgt »The speculators and doomsayers are at work. Last week it was "Toyota may out sell GM in June" headlines. After GM outsold Toyota by almost 70,000 vehicles, the headlines are GM may go bankrupt.Terrible timing. This is GM's centennial year; it was 100 years ago this Fall when GM incorporated. How can they celebrate if bankruptcy may be around the corner?

Quote, originally posted by micbarric »Terrible timing. This is GM's centennial year; it was 100 years ago this Fall when GM incorporated. How can they celebrate if bankruptcy may be around the corner? 74 days until GM turns 100. There are articles out that speculate that GM may bring the Chevy Beat to US. Also, there is speculation on the mini pickup that is sold in other countries (based on the Corsa). GM is a large global company, and has a variety of vehicles already in production around the world. Toyota does not have such a large variety.

GM exists now, largely, as an asset management company for it's retirees. A bizarre amount of every sales dollar goes to people that no longer work there, rather than paying the bills. GM, rather than increasing wages, gave the unions unrealistic retirement benefits, because they don't show up on the current bottom line. It's caught up with them now. Look for rebates aplenty soon... GM needs 15b in the short term to stay afloat. The fact that the 15 may cost them 20 is unimportant... it's all about cash flow now, not profits. They need time to re-tool plants for smaller cars. Low rate financing sells cars, but delays cash flow. Keep in mind that bankruptcy doesn't mean they are out of business. It's just a stay of execution from creditors. The BIG losers if that happens, are the investors & retirees.... zero.

Quote, originally posted by Whelan »Honda's only issue coming up is not going to be just Toyota, but soon to come Hyundai which is moving into their market more and more with better and better cars. Well said. In the U.S. However, IMO, I don't think Honda have the same type of global dominance of a Toyota, nor do they want to be. In fact, Kia/Hyundai is already sell more cars than Honda if you look at total sold around the world. If Honda wanted world dominance, they would already have a (real) truck, hog SUVs, and lots of V8s.Perhaps Honda's once "weakness" (no trucks, no V8) was really a vision for the future.

When gas was cheap, it used to be a limitation to not have a truck in your lineup. I guess now not having to rely on huge fuel sucking trucks/suv's isn't such a bad thing after all! Hyundai/Kia had plans for a pickup but they scrapped it a few months ago due to - get this - high cost of fuel. Imagine that. It didn't get much press but last month Hyundai was there with Honda selling to the good - albeit up by 1.3%. The SUV's/vans tanked while cars like the Accent had sales up 70%, Elantra up 51% and Sonata up 12%.I was pleased to see how poorly some of the "green champion" Toyota's worst offenders faired last month, like the Tundra. People knock GM/Ford/Chrysler for relying on fuel sucking pigs for their livelihood, but Toyota was well on their way of doing that too. They still are trying, it seems the only vehicle I ever see them advertise on TV these days is the fricken Sequoia. They're blowing their ad budget on crap nobody wants when gas is $4+ a gallon. I guess their marketing dept. is asleep behind the wheel.