WP: SUV Sales Down Sharply: GM, Ford to Shift Production to Cars

[DeepModem Mom]

SUV Sales Down Sharply
GM, Ford to Shift Production to Cars
By Sholnn Freeman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 2, 2005; Page D01


Gas prices have fallen in recent weeks, but U.S. consumers are still avoiding big sport-utility vehicles in favor of passenger cars, forcing domestic automakers to slow truck production.

Sales of all new vehicles in the U.S. were off 2.8 percent in November, compared with November 2004, with Detroit automakers bearing the brunt of the industry slowdown, according to Autodata Corp. Meanwhile, U.S. sales by Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. continued to surge.

At General Motors Corp., the world's largest automaker, sales were down 7.6 percent. The slump coincided with the company's announcement last month that it would cut 30,000 jobs by 2008 and close several plants. GM sales have lagged since it ended "employee pricing" discounts in September.

Ford Motor Co., the No. 2 automaker, said sales fell 15 percent. In response, GM and Ford announced yesterday that they will make fewer trucks in coming months while boosting car output. Ford said it will increase first-quarter car production by 21 percent from a year earlier....

***

Industry-wide, passenger cars gained market share from light trucks in November. Toyota's U.S. sales rose 13 percent, and Honda reported an 8 percent increase....The sales spiral of the Ford Explorer demonstrates consumers' shifting tastes. It was once one of the nation's most popular vehicles, but Ford sold fewer than 12,000 last month, a 52 percent drop from November 2004....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/01/AR2005120100737.html

[merwin]

1. This was projected years ago... Ford and GM just didn't listen.

[VegasWolf]

3. Actually they knew this, there were just more built in profits in SUVs

relative to cars. The American motor companies are inept at competing in building low cost automobiles because of excessive executive pay. American executives make 200% more than their counterparts any where in the world.

[susanna]

8. ...and, to add insult to injury:

this failure to listen to the market in the 70s was thoroughly documented in David Halberstam's book "The Reckoning," first published in 1986. It detailed the auto industry of the 70s, when Nissan, Datsun, Honda and Toyota started from nothing in the U.S. and made their first inroads.

That said, there IS a problem for U.S. auto companies, relating to health-care and retiree costs, that the Japanese/Korean/etc. companies do not YET have to deal with. That will be something to watch as these companies age, though; they will not be immune from those problems as long as the U.S. has a for-profit health care system...

[leesa]

2. Duh.

[Burried News]

4. Once again beaten by the Japanese. This is what happens

when corporate leaders fail. The issue isn't worker skills or productivity - they failed to meet the demands of the market - they aren't even fit to be businessmen and capitalists. They don't know how to compete from an engineering standpoint. Frauds and failures ... bankrupt sons of bitches ... the only thing they are good for is stealing pensions and screwing customers who are foolish enough to finance purchases through their credit arms.

[NuttyFluffers]

10. but! they fail upwards! :D all hail murikan kapitalyzm!

what a country! you can bankrupt a company that's profits were bigger than my country's GDP and get a bonus! (said to voice of yakov smirnoff)

[stepnw1f]

5. DUH

assholes....

[MrTriumph]

6. And Hummers will not be hybrids... poor ol' brain dead GM

GM just announced a few days ago that Hummers will not be available as hybrids. The spokesperson said something about rugged individualism as if purchasers want to see how much gas they can burn on the way to Wal-Mart.

GM leadership is clueless.

[VegasWolf]

7. Good time to short Ford (F)! They will surely blow this! nt

[CAG]

9. A local official in OKC, after the GM plant shutdown announcement,

put the blame on the oil companies for their high gas prices. Others on the right blamed union employees who (SHOCK, HORROR) fought for living wages. This plant was primarily a SUV production plant the last few years.

They, of course, failed to place any blame on management who failed to realize the obvious; that at some point, volatile oil/gas prices would force US families away from their obsession with 12 mpg vehicles.

[LynneSin]

11. My god have you seen the new behometh that Jeep is selling

The Commander is Jeeps entry into the ultra-sized SUVs and it gets a whooping 15mpg.

Of course Jeep is running a promotion where you get the first 2 years of gas free. Damn they must be desparate to sell. At $2/gallon with a 20 gallon tank that is 40/week about $250/month. Hell for that money they just could have leased them a car for free.

[Tesha]

13. (The fine print puts a limit on the total amount of "free" gas.) (NT)

[4dsc]

12. So when will they stop all the commercials

Its seems that every other commercial on the TeeVee is a truck or SUV commercial!! When will the insanity stop!!

[Moosepoop]

14. The commercial I hate the worst is for a Hummer.

The three bears (people in bear suits) come home to find their house eaten/sat/slept in, then go running out to their triple-door garage where they discover that Baby Bear's garage stall is empty. Baby Bear commences howling in rage. Cut to Goldilocks, a shapley twenty-something blonde babe, zooming down the road in a stolen Hummer, sporting a smirk. That ad irritates me on so many levels, I want to throw something through the TV every time I see it.

[Javaman]

15. I guess they finally picked up that clue phone that's been ringing for the

past 25 years.

Dolts.

[NickB79]

16. Dodge had a 70-mpg diesel-hybrid Intrepid in 2000!

http://www.allpar.com/model/intrepid-esx3.html

"The ESX3 costs only about $7,500 more than a comparable gasoline-powered car, down from a $15,000 premium with the ESX2, and $60,000 with the ESX.

The ESX3's mild hybrid electric (or "mybrid") powertrain combines a clean diesel engine, electric motor, and lithium-ion battery to achieve 72 miles per gallon (3.3 liters/100 km). That is two miles per gallon better than the fuel efficiency of its predecessor, the ESX2 in 1998, and close to PNGV's goal of up to 80 mpg (2.9 liters/100 km)."

"The lightweight body uses injection-molded thermoplastic technology that cuts weight and cost. The ESX3 weighs 2,250 pounds (1020 kg) while meeting all federal safety standards. The vehicle is more than 80 percent recyclable."

Cry me a river, US automakers. You had the technology years before the Japanese did to give us massive gains in fuel efficiency, but you sat on it, content in making short-term profits on SUV's while we pissed away more and more time and oil. Then the Japanese got the jump on you because of your greed.

I feel sorry for the workers at the plants, but not for the companies themselves. Maybe Toyota and Honda will build more car plants here and take in all the laid-off GM and Ford workers to build more hybrid cars?

On edit: I realize that it says in the link that none of the cars lived up to their specs, but even a 50-mpg Intrepid would have been a huge increase in efficiency.