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Steven Rattner Working With Auto Industry On Recovery

Improving the health of the US auto industry is one of the top priorities of the Obama administration. Steven Rattner’s name had been bandied about as becoming the “car czar” that Obama had spoken of installing in an oversight position. Instead, Rattner was added to a panel of 14 that is overseeing the attempts at helping the auto industry recover. Some are calling Rattner the “car czar lite” because he’s communicating directly with the auto makers on how best to speed up their plans to overhaul the industry.

Rattner has a tough job, but he seems willing to give it his best effort.

“In the fall, as the economic crisis intensified, it became clearer and clearer to me that this was a moment of historic importance,” Mr. Rattner said, “and if one was ever to have an interest in serving your country in the area of economic policy, this was the moment.”

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Toyota And Honda Massively Cut Output

In news that should come as no surprise to anyone, Honda and Toyota have both announced that the global financial crisis has put a big dent in their sales figures, causing them to cut output. Toyota announced that their global output has now hit the lowest level in 23 years. Toyota produced 358,573 vehicles, a 53 percent decline from last year.

Honda fared no better than Toyota. The announced last month sales of 190,680 vehicles. That’s a decline of 43 percent from 2008.

Tighter credit is cutting demand and it’s being felt by Japan’s two largest auto manufacturers, as it is by car companies worldwide. Consumers aren’t getting approved for auto loans like they used to in the past, and they don’t have the money to buy cars using lump sum payments.

Both Toyota and Honda have announced a more aggressive entry into the hybrid vehicles, one segment that still appears to be growing. But that’s no guarantee of success.

Honda tamped down production by 48% last month due to the decline in sales revenue.

Toyota reduced its domestic production by 63% last month. They’re expecting to announce their worst operating loss in company history.

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Toyota Hiring Less Graduates

Toyota will hire less than half the usual number of college graduates next year, due to the global downturn. Toyota is heading towards a huge loss for the year and is seeking to minimize expense where it can.

Next year Toyota plans to hire 1,400 grads, down from this year’s total of 2,733.

That’s the lowest number the company has hired since 1996, a spokesman for the company stated.

Since January 2008 global auto sales are down nearly 25%, which is affecting all major car makers. Toyota is forecasting a loss of just under $5 billion for the year.

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GM, Ford, And Toyota Close To Wage Parity

Auto workers for the remaining 3 American car makers will soon be paid about the same as Toyota workers in the United States do. The wage parity is a result of the re-negotiated UAW contracts that were required as part of the government bailout of the domestic auto industry.

On the basis of the deal just inked between Ford Motor Company and the United Auto Workers, Ford workers will now average about $50 per hour, when their benefits are tabulated in. Toyota workers are at $48. This is the closest the gap has ever been, and should put Ford on a more competitive cost basis with cars produced in the United States.

GM and Chrysler are looking for $21.6 billion more from the United States government. In order to get to that number, they’re required to achieve wage parity with Toyota.

“For all practical purposes, we’re at parity now,” said University of California at Berkeley labor professor Harley Shaiken. “When the market recovers, Toyota will return to profit first and profit sharing payments make Toyota’s hourly costs more expensive than Ford’s.”

Ford Motor Co has not taken any money from the government. They say they won’t need to.

GM says there hourly figure will be in the same ballpark as Ford.

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2010 Nissan GT-R

The 2010 Nissan GT-R starts at $80,790, so powerful performance and awesome styling are to be expected right out of the gate. The price is even more expensive than last year’s, which can be attributed to the greater power added to the vehicle.

The 2010 Nissan GT-R will get more power and more features over the MY2009 car, Nissan revealed today. As expected, sticker prices for Motor Trend’s 2009 Car of the Year are a bit more than the outgoing edition — $3950 for base and Premium trim levels to be exact. An $80,790 price tag can be expected for the base model GT-R, while the Premium Edition commands $83,040.

For the extra four grand, owners get five more horsepower from the twin-turbo 3.8L V-6 (485-hp/434 lb-ft), new suspension calibration and studier brake lines feeding the Brembo binders. Of course, a revised Transmission Control Module is included in the MY2010 GT-R that allows for faster acceleration with the VDC switched on.

Clearly not for the faint of heart, or the shallow of wallet.

Source: Motor Trend

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Hybrid Vehicles Market Share Growing

Hybrid vehicles are becoming much more popular with consumers. Not only that, but the news is good long term. The growth of sales of hybrid vehicles is expected to reach 24% annually.

The global market for ultra-cheap automobiles is expected to increase by an annual average of 24 percent to reach 14 million units in 2020, while the compact car market grows to 38million units, 2.5 times the 2007 market, according to the Korea Automotive Research Institute, based on data from international consultancies, AT Kearney and Boston Consulting.

The analysis forecasts the ratio of new gasoline-powered cars will fall from 80 percent in 2007 to 40 percent in 2020. Meanwhile, the ratio of hybrid cars, which enhance fuel efficiency through the mixed use of gasoline engines and electric motors, is likely to rise 19 percent in Europe, 18 percent in the Americas, and 15 percent in Asia. According to AT Kearney, the automakers of emerging markets, including China, India and Russia, are expected to expand their market share from a meager nine percent in 2006 to 32 percent in 2020.

Hybrid vehicle sales remain one bright spot in an otherwise dreary time for auto sales. Customers want smaller cars that are more affordable and that is becoming more obvious by the day.

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GM Issues Recall On Nearly 277,000 New Vehicles

General Motors recently announced a recall on 276,729 new cars and light trucks. The company says that a glitch in the transmission could enable the vehicle to roll away when placed in park.

GM said that the shift lever and transmission gear’s position may not match up, causing the vehicle to be put into the wrong gear, even though it says it’s the right gear.

Affected vehicles are all 2009 model year Buick Enclave; Chevrolet Cobalt, HHR, Malibu and Traverse; Pontiac G5 and G6; Saturn Aura and Outlook and GMC Acadia.

Only 75,000 of the potentially malfunctioning vehicles have been delivered to customers and the rest are on dealers lots. No injuries have been reported in connection with the recall.

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Toyota To Make Honda Insight Competitor

Toyota has announced they plan on constructing a cheaper hybrid to compete with the new Honda Insight, which will debut in June with a street price of $20,800. The Toyota Prius is $4,000 more expensive, so Toyota is foreseeing a problem.

Honda has already released the Insight in Japan and has already seen strong demand. They said yesterday that the Insight was selling at three times their expected rate.

Toyota said their new model would be offered at less than 2 million yen or $20,510 in order to be price competitive with the Insight.

Toyota is looking to launch the new brand by 2010 and they said it will be 20 to 30% cheaper than the Prius. The car will be a subcompact that will have a smaller engine than the current Prius which uses a 1.5 liter engine.

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Toyota Hybrids Have Now Sold One Million In US

Toyota hybrid vehicles have been catching on with consumers, as indicated by Toyota’s recent announcement that they’ve sold one million of the fuel efficient vehicles in the United States.

The huge success has been built mostly due to the popular of the Toyota Prius, which remains the world’s best-selling hybrid vehicle. The Prius line has been offered in the US since 2000.

Toyota has also enjoyed high sales revenue of hybrid versions of their Highlander SUV, Lexus RX luxury SUV, Camry sedan, Lexus GS 450h luxury sedan and Lexus LS 600h L luxury.

“One million hybrids in less than nine years indicates how quickly American consumers have accepted this important technology,” President of Toyota Motor Sales Jim Lentz said. “Toyota’s hybrid leadership will continue to expand in the U.S. and around the globe. With ten new hybrid models between now and 2012 in various global markets, we plan to sell one million gas-electric hybrids per year, worldwide, sometime early in the next decade.”

In 2009 and beyond Toyota is expected to face much stiffer competition when it comes to hybrid vehicles. Ford is hoping their new Fusion hybrid will entice the same customers who have been buying the Prius. Honda hopes the new Honda Insight hybrid will do the same. Toyota has the advantage of being the incumbent, but the marketplace promises to be a much tougher battleground as more companies release hybrid vehicles.

For now, though, Toyota clearly remains king of the hybrid.

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Toyota Prius Price May Be Lowered To Compete With Honda Insight

The price was between Toyota and Honda on their hybrid models the Prius and Insight might be getting underway.

According to an article in Asahi Shimbun, Toyota plans on releasing a cheaper Prius in late 2009. They know they have to compete with the Insight, and plan on doing so by reducing the sticker price.

Honda said the Honda Insight hybrid vehicle is flying off the shelves. Orders are three times higher than their initial sales forecasts.

In Japan, the Honda Insight was 10th in sales for February while the Prius finished two places lower in 12th.

Honda recently announced the base price of the Honda Insight would start at $19,800. Prius currently stars at around $22,000.

Expect word of the lower prices on the Prius sometime in June 2009.

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