Friday May 25, 2012

JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

U.S. auto industry looks ahead to another good year

Business Jan. 03, 2012 - 05:57AM JST ( 10 )

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10 Comments

2

MaboDofuIsSpicyJan. 03, 2012 - 10:43AM JST

Watch the Japanese come roaring back.
1

FadamorJan. 03, 2012 - 01:00PM JST

Bought a replacement car this past April. It was a new 2011 (GM) Buick Regal so I guess I'm a small part of this story. My payments are $475 a month. Currently getting about 24 mpg combined. It was a definite step "up" from the Hyundai Elantra I had previously and I have not had any unpleasant surprises since I purchased the Regal. As of right now, I'll probably buy another GM car when it's time to trade this one in (in 2016).
0

YuriOtaniJan. 03, 2012 - 03:00PM JST

Fadamor, good luck with your GM. Did you know they do a lousy clear coat and the paint will be peeling in a couple of years? Also buying it does not help US workers. It only helps the US companies and upper management. They call it "US Brand" and not domestic because so many of them are less than 80 percent made in the USA. I wonder now if the 2 tarp companies will pay back to the government and investors all of the money they lost?
0

lostrune2Jan. 03, 2012 - 06:47PM JST

YuriOtani,

GM already paid back all the money it borrowed from the US govt - plus interest. I think Chrysler as well. Turns out, not a bad investment for the US govt after all - they actually got more money back than they put in for once.
1

nihoncriticJan. 03, 2012 - 11:48PM JST

lostrune2

A google search will reveal that GM used a rather 'indirect' method of paying back its tarp loans which really wasn't 'paying back'. In fact all that really occurred was a reshuffling of money and alterations in accounts. I also find that their Chevy Volt, which is supposed to be GM's future is facing so many problems namely battery overheats and possibly igniting fires. For a car which is supposed to be "America's future" it uses $250,000 of taxpayer money to produce each car. I admire GM for its international business prowess though and its newly restyle 2012 line up looks pretty good. But by no means has it removed its re-coined title "Government Motors."
-2

ExportExpertJan. 04, 2012 - 12:21AM JST

U.S. Auto industry is a joke and has been for years, it will remain to be a joke for a few more decades too.

perfect example is the Volt $250,000 to tax payers to produce each one.

Buy Japanese and save america .
0

FadamorJan. 04, 2012 - 05:25AM JST

Fadamor, good luck with your GM. Did you know they do a lousy clear coat and the paint will be peeling in a couple of years? Also buying it does not help US workers. It only helps the US companies and upper management. They call it "US Brand" and not domestic because so many of them are less than 80 percent made in the USA. I wonder now if the 2 tarp companies will pay back to the government and investors all of the money they lost?

Actually, my car was 100% built in Rüsselsheim, Germany. As for the clear-coat, the car gets waxed on a weekly basis, so how well or how poorly the clear coat was applied should not (hopefully) be an issue. Check back with me in four years on that one. And as for TARP, that was a program to help out banks who made poor mortgage speculation decisions, not car companies. What you're thinking of is in 2009 when the U.S. gov't and the Canadian gov't loaned GM money. GM paid all of that back in 2010.

(GM's Form 10-K for the year ending Dec 31, 2010 - Read page 100 for the loans' specifics) http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1467858/000119312511051462/d10k.htm
0

Elbuda MexicanoJan. 04, 2012 - 09:42AM JST

A good year?? For Lee Iococa?? Only for management and those white collar workers that are still lucky to have a job before it is moved overseas!!
0

FadamorJan. 04, 2012 - 10:46PM JST

A good year?? For Lee Iococa?? Only for management and those white collar workers that are still lucky to have a job before it is moved overseas!!

LOL. Lee Iacocca hasn't run a car company since 1992. He did some commercials for Chrysler in 2005, but that was as a paid actor, not as CEO (his fees plus $1 per car sold during the ad campaign went to one of his foundations, not him). Pop quiz as far as who had the good year: If the car companies aren't having a good year, what are the odds that the employees are having a good year? The one has to happen before the other. They don't happen simultaneously.
0

MiamiCrazyjinJan. 05, 2012 - 01:24AM JST

Good for those companies, but that doesn't change the fact that I hate American cars. They sucks. Although I'm an American, I prefer German and Japanese Cars.