Fifteen years too late

So, I would've thought our society would look into this as being the rational trend back in 1991 (when even I, at 20 years old thought this was the natural course of things), however things went insane for fifteen years and only now is it being revisited. North American manufacturers are only looking at this as a 'trend' due to their complete disassociation with what the market wants or needs. They probably fully expect this trend to blow over and people will start driving behemoths again. Losers. What a freakin' crock of shit. They're pure evil, I tells ya!

Small is the new big in autos

Subcompact cars, virtually abandoned during the 1990s with the rise of the mighty sport utility vehicle, are suddenly in vogue again amid high gas prices and changing consumer tastes. Subcompacts are the flavour of the month at the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto, where media previews began yesterday. The show opens to the public tomorrow. “A small car is high on our agenda,” Mark Fields, president of the Americas for Ford, said in an interview at the show yesterday. “I understand the Canadian market. I understand the competitiveness of the marketplace, the very different nature in terms of segmentation that you have here versus the US in terms of small cars.” That said, however, Ford does not have a subcompact and neither does DaimlerChrysler Canada, although it showed off the Akino concept vehicle yesterday and a video of the Dodge Hornet concept, which it will introduce at the Geneva Auto Show later this month. “It's important that we play in that arena,” Steven Landry, president of DaimlerChrysler Canada, acknowledged after clambering out of the Akino yesterday. “It's nice that we're at least considering concepts to that end.”

Industry analyst Dennis DesRosiers, president of DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, noted that 48% of purchases by Canadian consumers last year were entry level vehicles. That number, which excludes fleet purchases, compares with 38.9% who bought entry level vehicles in 2000, and shows how critical it is for DaimlerChrysler and Ford to develop new subcompacts. Mark Grimm, a New Jersey native who became president of Nissan Canada last year, said he was shocked when he arrived here and discovered how much bigger the small car segments are in Canada. But Grimm hit Canada at the right time because the auto maker will introduce a subcompact called the Versa later this year, plus a redesigned version of its Sentra compact. The Nissan subcompact will compete with the new Fit from Honda Canada, which will arrive later this year, and existing vehicles in the segment, including the Yaris from Toyota Canada and the Chevrolet Aveo and Pontiac Wave from General Motors of Canada.
(Globe and Mail 060216)

Free market economics would indicate the death knell for NA car manufacturers is coming soon, however, we all know that they employ far too many people for the governments to let them die. Needless to say, my tax money will be going to bail them out very soon once their true financial situation is known.

Ford official says market share may continue to slide this year

Ford's top US sales analyst said Wednesday the automaker's US market share will probably continue to decline this year despite its turnaround efforts. George Pipas said Ford's US market share has dropped by one percentage point - or roughly 150,000 vehicles - each year for the last five years. Arresting that decline and then stabilizing market share are top priorities in Ford's North American restructuring plan, but Pipas said the losses will probably continue in the near term. "It's very difficult to get that thing flat-lined in a year,'' Pipas told analysts during a conference sponsored by Prudential Financial. "Our goal this year is to reduce the rate of decline. Once the rate of decline is starting to narrow on a year-to-year basis, then we can think about stabilizing.'' Pipas wouldn't say what he thinks Ford's ideal market share will be amid increased competition in the US. Ford held a 17.4% share in 2005. He said a suitable market share would be one that lines up with Ford's production capacity. Ford is cutting that capacity as part of the restructuring, and plans to close 14 facilities and cut 30,000 jobs by 2012. Pipas said he expects Ford to be a solid performer this year in the growing crossover segment. He also said he expects Ford customers will remain loyal to the company's full-size pickups despite Toyota's newly redesigned Toyota Tundra, which will go on sale early next year.
(Canadian Press 060215)

Look out, here comes the inevitable winner of the stakes to destroy the planet most effectively!

China auto exports may roil rivals

China has emerged as a net exporter of vehicles for the first time, raising the specter of intensified competition for ailing US auto makers and other major car manufacturers around the world. The development could further raise tensions over China's surging exports, particularly in the US and Europe. China exported 172,800 vehicles in 2005, including 31,100 passenger cars and nearly 100,000 trucks, an increase of 27% from the year before, according to newly available customs figures. Imports last year totaled 161,600, the vast majority of them sedans and sport-utility vehicles from Japan, Germany and South Korea. One Chinese manufacturer, Chery Automobile, sold 18,000 cars in overseas markets. Chery's best-selling export model is a four-door compact known as the QQ, with a price tag that averages between $7,000 and $8,000. In 2008, the company says it is aiming to export 300,000 to 400,000 cars. But predictions of cheap and popular Chinese cars flooding the US and Europe may be premature, analysts say. Chinese manufacturers have formidable hurdles to overcome to build cars that will meet those nations' safety and environmental standards, as well as consumers' expectations for quality. But even if Chinese-made cars aren't headed to the US in big numbers yet, they are likely to heighten competition for US auto makers in markets around the world. In a report called "More Woes for Motown," Joseph Quinlan, chief markets strategist for Bank of America, said China's exports are "a harbinger of more deflation and margin pressure," particularly for the US auto industry.
(Wall Street Journal, Detroit News 060216)