While America Slept. Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Bad November for Toyota: Toyota’s Japanese production dropped 27.2 percent in November from a year earlier to 288,138 vehicles as exports sagged 23.9 percent and domestic sales skidded 27.6 percent Overseas production fell 26.1 percent to 301,367 in the month. Other Japanese companies share in the misery, but not as much as ToMoCo: Honda down 3.9 percent in November. Mazda minus 19.8 percent. Suzuki shed 7.3 percent, writes the Nikkei (sub)
Itai-itai!: Nissan’s and Mitsubishi’s numbers came in by the end of the day in Tokyo, and they are nasty: Nissan’s domestic output shrank by 35.6 percent in November, their exports tanked by 30.2 percent, the Japanese domestic sales down 22.8 percent. Mitsubishi not much better: Output in Japan down 2.6 percent. November exports minus 13.8 percent. Domestic (Japanese) sales evaporated to the tune of minus 31.1 percent. The Nikkei (sub) carries this moral-enhancing comment: “Some analysts warn that earnings could get worse further down the road, indicating more output drops may come.” Kota Yuzawa, analyst at Goldman Sachs, said: “We still cannot see an earnings bottom.”
It’s a walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction: Seeking Alpha reports breathlessly that the General Motors shill site gmfactsandfiction.com received “nearly 180,000 unique visitors in November; a 3000%+ increase over October.” To put the numbers in perspective: 180,000 unique visitors is pretty much 1/10th of the 1,810,737 extremely unique B&B that sought the truth about cars in Thetruthaboutcars.com. And a “3000%+ increase over October?” Looks like about 6000 lonely hearts found their way to gmfactsandfiction in October. If the number is a fact. Speaking of which: TTAC receives more visitors from General Motors than gmfactsandfiction received from the whole wide world in October: Last month, TTAC had 7,449 visitors from a network called general motors corporation , and 4,914 from ford motor company .
The show must go on: Chinese were worried that the U.S. production halts of Ford and GM may affect their still thriving production, which relies on parts and components shipped from the U.S. Not to worry, said a spokes person for Shanghai GM to Gasgoo: “Vehicle models made by this joint venture are highly localized and only use a small number of auto parts imported from the United States. The U.S. inventories of these components are sufficient to supply for Shanghai GM’s manufacturing. The GM imports to China can be guaranteed as well because their China sales are not great and the U.S. market demand is sliding.” Ford was likewise sanguine. The show will go on.
SAIC may pull out of Korean Ssangyong. When Chinese SAIC bought Korean firm Ssangyong, it had to endure labor walkouts over plans to shift production from Korea to China. A few days ago, Ssangyong announced they couldn’t meet payroll. Now, SAIC said they may exit from Ssangyong Motor Co. if the South Korean company’s labor union doesn’t accept a restructuring plan, Gasgoo reports. Ssangyong Chief Executive Officer Choi Hyung Tak says, SAIC’s “withdrawal will mean bankruptcy for Ssangyong.”
At 10m a year, everybody is screwed: “We still see it as unlikely that GM (or any automaker) will be able to restructure itself to positive cash flow in North America while US light vehicle sales continue to trend around the (annualized) 10 million unit range,” Deutsche Bank analyst Rod Lache wrote according to an AFP report. Lache says, GM will not be able to reach a breakeven point at its current market share level unless US sales reach an annualized rate of 13 million vehicles. AFP: “Few analysts expect auto sales to rebound to that level until 2010.” Translation: They are NSFWd.
Wagoner hearts Gettelfinger: Rick Wagoner defended the United Auto Workers and said he remains hopeful the company and union can strike a deal to lower labor cost. Wagoner said the union “took a lot of bullets” and that “people were trying to score political points rather than fix the issues we were facing.” Wagoner’s comments came as UAW President Ron Gettelfinger attacked as unfair stipulations in the aid package that call for the union to accept wage cuts and other concessions. Says so at CNN.
And we wish you: A happy Christmas, Hannukah, El-Hijra, or whatever you may celebrate wherever you are. To our dedicated readers from North Korea: Happy Constitution Day! Here in Japan, ‘tis the season to give the house a good cleaning. A chore from which I am absolved due to TTAC duty. Thank you for that! Emperor’s birthday was yesterday. Been there, done that. Also, WAS may take an occasional holiday also as the news dry up. Europe is officially closed, not to return before first week of Jan. In China, all expats of the JVs have gone home.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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"gmfactsandfiction" Skimming-type reading resulted in interpreting the small text (to my ancient weary withered eyes) as: gmsatisfaction and my first thought was of a laughable corn-pone Web site touting the HUGE throng of people supposedly enamored with all that is GM and GM related. The next interpretation, directly upon the proverbial heels of the first thought was the site was a spoof site.... chock-full of folks such as I who lambast GM for some of their horrid treatment of customers but doing so in an obtuse manner so obvious that over-the-board loyalty is actually interpreted in the scathing manner the "loyalty" and "satisfaction" is intended. Then, further reading led to the realization the Web site was merely corporate touting. Some of the people can be fooled but not all. Until GMC extends to me a personal apology for the horrid warranty coverage (actually lack of coverage) I received from their dealers and the resultant spittle upon my face via their corporate rep when I approached GM "corporate" about the affairs or, until the time GMC emulates the Titanic, I will continue my task of informing everyone possible at a multitude of Web sites and in real-life of the danger the consumer faces when buying a GMC product when supposedly warranty-covered defects rise up and strike the hapless owner. Out of fairness I do declare and convey to others that perhaps their experience will be different. I sincerely hope that all the mega-rich uppercrust within GMC had the vast majority of their wealth stashed with that elite class huckster in the news recently who supposedly swindled a HUGE amount of money from the uber-rich. If the USA government bails out those folks I will have 100-percent solid proof that the ongoing class war in the USA may be approaching the boil-over point. For those of you isolated from the working-poor underclass. Heed me. There is growing anger down here at the bottom. If economic conditions worsen and folks hear their kids cry out in hunger at night, be prepared for calamity within the social structure. The mass media refuses to convey reality about us, the "dregs" of society. Due to guilt? Or, perhaps, fear that doing so will be the proverbial straw.....?
Thank God for the National Guard.