While America Slept. Thursday, December 25, 2008

Japan’s auto production in the dumps: Production of cars, trucks and buses in Japan fell 20.4 percent on year in November, marking the second straight month of falls, the Nikkei (sub) writes, Vehicle output declined to 854,171 vehicles in the month from 1,072,519 vehicles a year earlier, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said. Japanese domestic vehicle demand in November totaled 368,884 units, down 18.2 percent from a year earlier. Japanese exports of passenger cars contracted by 19.5 percent.

Joe Isuzu gets a haircut: Isuzu announced temporary pay cuts for all 8,000 domestic full-time employees in response to a steep decline in auto and truck sales, The Nikkei (sub) writes. Executives will get 30 percent less starting in January. Manager-level employees will see 10 percent less from spring. For rank-and-file workers, Isuzu will propose to its labor union as early as the beginning of next year a several-percent reduction in base wages that could begin as early as April. The Nikkei: “While the pay cuts would be temporary, they could last a year or longer.”

Parent infects children: Following Toyota’s announcement of an anticipated loss in fiscal 2008, Denso, Aisin Seiki and four other Toyota group firms have downgraded their earnings forecasts for the year ending March 31, the Nikkei (sub) reports. To offset the yen’s strength, Denso began discussing shipping products from the U.S. to Japan.

BYD delays foreign sales of hybrid: China’s BYD won’t sell its plug-in hybrids in European and U.S. markets before 2011, Gasgoo writes. No reason for the delay was given. BYD officially launched their F3DM on Dec. 15. It is available in 14 Chinese cities at $21,890. That’s double the price of a similar sized gasoline-powered car in China.

GM bets on China: GM Asia Pacific president Nick Reilly thinks that GM’s sales in China are expected to be “significantly” over 1 million units in 2009, Gasgoo reports. China is GM’s second-largest market outside the United States. GM and its joint ventures in China sold 1.03 million vehicles in 2007. GM’s sales in China reached 590,126 units in the first half of this year. Reilly: “I would expect us to do a little better than the market. As I said, I think the market will be flat to slightly up next year.”

At least something is up: Grins at Mercedes-Benz China. They announced that sales of Mercedes-Benz brand cars in China’s soared 52 percent in the first 11 months of this year to 35,200 units, reaching this year’s sales target one month in advance, Gasgoo says. Sales of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class rose 44 percent year on year to 13,000 units, and sales of the SUV line-up surged more than 100 percent.

4WD 7-series: BMW has an all wheel drive 7-series in a winter test in Finland, Automobilwoche (sub) learned. The prototypes have the 407 hp engine of the 750i. The all wheel luxury model may get a “Hill Descent Control.” If it assists the driver in getting down from a pile of debt, it would be really helpful.