Rick Pendergraft says we won’t see an economic recovery before one of the housing, auto or labour markets stabilize. Friday’s nasty unemployment data and earnings reports from GM (NYSE:GM), Ford (NYSE:F ) suggest that our hopes are resting on real estate.
If you thought the earnings report released this morning by Ford (NYSE:F) was scary, you had better be sitting near a trashcan to hear the news from its cross-town rival, General Motors (NYSE:GM). These figures will make you nauseous.
It’s becoming clear that subprime lending wasn’t limited to the housing market. Companies in the auto-loan business are battling hard to keep their heads above water. Andrew Snyder says small firms like AmeriCredit (NYSE:ACF), United PanAm (NASDAQ:UPFC) and Consumer Portfolio Services (NASDAQ:CPSS) will struggle to survive.
The Chevrolet Volt is scheduled to roll off the assembly lines in Hamtramck sometime in late 2010. The vehicle will be powered by onboard batteries and a 1.4 liter 4 cylinder engine that will kick on after the 40 mile range of the battery charge has run out. General Motors likes to refer to it as an “electric car” but in reality it is a hybrid gas-electric vehicle.
The vehicle should provide a long enough range on just the battery charge for an estimated 75 percent of American’s to be able to make it to work and back on a single charge. Re-charging the batteries will only take an estimated 10 hours. It is very likely that many who purchase the…
Does global peak oil sound the death knell of the SUV?
Today’s news that auto giant GM is shutting down four pickup truck and SUV factories thanks to spiraling gas prices will likely be seen as such by many global peak oil theory advocates.
Bill Bonner goes into further detail on the relationship between oil prices and a strange phenomenon gripping the US… Americans are driving less.
Fisher talks tough… GDP revision today… A$ remains resilient… Norges Bank keeps rates unchanged… Sounding Like A Hawk…
Naturally, the auto industry has to downshift. Not only because gasoline is so expensive, but also because the average household is struggling to pay its other bills too. After it pays the interest on its debt, it has less left over than ever before.
The automobile industry is in the midst of a huge change, with more buyers overseas than ever before. Meanwhile, U.S. car manufacturers are struggling to stay float.