美國汽車工業

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GM 1月美國車輛銷量銳減49% Toyota減31.7% Honda減28%
鉅亨網編譯張正芊．綜合外電 (2009-02-04 04:08:52)

美國車市需求持續疲軟，周二全美最大車廠General Motors Corp.(GM-US；通用汽
車)公佈，1月份美國地區車輛銷量較去年同月銳減48.9%，全球汽車業龍頭Toyota
Motor Corp.(7203-JP；TM-US；豐田)亦宣佈該區銷量下滑31.7%，日本第2大車
廠Honda Motor Co.(7267-JP；HMC-US；本田)銷量同步減少27.9%。

GM表示，上個月美國地區車輛銷量接近砍半，由去年的250926輛減至僅128198
輛，其中汽車銷量暴跌57.9%至43943輛，卡車銷量亦驟降42.5%至84255輛。

GM同時預測，第1季公司北美地區車輛產量將較去年同季大幅縮減57%至38萬輛，
其中包括11.8萬輛汽車及26.2萬輛卡車。

Toyota宣佈1月份美國地區車輛銷量自去年同月的171849輛降為117287輛，其中
汽車銷量下滑28.9%至67263輛，輕卡車銷量則下跌37.6%至42548輛。

Honda該月在美銷量則由去年同月的98511輛降至71031輛，其中汽車銷量由
55345輛銳減為40532輛，卡車銷量則由43166輛銳減為30499輛。

GM股價於台北時間3:48挫3.46%報2.79美元，Toyota股價漲2.49%報65.47
美元，Honda股價漲3.30%報23.47美元。

http://pchome.syspower.com.tw/stocknews/?newsid=1432700&cat=3

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美汽車4月銷量續走下坡
* 2009-05-03
* 工商時報
* 【李鐏龍／綜合外電報導】

　通用、福特這兩大美國本土車廠，以及豐田、日產、本田等日系車廠，在上周五
公布4月份美國市場銷售數據，結果顯示美國車市已連續第18個月較去年同期萎縮。
同時，根據破產法院的文件，克萊斯勒將在明年底之前關閉4座工廠，預計造成將近
5千人失業。

　克萊斯勒聲請破產對於美國汽車產業的漣漪效應將逐漸浮現，根據CNNMoney.com
的報導，上述4家工廠將分別在今年9月、明年3月、10月和12月關閉，總計4,700份
工作不保。

　今年4月銷售業績和去年同期相較，通用減少34％，低於分析師預期的37％，本
田減少25％，也低於預期的27％。福特、豐田及日產分別減少32％、42％及38％，
高於分析師所預測的30％、37％及28％。

　不過市場研究機構J.D. Power公司的分析師狄爾斯認為，見諸於美國股市及消費
者信心的生命跡象，將置美國車市於今年下半溫和復甦的境地。

　在4月的最後一周中，不僅爆發H1N1流感疫情，美國本土三大車廠中克萊斯勒與
通用將聲請破產保護的說法更是繪聲繪影，在媒體強力播送的渲染下，讓有意購車者人
心惶惶，使當周的銷售狀況雪上加霜。

　克萊斯勒果然在4月最後一天聲請破產保護。分析師預測該公司4月份的美國銷售
量較去同減少37％。

　IHS全球洞見公司的分析師沃克諾維其表示，關於通用及克萊斯勒將聲請破產的傳
言，將消費者阻絕在汽車賣場之外。他強調：「在大家對於自己的工作、支付帳單的能
力及甚至未來退休後的生活等都感到放心之前，情況將依舊不振。」

　福特4月最後一周的業績下滑，也被歸咎於媒體對於通用、克萊斯勒可能破產及
新流感疫情等的報導。專門追蹤福特銷售的分析師畢巴斯將這種現象形容為「CNN效應」。

　今年以來，美國汽車銷售量為486,212輛，比去年同期減少38％。

Chrysler Drags U.S. Auto Sales to 34% Drop, Trailing Estimates
By Keith Naughton and Alan Ohnsman

May 1 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. auto sales tumbled 34 percent in April, the 18th
straight monthly decline, as Chrysler LLC’s slide toward bankruptcy helped
shrink the industry more than analysts estimated.

Chrysler’s U.S. deliveries fell 48 percent in joining Toyota Motor Corp.,
Ford Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. with decreases that were worse than
analysts expected. General Motors Corp. and Honda Motor Co. sales
dropped less than projections.

April ended with Chrysler’s Chapter 11 filing, the swine flu outbreak and GM
still racing to beat a June 1 deadline to restructure without ending up in
court, tempering any benefits from rising consumer confidence.

“The cloud of bankruptcy is still very much hanging there,” said Rebecca
Lindland, an IHS Global Insight analyst in Lexington, Massachusetts. “We
can’t just see these little glimmers of hope in consumer confidence. We
need to see an actual sustained recovery in the economy.”

April sales ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 9.3 million units,
according to industry research firm Autodata Corp. of Woodcliff Lake,
New Jersey. That missed the 9.9 million estimate of 7 analysts surveyed by
Bloomberg.

Lindland said she expects the rate to fall to 9 million in May and June. The
March rate was 9.9 million, after February’s 9.1 million came in as the
lowest since 1981. Sales totaled 13.2 million in 2008, and averaged 16.8
million this decade through 2007.

Automakers’ Decreases

Industrywide deliveries slid to 819,171. Ford slumped 32 percent, Toyota
tumbled 42 percent and Nissan fell 38 percent. GM decreased 34 percent,
and Honda dropped 25 percent from a year earlier.

Automakers took comfort from the 34 percent industrywide decline, which
was the smallest this year.

“It seems like we’re bouncing around at the bottom of a bathtub,” Chrysler
Vice Chairman Jim Press said in a conference call. “We have found the
bottom.”

With Auburn Hills, Michigan-based Chrysler in bankruptcy court, the
industry’s focus now shifts to GM’s bid to shrink $44 billion in obligations
under the deadline set by President Barack Obama or face a government-
backed bankruptcy.

‘A Martian’

“I’ve seen everything except that a Martian is going to run General Motors,”
the automaker’s sales chief, Mark LaNeve, said on a conference call. “We’ve
been fighting every one of these rumors, and I can tell you they don’t help
sales.”

GM beat the average estimate for a 37 percent sales decline, based on a
survey of 5 analysts. Purchases by fleet customers buoyed results, while
sales to individual consumers fell 45 percent, Detroit-based GM said. Honda
was projected to drop 27 percent, based on 4 estimates.

Ford’s slide exceeded the 30 percent average estimate among 5 analysts
surveyed by Bloomberg, and Chrysler outstripped projections for a 37
percent drop. Toyota’s decline was greater than the 37 percent average of
4 estimates, while Tokyo-based Nissan’s slump exceeded a projected
decrease of 28 percent. April had 26 selling days, the same as a year earlier.

Ford said sales slowed in the last week of April, which it attributed to heavy
news coverage of the bailout plans for GM and Chrysler, as well as reports
about the new flu strain.

“There was a bit of a CNN effect this week with the news focusing on
Chrysler and GM,” Ford’s sales analyst, George Pipas, said in a conference
call.

Ford Tops Toyota

Ford outsold Toyota City, Japan-based Toyota in April, 134,401 vehicles to
126,540, to take the No. 2 U.S. sales position behind GM. For the year,
Toyota remains ahead of Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford by 27,400 cars
and trucks.

South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co. posted the smallest decline among major
automakers, sliding 14 percent. Kia Motors Corp., Hyundai’s affiliate,
reported a 15 percent decrease.

Automakers’ spending on incentives averaged $3,031 for each vehicle, a
29 percent increase from a year earlier, according to automotive researcher
Edmunds.com of Santa Monica, California. Still, that was down from the
record of $3,165 in March.

Honda’s increased incentives for Accord allowed the car to become the
top-selling U.S. model, surpassing Ford’s F-Series pickups and Toyota’s
Camry sedan.

Average incentive spending rose 7.9 percent at Honda to $1,439 a vehicle,
Edmunds.com said. Chris Martin, a Honda spokesman, wouldn’t give a
figure, while Bob Carter, Toyota’s U.S. vice president of sales, said Accord
incentive spending surged “more than 50 percent” last month.

Economic Impact

Consumer sentiment surged last month to its highest since before the
collapse of credit markets late last year, according to a Reuters/University
of Michigan index released today.

“It’s all about credit and confidence,” said Michael Robinet, an analyst at
CSM Worldwide in Northville, Michigan. “Credit continues to free up, albeit at
a slow pace, and we’re not seeing confidence degrade like we have in the
past.”

While the government may say May 8 that unemployment rose to 8.9
percent from 8.5 percent in March, job losses likely eased in April, based on
Bloomberg surveys of economists. The drop in nonfarm payrolls was
projected to be 610,000, 8 percent fewer than a month earlier.

A 9.4 percent gain for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, the biggest
monthly rally since March 2000, also may have eased consumers’ alarm
over Wall Street’s tumble late last year. As of today, the benchmark index
for U.S. stocks needs to rise only 2.9 percent to erase its 2009 loss.

Those signs of life for the stock market and confidence will position auto
sales for a modest second-half recovery, said Gary Dilts, an analyst at
market-research firm J.D. Power & Associates in Troy, Michigan.

“It’s nothing to have a party over,” Dilts said. “But we’ve reached the point
where there’s just not much lower that you can go.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=adAZri4Wp4vE&refer=home