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The Economist: GM and Ford in need of a big overhaul

The Economist GM and Ford in need of a big overhaul

"MOTORING folklore has it that a pair of women�s stockings knotted into a loop will provide a useful emergency replacement for a snapped fanbelt, keeping you on the road until a more permanent fix is available. The worse than expected losses that General Motors announced on Monday October 17th�of $1.6 billion net in the third quarter�show that something is very wrong under the bonnet at the giant Detroit carmaker. Ford's results three days later, though not quite as awful, showed it is in a similar fix.

On the same day as GM announced its dismal trading performance, it also gave details of an agreement with its notoriously truculent unions to cut health-care costs and the possible sale of a stake in GM's profitable finance arm. These may prove to be the knotted undergarment that keeps GM on the road for now�but it is clear that a more permanent fix will be needed."

AutoWeek Ford, GM sales screech to a halt as value pricing strategy replaces employee pricing
"Industry officials blame the slump on Hurricane Katrina, rising fuel prices, foul weather and flooding in the Northeast and declining consumer confidence. Whatever the reason, dealers say they're taking a serious hit in revenues.

"It is the worst I've seen in 30 years," said Dennis Doerge, general manager of Loren Buick-Pontiac in Glenview, Ill. "It is just awful. It is horrendous.""

The Globe and Mail Are Ford, GM fit to survive post-SUV world?
"The good news is that big summer discounts helped ailing North American auto makers clear out most of their sport utility vehicles.

The bad news is that their factories are still geared toward cranking out hulking autos that buyers no longer want. September's auto sales figures confirmed the end of a 15-year North American love affair with the SUV. Sales of the oversized autos plunged last month as car buyers reacted to the sudden spike in gasoline prices that followed hurricanes Katrina and Rita."

Time How to Kick the Oil Habit
"If anyone harbored any doubts that hybrid cars are hot, last week the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show put them to rest. Carmakers practically ran over one another promoting their versions in attempts to catch up with Honda and Toyota, the technology's pioneers. Companies such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Mazda, Mitsubishi, GM, Volkswagen and Porsche showed new models or talked about plans to sell them by the end of the decade at the latest. On display were not only regular hybrids, the kind powered by gasoline engines mated to electric motors, but also variations adding hydrogen to the mix and a system that puts electric motors at the wheels. The frenzy to churn out hybrids and their technological cousins is so fierce that archrivals GM, DaimlerChrysler and BMW have teamed up to build a research and technical center in the Detroit suburbs. And Ford is so desperate to fill 200 open jobs in its hybrid program that it's competing with Toyota to hire engineers from the software and aerospace industries. The stakes are high: Ford and GM announced third-quarter losses of nearly $2 billion combined last week, thanks in part to plunging sales of SUVs."

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The Economist: GM and Ford in need of a big overhaul

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