Rezultate financiare in lumea auto

General Motors Corp. on Monday reported a net loss of $1.1 billion in the third quarter, down from a net income of $315 million a year ago.

GM lost $1.92 per share, compared with a gain of 56 cents per share in the third quarter of 2004.

Including special items, GM lost $1.6 billion in the July-September period, or $2.89 per share. Special items included a charge of $805 million for asset impairments in North America and Europe and restructuring charges of $56 million at GM Europe.

Total revenue was $47 billion for the quarter, up from $44.8 billion in 2004.

GM failed to meet Wall Street’s expectations for a loss of 87 cents a share, according to Thomson Financial.

It was another difficult quarter for the world’s largest automaker, which lost nearly $1.4 billion in the first half of the year.

Ford Motor Company reported a $284 million loss in the third quarter. Ford is in a tough spot, with sales on the decline, high operating costs, and high fuel prices that push buyers away from profitable mid-size and large SUVs. Ford’s U.S. vehicle sales are down 1.3 percent even with the successful employee discount pricing promotion offered during the summer months. Ford is arguably in a better position than GM, with Ford investing heavily in new car launches and several more fuel efficient people-moving crossovers. Sure, GM has new product in the pipeline, but after investing heavily in a product with declining market appeal and many of its critical new vehicles still in development, there isn’t much hope of a major sales turn around any time soon.

Xinhau News service has reported that Toyota will boost global production in 2006 up to more than 9.2 million units, which is a 12 percent increase over 2005. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported yesterday that the amount would certainly be enough to top General Motors in 2006, which plans on “only” producing 9.12 million units globally.

Is this significant news, though? We all knew this would happen some day, if not this year then the next. GM should still be given credit for the many models it’s currently producing that are designed and built well like the Corvette, Cadillac CTS and Pontiac Solstice, to name a few. One could make the case that its image and not its product is the problem

Logan-ul trage Renault pe profit

Vanzarile Renault pe piata mondiala sunt salvate de cele doua achizitii internationale ale sale, Dacia si Samsung Coreea. Vanzarile marcii-mama Renault pe piata occidentala sunt in scadere si in trimestrul trei al acestui an.

In schimb, Logan a inregistrat vanzari peste asteptari, in ultimele trei luni, la fel precum in trimestrul precedent, pe toate pietele pe care este prezent, arata statisticile Renault. Tot Logan, dar si noul Clio III reprezinta sperantele francezilor de a recupera din piata in trimestrul IV al acestui an.

Renault a anuntat o crestere cu doar 1% a veniturilor realizate in al treilea trimestru al acestui an, sub nivelul asteptarilor.

Castigurile companiei din trimestrul trecut s-au ridicat la 9,542 miliarde de euro, comparativ cu 9,44 miliarde euro in perioada similara a anului trecut, dar sub estimarile medii ale analistilor care prognozasera un profit de 9.675 miliarde de euro.

Renault a anuntat ca nepretentiosul Logan fost una din principalele surse de crestere a veniturilor sale. Masina, realizata la fabrica din Romania, incepand cu septembrie 2004, este acum produsa si in Rusia, Maroc si Columbia. De asemenea, subsidiara sud-coreeana Renault Samsung Motors a contribuit si ea la cresterea vanzarilor pe pietele internationale.

Pe primele noua luni ale anului, contructorul francez, numarul 10 in lume, a realizat venituri totale de 30,86 miliarde euro, in crestere cu 2,9% fata de intervalul similar al anului trecut. Renault a vandut aproximativ 1,93 milioane autovehicule la nivel mondial in primele noua luni ale anului, mai mult cu 3,4% fata de aceeasi perioada a anului trecut.

In Europa de Vest, in conditiile concurentei intense si a presiunii preturilor, Renault si-a continuat strategia mentinerii volumului la un nivel profitabil, reducerii costurilor si optimizarii capacitatilor de productie. Volumul de vanzari pe piata Europei Occidentale a scazut cu 2,1%, ceea ce a provocat scaderea cotei de piata a grupului francez de la 10,7% la 10,4%.

"Probabil se confirma ideea ca momentan vanzarile scad indreptandu-se intr-o directie negativa", a afirmat Sabine Blumel de la Banca IMI din Londra.

In afara Europei Occidentale, volumul vanzarilor marcii Renault s-a apreciat cu 11,2%. Vanzarile companiei Dacia au consemnat un avans de 85% in primele noua luni ale anului comparativ cu aceeasi perioada a anului trecut, stimulate de succesul modelului Logan pe toate pietele unde este comercializat.

In Coreea de Sud, Renault Samsung Motors a obtinut o crestere a volumului vanzarilor de 43%, cota de piata a diviziei in cazul vehiculelor de pasageri ajungand la 12,7%.

Miza pe Clio III

Francezii se bazeaza pe faptul ca vanzarile Loganului vor fi la fel de bune si in ultima parte a acestui an. Totodata Renault spera ca modelul Clio (generatia a treia) va impulsiona vanzarile, astfel incat sa fie mentinuta tinta de profit. Aceasta deorece exista o lista solida de comenzi pentru Clio 3, comenzi care au depasit asteptarile. Renault a lansat automobilul Clio 3 in luna septembrie.

Modelul Clio 2 va fi in continuare comercializat sub numele de "Campus", dar, in acelasi timp, inlocuirea micului vehicul Twingo a fost amanata pentru anul 2007.

In ceea ce priveste categoria de masini C-Segment, cum este Golful celor de la Volkswagen, modelul Astra de la Opel sau Focus-ul al celor de la Ford, iar la Renault este Megane-ul, s-a consemnat o crestere usoara a vanzarilor in primele 9 luni ale acestui an.

Dar JD Power - LMC Automotive Forecasting Services, companie de consultanta si analiza din industria auto, estimeaza ca productia acestui tip de Renault a scazut in aceasta perioada cu aproape 10%, fata de primele 9 luni ale anului 2004, ajungand pana la 607.250 de unitati.

(Adrian Nuta, Bogdan Asaftei)

Averea, 28 oct 2005

South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor reported a 27-percent rise in its third-quarter net profit of 534.9 billion won ($511.8 million), from 421.0 billion won profit a year ago, thanks to rising sales in China, India and the U.S.

The strong sales in the countries offset the impact of a labor strike and a stronger won against the U.S. dollar.

After years of heavy spending to improve quality and brand image, the automaker's sales in overseas markets are rising sharply. But the Korean won's rise against the U.S. dollar has cut into profits on cars shipped abroad.

Hyundai Motor said profits from financial and overseas units such as credit card issuer Hyundai Card and Chinese joint venture Beijing Hyundai Automotive Corp. helped underpin earnings.

In May, Hyundai Motor opened its first U.S. plant in Alabama to produce Sonatas this year and Santa Fe SUVs next year.

Nissan announced its first half financial results Friday - a mix of good news and bad. On the good side, revenues were up 12.1 percent year over year, to $41.01 billion, and unit sales were up 15 percent, to 1,834,000. President and CEO Carlos Ghosn (at right) attributed the good results to “appealing products and a competitive cost structure,” going on to reaffirm the company’s fiscal forecast for the rest of the year.

The not-so-good news lies in declining margins and profits, with profits in the second quarter of 2005 down 16.7 percent over 2004, even though unit sales for the quarter were up 15.6 percent. Tough price competition is likely to continue to put downward pressure on profits for the rest of the year.

Volkswagen a anuntat cã profitul aferent trimestrului al treilea s-a triplat datoritã cresterii vânzãrilor si a muncitorilor germani care au fost de acord sã munceascã mai mult pentru mai putini bani, scrie Bloomberg.
Profitul net a crescut la 273 de milioane de euro, de la 67 de milioane de euro cât era cu un an în urmã.

It’s being reported by AutoWeek via Automotive News that Ford’s Premier Automotive Group, which includes Volvo, Jaguar, Aston Martin and Land Rover, will not turn a profit for the second year in a row. The collection of luxury brands lost $146 million before taxes during the first three quarters of 2005, including a $108 million loss in the third quarter. PAG is expected to earn about $11 million in pretax profit in the fourth quarter, however, and its losses in 2005 are nearly two-thirds less than the previous year. While Volvo and Land Rover are performing well in the marketplace so far this year, Aston Martin’s miniscule volume and Jaguar’s lack luster showing on the lots seem to be slowing the group’s ascent.

BMW has overtaken Mercedes-Benz in the global auto sales chart this year, making the Bavarian carmaker the largest global premium brand, according to German magazine Automobilwoche.

Michael Ganal, member of the BMW board responsible for sales and marketing, is forecasting BMW Group sales of 1.3 million in 2005, up from 1.2 million in 2004. In the first nine months of the year, BMW brand sales were up 11 percent, and Mini sales were up 12 percent.

The newspaper expects Mercedes Car Group to finish this year with sales slightly up on 2004's 1.23m units, having recorded 1-percent growth in the year to the end of September. Audi is also growing and expects to record a sales level of around 840,000 units in 2005. In the first three quarters its sales were up 11 percent. Audi reportedly expects to break the 1 million sales barrier by 2007 or 2008.

Mercedes has been hit by quality problems this year which have resulted in large-scale product recalls and low scores in customer satisfaction surveys. Exchange rate problems have prevented Mercedes from selling its two small cars, the A-Class and B-Class, in the U.S., while Mercedes' Smart small car brand has underperformed badly. Smart's rival, BMW's Mini, has been a runaway success and expects sales in excess of 200,000 this year.

What this means to you: Sorting out Chrysler meant DaimlerChrysler paid less attention to Mercedes. Now it's paying the price, being humbled in the sales table by its archrival, BMW. Moral of the story: Keep your eye on the ball.

Today, DaimlerChrysler AG has agreed to sell its remaining equity interest in Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC).



DaimlerChrysler’s shareholding in MMC is entered in the balance sheet as a financial investment and currently amounts to 12.4% of MMC’s total capital stock. Due to the complete sale of its shares in MMC, DaimlerChrysler’s financial income in 2005 will improve by approximately €500 million.



Proceeds of the sale and the exact impact on financial income will be published after closing, which will take place by the end of November the latest.



The current cooperation projects of DaimlerChrysler and MMC will not be affected by the disposal, and will continue as previously agreed. Some examples of such projects are the joint development and production of engines, the shared use of vehicle architecture and the joint production of passenger cars, sports utility vehicles and pickup trucks in Europe, North America, China and South Africa.



In addition, DaimlerChrysler and MMC plan to renew and extend current projects which are mutually beneficial.



Today, Dr. Rüdiger Grube resigned from his position on the Board of Directors of Mitsubishi Motors Corporation.



The MMC shares offered have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933 and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements.