Wednesday, June 01, 2005

U.S. Auto Industry in Trouble

CNN Money reports that Ford, GM and Chrysler/Daimler sales for May are down. Ford is down 10.5%, GM is down 5% and Chrysler is down 2%.

CBS News tonight reported that GM is offering all customers the same discount that their employees get, which is about $5,000 per vehicle. Essentially they say GM is not making any profit on any sale. They are just clearing excess inventory.

Gee. Have all the wealthy people who got Bush's large tax cuts already bought their Cadillac? Nah, they'll all buy a Mercedes, wouldn't they. Except for SUVs and the Hummer - which we can no longer afford to buy gas for - what American vehicle is interesting enough to buy? American automotive management has designed itself into a box and the Japanese are all around them.

How much more proof do we need that the problem is that the management of American auto companies are brain-dead.

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