LexFather

^^^ Gotcha. Thats not worth debating and for the most part I agree.

Gojirra99

http://www.freep.com/article/2009020...makers+predict
.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

umm....... of course everyone hopes so, but i have my doubt. i don't think the economy is at the bottom yet

LexFather

Top Australian Vehicles January 2009

Vehicle - Sales
1. Mazda 3 – 3124
2. Holden Commodore – 3059
3. Toyota Corolla – 2763
4. Toyota HiLux - 2620
5. Ford Falcon – 1630
6. Mitsubishi Lancer – 1625
7. Toyota Yaris – 1565
8. Honda Jazz – 1480
9. Hyundai Getz – 1347
10. Ford Focus - 1346

Mazda 2 - 1335
Subaru Forester – 1188
Holden Captiva – 1141
Toyota Camry – 1134
Toyota Prado – 1036
Holden Colorado - 1012
Holden Astra - 973
Toyota RAV4 – 963
Holden Barina - 868
Toyota Kluger – 869
Honda Accord Euro – 795
Ford Ranger - 783
Mazda BT-50 - 729
Honda CR-V – 727
Mazda 6 – 689
Honda Accord – 688
Holden Utility - 655
Ford Territory - 638
Holden Viva - 563
Ford Fiesta - 560
Toyota Landcruiser Wagon – 533
Ford Falcon Ute - 522
Ford Mondeo - 317
Mazda CX-7 - 311
Mazda CX-9 - 283
Holden Epica - 235
Holden Caprice - 82
Holden Statesman - 53
Holden Astra Convertible 43

IS-SV

Let's keep on guessing.

Gojirra99

So not a single "luxury car brand" model sold as many as 43 units in Australia in January ?

What exactly is a Land Cruiser Wagon BTW ? Aren't they all shaped like a wagon already ? Or is it just how they call the Land Cruiser in Australia ?

LexFather

They call it a wagon but its the same thing


Good question about luxury sales. I've read Australia is also suffering big though with the economy.

pagemaster

No there are other Land Cruisers.

There are Land Cruiser Pick ups. Troopies, 2 door Prado. The 200 series the same as the USA Land Cruiser only comes in one form. The wagon. The 70 series which they still make come in pick up and troopie with solid front and rear axles, locking diffs, 3000+ payloads, no airbags, no stability, the 4.5 diesel etc.

The design of the 70 series dates back to 1984. But has been upgraded year after year

GS69

Toyota Sees 1st Annual Net Loss Since 1950
By YURI KAGEYAMA, AP Business Writer Yuri Kageyama, Ap Business Writer – 26 mins ago

Visitors inspect Toyota's compact car AP – Visitors inspect Toyota's compact car ' IQ' at Toyota Motor Corp.'s showroom in Tokyo, Friday, Feb. 6, …

TOKYO – Toyota, the world's largest automaker, sank into the red for the October-December quarter and acknowledged Friday it was heading for its first annual net loss since 1950 because of plunging global sales and the strong yen.

Joining a string of Japanese companies that have slashed forecasts, Toyota Motor Corp. said it expects a net loss of 350 billion yen ($3.85 billion) for the year through March.

That's a stunning reversal from the record 1.72 trillion yen profit the maker of the Prius hybrid and Lexus luxury line had earned the previous fiscal year. In December, the company thought it would eke out a small annual net profit, but the outlook has darkened since then, especially with the dramatic contraction in the U.S. auto market on which Toyota depends so heavily.

For the fiscal third quarter, Toyota racked up a loss of 164.7 billion yen ($1.81 billion), down sharply from the 458.6 billion yen profit it had the same period the previous year, as the global slump squelched sales.

Quarterly sales plunged 28.4 percent to 4.8 trillion yen.

Toyota said the last time it had the equivalent of a net loss was in 1950, when it reported just parent results under different accounting standards than it uses now.

The damage to Toyota's bottom line was particularly pronounced because the company had been on such an aggressive growth track in recent years, but the downturn came extremely suddenly, said Yasuaki Iwamoto, analyst with Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo.

"Toyota is having serious problems responding," he said. "It boasts a full and global lineup of products. But the world's auto demand changed in a flash."

And the company can't count on global sales picking up in the fiscal year through March 2010, and at best can hope to cut costs to minimize the damage, Iwamoto said.

Toyota, which last year overtook General Motors Corp. to become the world's best-selling auto company, announced no further job cuts Friday. It is reducing the number of contract workers from 8,800 in June to 3,000 in March.

Just a few hours before the earnings were released, Moody's Investors Service lowered its top credit rating of "Aaa" on Toyota by one notch to "Aa1," citing fears about its profitability.

Toyota's global vehicle sales for the October-December quarter shrank by 443,000 units from the same period a year earlier to 1.84 million, as sales dropped throughout the world, including North America, Europe, Japan and other Asian nations, it said.

"Both revenues and profits declined severely during this period," Executive Vice President Mitsuo Kino****a said of the latest quarter.

Conditions were especially tough in the U.S. and Europe, and the rapid rise of the yen against the dollar, euro and other currencies, which reduces the value of overseas earnings, also hurt results, he said.

Toyota lowered its global vehicle sales forecast for the fiscal year by 220,000 from its December projection to 7.32 million vehicles. Now it expects 21 trillion yen in sales for the year, down from a record 26.3 trillion yen earned for the previous year.

The company also said its yearly operating loss will balloon to 450 billion yen, worse than its earlier forecast of 150 billion yen loss. That would be the company's first operating loss in 70 years. Operating income excludes taxes and other items included in net profit, and often gives a picture of a company's core business.

Until the U.S. financial crisis erupted last year, Toyota had been on a roll, boosting rising profits for seven straight years, riding on the success of its fuel-efficient models.

The global slump and the rising yen have pummeled all Japanese exporters, including electronics makers Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp., which are both forecasting losses for the fiscal year through March.

Honda Motor Co., Japan's second-biggest automaker, expects to stay in the black for the year through March at 80 billion yen profit, although that's down 87 percent from the record 600 billion yen the previous year.

Nissan Motor Co., the nation's No. 3 automaker, reports earnings Monday. Smaller automakers Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp. have already projected losses for the fiscal year.

Kino****a promised Toyota will turn itself around through cost cuts and new products. He said Toyota continues to be committed to developing gas-electric hybrids as a pillar of its growth strategy.

He pointed to the third-generation Prius, set to arrive at dealerships in May, as well as the HS250h, the first Lexus model designed solely as a hybrid, scheduled for sale midyear, as models symbolizing Toyota's future.

Last month, the company tapped as incoming president a member of the founding family, Akio Toyoda, an executive vice president, who at 52 is considered young by Japanese standards for heading a major corporation.

Company officials and analysts say he can help bring employee ranks, group companies and dealerships together during hard times because he has the special charm of a Toyoda.

Toyota shares rose 1.6 percent to 3,050 yen. The earnings were announced earnings after trading ended in Tokyo.

GS69

Sales of Hybrid Cars Suffer in Recession
By Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY

Even as automakers work feverishly to develop new hybrid cars, cash-strapped consumers are closing their wallets to today's models.

Fuel-thrifty gas-electric hybrids sold poorly in January amid low gas prices and the recession. Sales of hybrid versions of the Honda Civic, Ford Escape and Toyota Camry all took bigger percentage dives in the month than sales of the conventional versions. The hybrids come with higher price tags, though the gas savings can offset the upfront cost over time.

Sales of the leading hybrid, Toyota's Prius, which has no gasoline equivalent, fell 28.6% last month vs. January last year, Autodata says. That was less than Toyota's 31.7% overall drop but a far cry from last summer when dealers had waiting lists for Prius.

It's a "very bad car market, but Prius is not immune," says Toyota spokesman Mike Michaels. "Gas prices have abated to a point that people have a fairly short memory." Regular gas averaged $1.91 a gallon nationwide Thursday vs. $2.98 a year ago, AAA says.

The drop in hybrid popularity comes at a touchy time. Automakers are ready to roll out more new hybrids in spring: Honda Insight, Ford Fusion hybrid and a next-generation Prius. Slow hybrid demand near Insight's launch "is not a big deal," insists Honda spokesman Kurt Antonius. "The Insight is perfectly positioned" as a value-priced vehicle.

"We want to sell it for below $20,000" in the U.S., said Koichi Kondo, Honda executive vice president, at the Insight launch Thursday in Tokyo. It goes on sale in Japan today at 1.89 million yen (about $21,020) to start.

Automakers are starting to discount hybrids. Total average incentives on them rose 88% from December through January to $992. In the same months, incentives on conventional vehicles fell 6% to $2,736, reports Edmunds.com. Hybrid incentives in the past year, though, remain below their peak two years ago.

Sales will bounce back when the economy improves and gas prices rise again, predicts Paul Scott, co-founder of Plug In America, which advocates for plug-in electric vehicles.

"Most people understand it's only a matter of time before (gas) goes back up," he says. "Once they feel more comfortable about buying again, they will buy hybrids."

Contributing: Reuters in Tokyo

spwolf

all these stupid hybrid articles just prove that hybrids are selling better now than before... lol.

LexFather

I prefer hybrid sales be down than most companies not even offering a hybrid.

Automotive News Europe
February 6, 2009 13:00 CET
Despite launching a makeover of the Audi A4 last year, the company's sales have dropped drastically



BERLIN (dpa) -- World sales by Volkswagen's premium Audi division slumped 28 per cent in annual terms to 56,000 cars in January in a fresh sign of the serious troubles of the world automotive industry, the division disclosed Friday.

Audi had previously been less affected by the general fall in car sales. A spokesman at the company in Ingolstadt argued that strong sales a year ago, when Audi launched a makeover of its A4 model, made the relative difference look worse than it really was.

Last year Audi lifted its annual sales to breach the mark of 1 million annually. It plans to introduce six new models in the first half of this year. Audi executives said they had raised Audi's market share in western Europe from 3.9 to 5 per cent.

Sources at Volkswagen's headquarters in Wolfsburg said meanwhile that the German group as a whole suffered a year-on-year sales decline "on the scale of 20 percent." The group's marques include Volkswagen, Audi, Seat and Skoda.

Volkswagen shares promptly slipped 3 per cent on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange to 253 euros.

FKL

VWs cars are the ones that usually set the class standards, Look at the Golf, look at the Passat, Look at the Touareg - They are all immitated by their competition. Come on, you can't make a statment like that based on just the reliablity scare tactic.

IS-SV

Sorry, but not seeing the VW imitation by the automotive leaders here in the US. Econo box hatches, grossly overweight SUV's and overpriced low volume sedans that should be mid-priced do not dominate in the American market today.

FKL

Just look at the Ford FiveHundred