Auto sales plummet, Auto makers in a state of dread.

cnnmoney.com July 1 2008

Toyota Motor (TM) reported a 21% drop in U.S. sales in June from a year ago, far worse than the forecast from Edmunds.com of only a 12% drop in sales. It was the biggest year-over-year decline in U.S. sales in 10 years for Toyota.

The Japanese automaker, which is No. 2 in U.S. vehicle sales, saw a 15.6% jump in sales of its compact Corolla. But sales of its fuel efficient subcompact Yaris, as well as of the Camry, Toyota's best selling U.S. model going into this month, declined slightly. The Prius, the nation's best-selling hybrid offering, saw its sales fall by a third, due to tight supplies.

Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500), the No. 3 automaker in terms of U.S. sales, posted a 28% decline in sales -- steeper than Edmunds.com's forecasts of a 25% drop. Ford saw demand for its SUVs plunge by more than half and for pickups and other trucks fall more than a third.

Bob Schnorbus, chief economist for J.D. Power & Associates, said the sudden shift in demand for smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles came at the worst possible time for the industry.
That's because automakers were not able to quickly ramp up production of the cars now in hot demand due to scheduled plant shutdowns to gear up for production of next year's models.
Making matters worse, Schnorbus said rising gas prices and the overall sluggish economy are making consumers reluctant to hit dealerships,

Ford has announced plans to cut back production of its light trucks, and an increase in production of cars. But it hasn't been able to respond to the sudden increase in demand for cars.

Honda Motor (HMC)bucked the industry trend, as its U.S. sales edged up 1.1% in the month. But that was a bit weaker than the 4% rise forecast by Edmunds.
The two other major automakers, Chrysler and Nissan, were due to report U.S. sales later Tuesday. Chrysler seen the steepest decline of all, with a 31% drop.

On Monday, Chrysler announced plans to shut its St. Louis assembly line that builds minivans on Oct. 31. It will also cut one of two shifts at an adjoining plant that makes full-size pickups. The two cutbacks will result in the loss of 2,400 hourly jobs.

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I am hoping that this trend is good for my business.

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"We know exactly where one cow with Mad-cow-disease is located among the millions and millions of cows in America, but we haven't got a clue as to where thousands of illegal immigrants and terrorists are located. Maybe we should put the Department of Agriculture in charge of immigration."

Man this is looking really bad for these guys. I'm suprised Chrysler is still afloat. Ford ain't doing much better. they really got blind sided by these high gas prices.

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Ford sold Jaguar and Land Rover so they will be okay for a while.

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If you have been voting for politicians who promise to give you goodies at someone else's expense, then you have no right to complain when they take your money and give it to someone else, including themselves. – Thomas Sowell

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That's true but they also have alot of debt. If it gets to a point where they can't service that debt, It's going to be bad news for them. it's gonna be even worse for those workers that will do the real suffering.

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