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Sedans Luxury Lounge
21397 messages, Last post on Nov 26, 2009 at 4:31 PM
You are in the Sedans Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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Replying to: tagman (Jul 02, 2008 11:03 am) Good luck with a tiny city car that costs as much as a Fit or Versa, can't beat them in mpg, and requires premium fuel! The Smart will be a fad in a few cities, but that's about it.
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Replying to: tagman (Jul 02, 2008 11:03 am) I am very excited about new BMW twin turbos. Nice looking cars with plenty of power and perfect handling. BMW design cars for drivers who love to drive and don't care about mpgs:-) |
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Replying to: lexusguy (Jul 02, 2008 11:09 am)  Regards, OW
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Replying to: circlew (Jul 02, 2008 11:37 am) My Dad's Renault LeCar was quite an enjoyable oddball of a car. Vinyl fold back "sun roof," am radio, yellow w/black racing stripes and all. Actually, the LeCar drove me and two college buds from CT to Jackson Hole, WY via Chicago, loaded with ski equipment on top as well as a full cargo hold without issue and acheived, iirc, ~40mpg on the vast expanses of US80. Got us through a hellacious blizzard on the planes of Wyoming and Nebraska, up into the Grand Tetons, too. Ah, those wacky French! And, lest we forget, "Mustang II, Boredom 0!" |
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Replying to: lexusguy (Jul 02, 2008 11:16 am) I'm not in any way an advocate for the Smart Car. Nor do I like it. I just believe that it will be successful. I expect the powertrains to change and improve in the coming years. I AM, however, an advocate for Honda vehicles. I have said all along, that they are my favorite Japanese cars, even though respect can be passed around to others as well. It is the CR-V that is the best-selling small SUV (deservedly so) and with an alternative powerplant, it would be even more incredible. The Civic hybrid is one of my favorite small economy cars. The Fit raises the benchmark, and it will be available as a hybrid soon, as will the all-new CR-Z sport coupe. As I've posted in the past, the CR-Z is the one I am waiting for... and I very well might get one if it looks close enough to the concept, has reasonable power, and gets terrific mileage.  But... it's still too early to know what will come out that is appealing. TM |
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GM shares fall below $10 for first time since 1954 GM shares give up gains posted on better-than-expected US sales, hit new low below $10 mark NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of General Motors Corp. plunged Wednesday to close below $10 for the first time in more than half a century, on worries about the company's cash needs and speculation about a possible bankruptcy protection filing down the road. GM shares fell $1.77, or 15.1 percent, to close at $9.98. Their session low of $9.96 marked their lowest point since Sept. 13, 1954, when they hit $9.92, according to the Center for Research in Security Prices at the University of Chicago. The price is adjusted for splits and other changes. The drop came after a Merrill Lynch analyst cut his rating for GM to "Underperform" from "Buy" and slashed his price target for the company to $7 from $28, saying that the decline in automotive sales has been more severe than anyone expected and will likely continue through next year. "We believe there is potential downside in the stock below $7 and that bankruptcy is not impossible if the market continues to deteriorate and significant incremental capital is not raised," John Murphy wrote in a note to investors. David Healy, an auto analyst with Burnham Securities, said the $10 mark is a purely psychological one but highlights the automaker's dramatic share price plunge since the beginning of the year, along with worries that the company may have to file for bankruptcy protection. GM shares are down about 60 percent this year. "My own opinion is that they're unlikely to file," Healy said. "But the conditions in the auto industry are so tough for everybody right now, especially for GM, and that's why people see this as plausible." Healy said he thinks GM has enough cash to get it through the year, along with the ability to obtain additional financing if needed and raise cash through the sale of assets such as overseas operations. Automakers' shares have taken a beating in recent months, hurt by rising oil prices and a weak U.S. economy, along with a shift in consumer demand away from gas guzzling sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks and toward smaller, more fuel-efficient cars and crossovers. Since July 2, 2007, GM shares have tumbled about 74 percent and the company's market capitalization has dropped to $5.65 billion from $21.5 billion. Investors on Wednesday shrugged off better-than-expected June sales that sent GM shares surging as much as 12 percent the previous day. The automaker reported an 18.2 percent drop in U.S. vehicle sales from a year ago but retained its traditional U.S. sales lead over Toyota Motor Corp., which posted a 21.4 percent decline. Analysts, who had expected a much steeper drop, said GM's sales were able to outpace those of most other automakers because of late-month incentives and double-digit jumps in demand for certain small and midsize cars. Deutsche Bank's Rod Lache said that while previous incentive programs have resulted in temporary boosts to GM's market share, they have generally been followed by drops in later months. "If history is any guide, we would expect GM's sales to experience 'payback' for the pulled forward sales in the months ahead," Lache wrote in a note to investors. The analyst said GM's market share could drop back to the 19 percent to 20 percent range, down from its June level of 22.1 percent. Meanwhile, Citi Investment Research analyst Itay Michaeli slashed his price target on GM shares to $14 from $21, citing liquidity fears. "While we do not believe GM is facing an immediate cash crunch, the urgency to shore up liquidity to navigate through a difficult 2008-09 has risen significantly in recent months," Michaeli said in a note to clients. He kept a "Hold" rating. Ford Motor Co. didn't fare as well as its crosstown rival. The Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker said its June sales plunged 27.9 percent, blaming surging gas prices for knocking its light truck sales down 35.4 percent. Ford shares fell 35 cents, or 7.4 percent, Wednesday to close at $4.36, passing a multidecade low of $4.41 set the day before. Despite the sales drop, Lache said Ford remains the best positioned among the U.S.-based automakers and has the required cash to ride out a drawn out industrywide slump. "In addition, we continue to believe that Ford is the most 'fixable' of the three U.S. automakers -- it has effectively consolidated itself to two brands, and we still see considerable cost savings opportunities within the enterprise," Lache said. June was a dismal month for the industry overall, which posted a 18.3 percent sales drop, according to Autodata Corp. Only Honda, whose lineup is tilted toward smaller and more fuel-efficient cars, managed to report a sales increase for June -- slightly over 1 percent. |
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My first thought: Good, but not great. Definitely an improvement over the current 7-series Enjoy the pictures:           Source: Motor Authority |
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Replying to: louiswei (Jul 03, 2008 6:04 am) Regards, OW |
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Replying to: tagman (Jul 02, 2008 11:03 am) Credit may be deserved for their efforts if they were a small company like Telsa or start up. BUT for a large firms it all boils down to high volume cars (Prius, Nissan EV, GM Volt, Honda CR-Z). How's this for VW thinking--Minivans. VW's rebadged Chrysler vans is the exact thing VW does not need. North Americans need a brand new Minivan as much as they need holes in their heads. Ever pass a dealer's lot and noticed the cobwebs surrounding minivans? VW is trying to catch up to the 1990's auto industry with its new minivan. Unfortunately this is the 21st century. Also, VW has very fuel efficient diesels that can power 4-passenger cars, so they don't necessarily have to go to extremes and build a 1+1 passenger layout. The mileage of the new Jetta TDI is quite disappointing for someone who cares about fuel efficiency. Adding to that disappointment is the rising premium diesel fuel goes for these days. |
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Replying to: louiswei (Jul 03, 2008 6:04 am) As this market segment shrinks I hope BMW regains some badly needed market share. |
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