Autoblog

From November 28 to December 11, GM is holding back incentive payments to dealers, including dealer cash and customer cash. Why? in the words of Mark LaNeve, GM's VP of North American sales, because "Anytime you can delay any kind of a payment, it helps cash flow" And cash is probably the most important four-letter word in any GM dictionary.

The withheld payments don't cover all the monies that GM sends to dealers, just various incentives. According to Automotive News' numbers, the two weeks of extra cash could let GM hold on to an extra $300 million. If GM needs $14 billion per month to operate, $300 million would extend the lifeline by... almost another day. Payments after December 11 would resume on a weekly basis, but with the new two-week delay, something like an employee paycheck. GM discussed the plan with the National Dealer Council beforehand and, unsurprisingly, the council understood. Follow the jump to read LaNeve's letter to dealers.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]

Just four months ago, Kirk Kerkorian had a cup out and was asking passers-by for some spare Ford shares. Although he only wanted 20 million of them, he was offered one billion. Turns out those folks trying to get out of the Ford ownership business might have been a bit more prescient than the Tracinda billionaire. After a couple more weeks of watching Ford's share price begin digging toward the center of the earth, Kerkorian seems to want out of Ford himself.

A week ago Tracinda shed 7.3 million shares, and now it has unloaded another 26.4 million at an average price of $2.01 per share. That's about $6 less than he paid for them. Kerkorian used a $600 million line of credit from Bank of America to finance the original billion dollar investment in Ford, using shares in his MGM casino for collateral. In addition to the loss on the Ford investment, MGM's stock price hasn't held up either, and that means he's had to commit more of the casino to B of A. Kerkorian's latest divestment takes him under 5% ownership of The Blue Oval, which means he doesn't have to divulge any more share sales, but we have a feeling it won't be the last.

[Source: Bloomberg]

The NFL season is clearly out of control, Audi just crossed the country in a bunch of diesels you can't buy here, and GM wants to "merge" with Chrysler. But it's not just America that's home to the madness: Ferrari might leave F1, Mitsuoka is selling this thing for €70,000, and today, for a brief moment, Volkswagen was the most valuable company in the entire world based on market capitalization. The reason: Porsche announced it would up its stake in the company to 75-percent. That blasted VW's €210 euro-per-share price up to €1,000 per share, making it more valuable than ExxonMobil and giving Ferdinand Piech reason to start practicing some lines from Scarface. The shares ended the day at €643, which is still pretty good for paper that could be had for less than €200 just about a month ago... Thanks for the tip, Kris!

[Source: Seeking Alpha]

Big Bob Lutz said that GM declaring bankruptcy is "out of the question." Of course, that was two years ago, when things like a $25 billion government loan would have sounded ludicrous. That was also before the auto industry mess got messier, and in order to stay true to those words today, GM is doing whatever it has to do to find money to stay in business. It heard Chrysler has an $11 billion piggy bank and a couple of jewels (Jeep and minivans) and GM said "Come here, girl! Lemme holla at you for a minute!"

Now GM is looking at its own international stable, and has its eye on China as a source of stopgap revenue for its North American operations. We've posted before on the fact that GM's international operations aren't doing too badly, and GM China sold 11.5 million vehicles last year -- more than any other manufacturer there. This year, it expects China sales volume to grow by 11- to 12-percent, and that means yuan in the bank.

Lutz said of the China move, "We do not rule out such a possibility under current conditions." These are hard times, but -- just like the good ones -- they're temporary, and GM just needs a little help to get to payday. Using money from one of your branches makes perfect sense to us. What doesn't make perfect sense is that China will get the Cruze the same time as Europe, in early '09, while we in the U.S. have to wait years in line for a car that we've been screaming for. Ah, GM, what are we going to do with you?

[Source: Gasgoo]

According to the Center of Automotive Research (CAR), General Motors is the trauma patient with doctors gathered around the gurney giving their all to save it -- and just outside the ER doors, nurses are holding back concerned parties and shouting "It's better that you don't see!" CAR Chairman Dave Cole says it comes down to revenue, and with GM's $15.5 billion Q2 loss, revenue is down by $10 billion vs. Q2 of 2007.

Cole says "Revenue is a measure of the business going forward." We think that's a bit overstated, and that revenue is more accurately a measure of business just transacted. True, multi-billion dollar losses and revenue decreases don't make the best stories, but did anyone really expect it to be cotton candy canes as the world's -- possibly -- largest automaker transfers nearly its entire product lineup from trucks to cars and crossovers?

Admittedly, GM has nothing but an indefinitely long fight-to-the-death cage match ahead of it. The product turnaround probably won't be completed in Q3. And, as GM's CFO said, it's "going to have to grow the business" in addition to making cost cutting moves like shuttering four truck plants by 2010. But we figure there's probably quite a bit more life left in little boy blue than some give it credit for.

[Source: Auto News, sub req'd]

It's up and down, but nowhere near out for Chrysler, LLC. The Big Three's smallest sibling says that it's ahead of internal estimates and has posted earnings in excess of one billion for the first half of '08. True, the company also posted a $510 million loss in Q1 according to minority shareholder Daimler. And since Chrysler is privately held, it doesn't need to tell anyone whether these earnings put it in the red or black.

But whatever's on the books was good enough to convince lenders to grant Chrysler's financial arm a $24 billion line of credit. Said a Chrysler spokesman, the money will be used to "support our dealers and their retail customers." The pentastar just got out of the leasing business, so the influx of credit will keep the financial arm doing what it needs to do as all those remaining lease vehicles come back with empty tanks and bottomed-out residuals. And believe it or not, those are all good things.

[Source: Detroit News]

Demonstrating that there is good news still to be found in some sales departments, BMW Group announced their worldwide January through June 2008 sales for BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brands increased 4.7 percent compared to last year. The sales total of 764,874 automobiles marked the most successful half-year of sales in the history of BMW Group. All three brands contributed to the sales increase, in varying capacities. BMW sales grew 2.4 percent, thanks to the BMW 1 Series and 3 Series Cabrio, while MINI sales were boosted 17.9 percent as the MINI Clubman rolled into showrooms. Most impressive was Rolls-Royce, boasting a 68.4 percent increase in sales compared to last year. The only segment where BMW Group was unable to maintain sales levels was with its motorcycles, as sales fell 5.6 percent compared to last year.

[Source: BMW Group]

GM President Frtiz Henderson came squeaky clean about the state of GM's brand portfolio, hurdles and losses. On the issue of too many brands, he admitted that the reason GM still has so many is that it is simply too expensive to kill any one of them. GM spent almost a billion large putting Oldsmobile to sleep, and with The General coming off a $3.25 billion Q1 loss, every half penny counts. In the mean time, GM will have to make do with its four new brand czars.

Henderson and CFO Rick Young also admitted that sales projections could be described as "rosy," the word "Delphi" is beginning to rhyme with "albatross," and that the intergalactic rise in gas prices has changed consumer buying habits "faster than we thought."

Fritz summarized the situation with: "We have to adjust. We have to learn how to make more money in cars and crossovers and tighten our belts with regard to cost expenditures." That's not the writing on the wall, that is the wall itself. Thanks for the tip, throwback!

[Source: CNN Money]

Sorry for the delay in getting to the numbers this month, but we spent all day Friday travelling back from the LA Auto Show when each automaker was releasing its results for November. The big news over which the mainstream media seems to be laboring is that Toyota Motor Company outsold Ford Motor Company last month. Not only that, but the Toyota brand also outsold Blue Oval badged vehicles and came within about a thousand units of outselling Chevrolet to nearly become the most popular auto brand in the U.S. for the month of November. Fortunately there were the same amount of selling days in November this year as there was last year, which means the percentage change in Daily Sales Rate equals the percentage change in the raw number of vehicles sold for the month. That means no manufacturer is able to emphasize whichever statistic casts it in a better light.

Other movers and shakers include Acura, up nearly 24% last month on the strong double launch of the new MDX and all-new RDX. Saturn was also up nearly 24% thanks to the Aura's arrival on the scene. Suzuki had a strong month, up 12% and now within spitting distance of reaching its goal of selling 100,000 vehicles in the U.S. this year.

Biggest Winner
GMC 30.1% at 37,440 (11/05: 28,775)

Biggest Loser
Jaguar –35.2 at 1,256 (11/05: 1,937)

BRANDS
Acura 23.9% at 17,200 (11/05: 13,882)
Audi 16.4% at 9,209 (11/05: 7,909)
BMW –4.5% at 22,602 (11/05: 23,673)
Buick 11.6% at 18,089 (11/05: 16,208)
Cadillac 20.3% at 17,250 (11/05: 14,339)
Chevrolet 3.0% at 171,003 (11/05: 166,087)
Chrysler 5.0% at 52,400 (11/05: 49,917)
Dodge –5.0% at 76,371 (11/05: 80,126)
Ford –12.2% at 147,791 (11/05: 168,386)
GMC 30.1% at 37,440 (11/05: 28,775)
Honda –3.0% at 89,246 (11/05: 91,978)
HUMMER –3.3% at 5,795 (11/05: 5,991)
Hyundai –14.9% at 28,417 (11/05: 33,383)
Infiniti 0.2% at 10,382 (11/05: 10,363)
Isuzu –17.4% at 1,138 (11/05: 1,378)
Jaguar –35.2 at 1,256 (11/05: 1,937)
Jeep 20% at 35,785 (11/05: 29,855)
Kia 10.5% at 22,203 (11/05: 20,091)
Land Rover –7.6% at 4,229 (11/05: 4,579)
Lexus 4.2% at 26,719 (11/05: 25,649)
Lincoln 11.8% at 9,410 (11/05: 8,418)
Mazda 16.7% at 20,792 (11/05: 17,817)
Mercedes 20.8% at 22,079 (11/05: 18,284)
Mercury 0.3% at 10,344 (11/05: 10,315)
MINI 3.7% at 3,287 (11/05: 3,171)
Mitsubishi 4.0% at 9,256 (11/05: 8,902)
Nissan –1.8% at 65,633 (11/05: 66,849)
Pontiac –17.5% at 26,154 (11/05: 31,687)
Porsche –2.0% at 2,611 (11/05: 2,675)
Saab 19.4% at 2,497 (11/05: 2,091)
Saturn 23.8% at 18,190 (11/05: 14,689)
Subaru 9.0% at 15,800 (11/05: 14,521)
Suzuki 12% at 6,395 (11/05: 5,707)
Toyota 18.0% at 169,976 (11/05: 144,016)
Volkswagen –5.3% at 17,082 (11/05: 18,046)
Volvo 14.3% at 9,229 (11/05: 8,076)

COMPANIES
BMW Group –3.6% at 25,889 (11/05: 26,844)
Chrysler Group 3.0% at 164,556 (11/05: 159,898)
Ford Motor Co –9.6% at 182,259 (11/05: 201,711)
General Motors 5.8% at 297,556 (11/05: 281,288)
Honda America 0.6% at 106,446 (11/05: 105,860)
Nissan North America –1.6% at 76,015 (11/05: 77,212)
Toyota Motor Co. 15.9% at 196,695 (11/05: 169,665)

Related posts:

• By The Numbers: October 2006
• By The Numbers: September 2006
• By The Numbers: August 2006
• By The Numbers: July 2006

General Motors reported global sales of 2,296,000 vehicles in the third quarter, which is a 3-percent decline versus Q3 of last year. That's only 66,000 unit off what was sold during the same period in 2005, and the GM spinmeisters attribute the difference to the employee pricing war last year and the company's commitment to reduce rental and fleet sales this year. Aight, we can buy that, so perhaps GM really did hold its ground this year in the global market.

The automaker claims its market share in North America, which includes the U.S. and Canada (it's first and third biggest markets) has increased steadily each quarter this year, from 23.8 percent in Q1 to 24.1 percent in Q2 to 25.1 percent in Q3. Since the press release has no hard numbers, that claim is difficult to verify, but most around the Autoblog office believe it to be true since the General's done particularly well with its more vanilla offerings like the Cobalt and Impala. Still, the General's global brands kicked it up a notch with Chevy seeing growth in nearly every market, especially the ones that will become increasingly important like India (up 44%) and China (up 6%). As we reported earlier, HUMMER sales are also strong around the world, up 54% year to date. It's all about the H3 though, with GM neglecting to mention the H2 in its press release at all.

Check out the rest of GM's report on its Q3 performance after the jump, but as with any sales report, be ready to wade through some spin.

[Source: GM]