Stock Preacher

Asian auto makers sharply lifted their USA market share last month due to a trend towards smaller vehicles under the cash-for-clunkers scheme and consumers’ continuing concern about the health of General Motors and Chrysler. Toyota reported a 6.4% sales increase from a year earlier, bringing it within 21,000 vehicles of GM, which has held the # 1 spot for decades. The cash-for-clunkers scheme pushed GM’s sales up by 30% from July, but they remained a 5th lower than August 2008. Among other Asian auto makers, Honda’s sales reached an August record, while Hyundai reported a 47% surge and Subaru posted its best month ever. Read more

Popularity: unranked [?]

Ford Motor Co said Thursday it is adding shifts at its truck plants in Michigan and Missouri in response to increased demand for its F-150 pickup trucks and Escape SUVs. Ford’s Dearborn, Michigan, truck plant will return to a three-shift operation in September from two shifts, a move that will boost production of F-150 pickup trucks by about 10,000 this year. Ford is also adding a third shift at its Kansas City assembly plant in Missouri in October, which will increase production of Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner SUVs by 2,400 by the end of October. Read more

Popularity: unranked [?]

New home sales in the USA rose last month at the fastest rate since 2005, the US Commerce Department said yesterday in a report, highlighting the case that the hammered US residential real estate market is staging a recovery. Separately, official figures showed that new orders for durable goods tallied up their biggest jump in 2 years in July, as aircraft purchases soared and the US Cash-for-Clunkers program fueled a big rise in demand for automobiles. Sales of new homes jumped by 9.6% to an adjusted annual rate of 433,000 in July. The 4th consecutive monthly rise beat even the most bullish forecasts of Wall Street analysts and exceeded the revised June jump of 9.1%. New home sales are still off by 13.4% compared with the same month a year ago. Buyers are responding to low prices and the popular 1st time home buyer tax credit which has succeeded in luring people back to the market. The median price of a new home slipped a bit to US$210,100 in July and is off by 11.5% year-on-year.

Popularity: unranked [?]

US carmaker Ford Motor Co. announced yesterday that it is boosting Q-3 production in North America by another 10,000 units to meet increased demand for its vehicles. According to Ford Americas President Mark Fields, the company’s third-quarter production goal is now 495,000 units, about 18% higher than a year ago. Ford also increased its production targets for the fourth quarter to 570,000 vehicles, a 33% increase over the same period last year. Ford is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the federal government’s “cash for clunkers” program. Its Ford Focus compact has been one of the most popular choices for customers taking advantage of the program, which provides up to US$4,500 to motorists trading in gass guzzlers for new, more fuel-efficient vehicles. Recently US President Barack Obama signed into law a US$2B extension of cash for clunkers program after Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood warned Congress the program was about to use up the initial US$1B allocated by lawmakers.

Popularity: 2% [?]