Automobile Industry 01 (Aug 08 - Sep 15)

[millionairemind]

Who's gonna be paying for the US$3b ? The guy who did not exchange his car is the one who's losing out here ..

Since FED essentially has an unlimited license to print money, I guess it will the Chinese, you and me..

[winston]

China Auto Sales Growth May Slow in 2010, Tong Says (Update2) By Tian Huang

Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- China’s auto market will grow at a slower pace next year after expanding almost 40 percent in 2009 to become the world’s biggest, said Shiping Tong, chief executive officer of China Auto Logistics Inc.

This year’s forecast for 12 million cars sold in China from around 8.8 million in 2008 is a “very one-time event,” Tong said in an interview in New York. China’s sales were suppressed last year by the global economic slowdown, he said in an interview in New York.

“That kind of growth isn’t very healthy,” Tong said. “I don’t expect it to grow at the same rate. A growth rate of 15 percent is healthy.”

China is yet to say whether it will extend into 2010 auto tax cuts and subsidies. The State Information Center, a government advisory body, is trying to persuade policy makers to extend stimulus measures, Xu Changming, a research director, said last month. The support may help this year’s sales jump to 12 million vehicles, according to the government. That’s likely enough to surpass the U.S. as the world’s largest auto market.

Chinese buyers of foreign cars want Toyota Motor Corp.’s autos the most, said China Auto financial officer Feng Yang. General Motors Co. also ranks among the top five in sales, he said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... m2H0RCs6X0

[winston]

’Supercar rentals’ taking off in Singapore

SINGAPORE : If the Singapore Night Race fuelled your love of fast cars but you can’t afford to buy one, then there is an alternative — ’supercar rental’, which is taking off in Singapore as a once—in—a—lifetime experience.

Imagine getting a Porsche as a wedding gift — that’s what Timothy Wimala gave his friends for a day.

Wimala and Leonard Pang have shared a love of cars since studying together at university. So best man Wimala wanted to find his friend a special set of wheels for his wedding day.

"I told him don’t worry about the car, I’m going to settle it for you. And he kept asking me... but I didn’t tell him until the very last moment. Then I brought him here (Luxe Car Rental) and he got the shock of his life," said Wimala.

Pang was thrilled to sweep his wife, Irene, away in style.

"It was the best wedding gift I could ever get. We definitely got a lot of stares and I saw some people gave us the thumbs—up approval for doing something different," said Pang.

The Porsche was hired from Luxe Car Rental. The company opened in November last year and currently has seven cars in its stable, with plans to increase the number to 15.

"In the US and the UK, supercar rental has been around for 15 years. And we think there is a very strong market, especially in Singapore, because there is a large number of affluent people in Singapore," said Denny Koh, business development manager at Luxe Car Rental.

The Ferrari F430 and Lamborghini Gallardo top the company’s range and are the most popular models and are hired out most weekends for corporate events and as birthday presents.

These cars are usually rented by male customers aged 30 to 35.

So are supercars worth the hype?

Some drivers said the fun comes when you hit the open road — lightning acceleration and the roar of the 4.3—litre V8 engine all added up to an exhilarating experience.

This is probably why someone would pay nearly S$4,000 to rent a supercar for just 24 hours.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/cna/20091024/t ... 1650b.html

[winston]

Why am I not surprized ?

Report: Cash for Clunkers a Huge Waste By: Julie Crawshaw

Cash for Clunkers clearly distorted the U.S. economic figures in an unsustainable way, according to The Business Insider, which cites a report from the Bureau of Economic

Analysis that indicates GDP growth in the third quarter would have been 1.89 percent, not 3.5 percent as claimed, without government money.

Moreover, the $3 billion program cost an average of $24,000 per additional car sold, according to an analysis by automotive consumer researcher Edmunds.com.

Nearly 690,000 vehicles were sold during the program, officially known as CARS, but Edmunds.com analysts calculated that only 125,000 of the sales were incremental.

The rest of the sales would have happened anyway, regardless of the existence of the program.

"This analysis is valuable for two reasons," explained Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl.

"First, it can form the basis for a complete assessment of the program's impact and costs.”

“Second — and more important — it can help us to understand the true state of auto sales and the economy.”

Ironically, Anwyl notes, the average transaction price for a new vehicle in August 2009 was only $26,915 minus an average cash rebate of $1,667.

For $3 billion, “the federal government could have purchased the 125,000 cars outright at manufacturer suggested retail prices … and then handed each of the recipients an additional bonus check averaging the Cash-for-Clunkers subsidy of $4,000,” writes Thomas Eddlem at The New American.

“Or they could have bought every one of those 125,000 people a Smart car and then given them a check for $6,000.”

Source: Newsmax

http://moneynews.newsmax.com/streettalk ... 80931.html

[winston]

Cambodia's 'telepathic' car

PHNOM PENH - THE gold-coloured convertible turns heads on impoverished Cambodia's roads - not least because of creator Nhean Phaloek's outlandish claim that it can be operated telepathically.

'I just snap my fingers and the car's door will open. Or I just think of opening the car's door, and the door opens immediately,' says the 51-year-old as he proudly shows off the homemade car, named the Angkor 333-2010.

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNew ... 60502.html

[winston]

The State Council made an announcement last night clarifying various govt supportive measures on domestic consumption:

a. Purchase tax benefit on small cars will continue into end of 2010

b. The old for new trade in subsidy will increase from Rmb5,000 to Rmb18,000 (this sounds very meaningful given ASPs of a lot of small/low end cars are just Rmb50,000 – 60,000)

[winston]

China has overtaken the U.S. as the world's biggest market for automobiles, the first time any other country has bought more vehicles than the nation that produced Henry Ford, the Cadillac and the minivan.

Now that the Chinese buy more cars and trucks than Americans, the shift could produce ripples for the environment, gas prices and even the kinds of cars automakers design.

More than 12.7 million cars and trucks will be sold in China this year, up 44 percent from the previous year and surpassing the 10.3 million forecast in the U.S., according to J.D. Power and Associates.

...Two years ago, J.D. Power predicted China would pass the U.S. in 2025. Earlier this year, it forecast 2009 sales of just 9 million vehicles for China.


– Associated Press

[winston]

The problem with billionaires like Buffett, Gross, and Ross By Dan Ferris in the S&A Digest:

Billionaire financier Wilbur Ross apparently doesn't think the new [financial crisis responsibility] tax goes far enough.

He wants a new "cash for clunkers" stimulus program for the auto industry. Ross is the chairman of International Automotive Components Group, a supplier of automobile interiors, which Ross cobbled together in his usual fashion by purchasing divisions of troubled parts companies like Lear Corporation and Collins & Aikman.

So a new cash for clunkers program would put money in his pockets.

It's getting harder and harder for me to quote billionaires as sources of wisdom.

They've won in a corrupt system, and instead of using their substantial influence to correct the system's abuses, they seem determined to entrench themselves deeper. Is there not an honest man anywhere among the world's billionaires?

I'm not saying there isn't one, only that I can't name one off the top of my head...

[winston]

Chinese Auto


DJ China Relaxes Rules On Subsidy, Lower Tax For Automobiles


BEIJING (Dow Jones)--Consumers who replace their old vehicles with a new, small car will be eligible for both a subsidy and a lower purchase tax if they meet the government's requirements, the Ministry of Commerce said Monday.

Previously, consumers couldn't benefit from both incentives--those who replaced their old, pollutive vehicles with a vehicle with an engine 1.6 liters and under weren't eligible for the lower purchase tax.

The new policy is retroactive from Jan. 1, the ministry said in a statement.

China partially rolled back the purchase tax discount for small cars to 7.5% this year. In 2009 it was halved to 5%.

Source; Patricia Jiayi Ho, Dow Jones Newswires

[winston]

Wonder how long would be the line-up ? Would you be buying an electric car now ? And if you are not, why's the share of electric cars companies flying ?

Chinese Electric Cars

DJ China State Grid To Build Charging Stations For Electric Cars - Report

BEIJING (Dow Jones)--State Grid Corp. of China Ltd. plans to build 75 charging stations for electric cars in 27 cities this year as part of a pilot project, the China Daily reported Thursday, citing an unnamed official from the company.

The project is part of a plan to support fuel-efficient transportation, the report said, without naming the cities.

Newspaper Web site: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn


Source: China Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires