Word: autos
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China then has the oil to provide fuel for automobiles, the metal to build them and the country seems to be ready to shop for car companies. According to Reuters, the chief of China's large Chongqing Changan Auto Co. is prepared to take a vulture-fund approach to buying assets. He said, "The longer the crisis lasts, the bigger the chance of failure or a scale-down of some American and European automakers." It is a brutal but honest assessment of the industry, and a clear and public sign that China believe that "money talks...
Japanese companies were able to aggressively move into the U.S. and European car markets in the 1970s and 1980s to a large extent because of their low labor costs. The Japanese auto firms created brands, instead of acquiring them. Toyota (TM) and Honda (HMC) developed reputations for quality and service that often eclipsed those of their competition in the West...
China plans to compress the decades that Japanese companies needed to build large branded auto firms. It plans to complete the process in a year or two by simply acquiring existing, well-known brands. There is no reason that a Chinese car firm cannot use government money to bid for Chrysler's assets if it is forced into bankruptcy. In France, Citroen and Peugeot are facing financial problems that could get much worse if car sales remain anemic. GM's (GM) Opel unit in Europe needs immediate capital and may be sold at a loss for the No.1...
Steve Rattner had never focused on the auto industry before. So yes, he was an odd choice to be a special adviser to the Treasury Department on its dealings with Detroit car manufacturers. And even though he was known mostly for his work as a journalist and as an investor in various media companies, Rattner got right to work, reportedly helping to engineer the ouster of General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner just weeks after joining the Administration...
...auto industry woes are being felt here too. Over the last two decades, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee lured automakers with relatively inexpensive land and lax labor laws. Now, Tennessee is fighting the possible closure of a GM plant in Spring Hill, and Toyota has already postponed the start of production of the Prius at a new plant in Mississippi...