Word: gm
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Chrysler is not the only auto company struggling with punctured profits. Earnings at General Motors fell 60% last year, to $950 million, and GM's board voted to reduce the quarterly dividend from 850 to 600. Ford reported profits down 60% in 1974, to $361 million. Thanks to some tax credits, Ford can show a $22 million profit in the fourth quarter; but on a pretax basis the company lost $46 million. Many Wall Street analysts expect the company to report more big losses for the first few months of this year. American Motors managed to clear $13 million...
Detroit has been fighting a losing battle for a decade against the safety and pollution regulations. According to estimates by GM, Ford and Chrysler, the cost of meeting these standards has already added between $499 and $600 to the price of a car. (The Bureau of Labor Statistics, however, puts the cost at $415.) Company representatives are pressing Congress for a five-year delay in the stiff Government pollution-control standards now scheduled to take effect in 1977. The automakers contend that, instead of being forced to spend money on devices that reduce emissions, they should be allowed to develop...
...industry's credibility has not always been high when it comes to complaints about environmental controls. For example, Detroit long opposed use of the emission-reducing catalytic converter, a device fixed to the exhaust pipe underneath the car. These converters are installed in the 1975 models, and GM, for one, praises their virtues. With the converter, engines can be tuned up to give top fuel efficiency instead of being wastefully geared down to reduce emissions, as they had been for several years. The result, according to tests made by the Environmental Protection Agency: the new cars get 13.5% more...
Henry Ford II estimates that if the tough 1977 rules are not postponed, they will add $750 to the cost of a car and further depress sales. (The EPA estimates the added cost at $250 to $350.) In addition, GM's Murphy contends, "If you set emission standards higher, there's got to be a sacrifice of fuel economy." The EPA disagrees. Astonishingly, a study it released last week argues that there "is no inherent relationship between exhaust-emissions standards and fuel economy." The best guess now is that Congress will push back the 1977 regulations...
...GM announced last week that it will spend $3 billion over the next four years to develop and produce smaller versions of its Buick, Pontiac and Chevrolet models. In April it will roll out a new Cadillac tailored for the age of rising gasoline costs: it will be 1,000 Ibs. lighter, 2 ft. shorter and almost 1 ft. narrower than today's four-door, 5,100-lb. Calais De-Ville. In addition, GM is planning to reduce its five distinct body styles to two or three. The company's eight engine varieties may be cut to four...