Honda Cars : Struggling Mazda Looking for News Partners | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

By Nat Shirley
Thursday, Feb 9th, 2012 @ 10:17 am
Facing what will likely be its fourth straight year of financial losses, Mazda is seeking partners to share development and manufacturing costs as the company tries to return to profitability.

Mazda CEO Takashi Yamanouchi says the company is “actively” seeking partners and is “considering every option” in an attempt to raise more capital to stave off a possible downgrade to its credit rating, Automotive News reports. Mazda has forecast a net loss of $1.29 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, which would represent the automaker’s worst financial showing in 11 years.
Mazda’s struggles are partially attributable to the continued strength of the yen – Mazda exports a greater percentage of its vehicles from Japan than any other automaker, meaning more of its sales result in slim profit margins because of the unfriendly home currency. Another issue lies with several weak-selling products – in America, Madza’s entrants in the all-import midsize sedan and small crossover segments, the Mazda6 and Tribute/CX-7, have largely been sales disappointments.
Still, there is plenty of potential for the Zoom-Zoom automaker to return to financial health. The company is building a plant in Mexico to counter the strength of the yen, and its sales fortunes could soon improve with the launch of the new CX-5 crossover and as its fuel-efficient SkyActiv technology continues to spread throughout the model range.
A partner to help defray costs would also be an asset – Mazda has been going it alone since former partner Ford sold its shares in the Japanese automaker over the past few years.

Source;

http://www.leftlanenews.com/struggling-mazda-looking-for-partners.html

Honda Cars : Automakers fear domino effect from GM, Chrysler failure | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Sorry, more doomsday BS.

Honda executives tell Trade Minister fallout from financial woes could hurt supply chain

Bruce Campion-Smith Ottawa bureau chief

OTTAWA–The collapse of North American auto giants General Motors and Chrysler could drag down other automakers, International Trade Minister Stockwell Day warns.

Day had met executives from Honda during a trade mission to Japan and reported yesterday they shared his concerns about the potential domino effect from the fallout of the sector's financial woes.

"The supply chain in North America really serves all of the automakers and if the main company goes down, it will pull supply chains down with it. That will affect other automakers whose position might not be so precarious," Day said yesterday in a conference call from Nagoya, Japan.

"If – again, underlining the `if' – if there started to be failure, that would affect all auto companies," Day said. "It's important that the industry survives, because what hurts one could hurt the other."

Ottawa and Queen's Park have said interim loans of $3 billion for GM of Canada Ltd. and $1 billion for Chrysler Canada will be advanced to assist the companies with their restructuring plans.

Honda has survived the recession better than most but even it has been facing "worldwide challenges," Day said. "This is one of the most difficult times Honda has faced.... They're doing their best to stay efficient," he said.

"Companies like Honda are ... relatively well capitalized and can ride out a storm for a while."
Earlier this week, federal Industry Minister Tony Clement prepared Canadians for the possible bankruptcy of GM or Chrysler.

"There used to be a phrase in the auto sector, `too big to fail,'" Clement said. "I don't think that phrase exists anymore."

Source;
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/616625

Honda Cars : Honda Numbers UP in a DOWN Market | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

Thanks to an ever-tightening credit market and record high fuel prices, analysts are predicting a 10 percent drop in new car sales for the month of May, a new report finds. Although the sales drop is expected to be fairly uniform across the board, it is expected that General Motors, Ford and Chrysler will be hit hardest, largely due to their reliance on trucks and SUVs.

According to Automotive News, General Motors will likely report a 22 to 25 percent drop in new car sales for the month of May, while Ford is expected to check in with a 22 percent drop. Chrysler is expected to see at least a 20 percent decline in sales.

Despite an expected sales drop of 6.7 percent from May 2007, analysts predict that Toyota's market share will climb from 17.5 percent last month to 18.1 percent in May.

The only automaker expected to post a sales increase for May is Honda. Thanks to its lack of fuel-thirsty vehicles, the Japanese automaker is expected to post a 3.2 percent sales gain on May 2007.

Source:
http://www.leftlanenews.com/analysts-predict-10-percent-drop-in-new-car-sales-for-may-honda-only-automaker-to-see-sales-gain.html