Zacks Industry Outlook Highlights: General Motors, Ford Motor, Toyota Motors, Honda Motor and Nissan Motor - Press Releases
March 21 2012 - 4:30AM
Zacks
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – March 21, 2012 – Today, Zacks Equity Research
discusses the Autos Industry, including General Motors
Company ( GM), Ford Motor Co. ( F),
Toyota Motors Corp. ( TM), Honda Motor
Co. ( HMC) and Nissan Motor Co. (
NSANY).
A synopsis of today’s Industry Outlook is presented below. The
full article can be read at
http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/71650/Auto+Industry+Stock+Outlook+%26amp%3B+Review+%96+March+2012
The auto industry is highly concentrated. The top-10 global
automakers account for roughly 80% of the worldwide production and
nearly 90% of total vehicles sold in the U.S.
In January-February 2012, General Motors Company (
GM) led with a 18.3% market share in the U.S., followed by
Ford Motor Co. ( F) with a 15.3% market share,
Toyota Motors Corp. ( TM) with a 13.8% market
share, Chrysler-Fiat with a 11.4% market share, and Honda
Motor Co. ( HMC) and Nissan Motor Co. (
NSANY) at the last spots with 9.4% and 9.0% market shares,
respectively.
Due to a massive structural change after the global economic
meltdown in 2008, the global auto industry is expected to be ruled
by automakers and suppliers based in the six major auto markets:
China, India, Japan, Korea, Western Europe and the U.S.
OPPORTUNITIES
To remain competitive, the automakers will need to design vehicles
that will cater to consumers in both mature and emerging markets
while manufacturing them at low-cost using the most advanced
technology.
The recent trend shows that automakers are concentrating on
offering more optional features (which will save money on gas) even
on the small and less gas-guzzler vehicles in order to attract
buyers. The sale of optional features is helping them offset lower
profit margins for small cars relative to large trucks.
The automakers continue to shift their production facilities from
high-cost regions such as North America and Europe to lower-cost
regions such as China, India and South America. According to a
study by CSM Worldwide, China and South America together are
projected to represent more than 50% of growth in global light
vehicle production in the auto industry from 2008 to 2015.
The role of governments is highly significant. Governments in all
major countries have become active auto industry players. Their
energy and environmental policies will be strongly responsible in
molding the auto industry in the coming years.
In late 2011, 13 major automakers, including Ford, GM, Chrysler,
BMW, Honda, Jaguar/Land Rover, Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan,
Toyota and Volvo, have signed letters of commitment with the U.S.
Government to upgrade the fuel economy standard of cars and
light-duty trucks to 54.5 miles per gallon (mpg) by 2025.
The new standard is more than double the Corporate Average Fuel
Economy (CAFE) standard of 24.1 mpg. It is expected to save 12
billion barrels of oil and curtail oil consumption by 2.2 million
barrels per day, which accounts for half of the oil imported by the
U.S. from OPEC countries on a daily basis.
The new standard also aimed at reducing carbon pollution to 163
grams per mile of CO2. With this, more than 6 billion metric tons
of greenhouse gas will be curbed over the time span of the program,
which accounts for more than the amount of carbon dioxide emitted
by the U.S. in 2010.
"Green" Cars
Rising fuel prices and global warming have turned attention to the
auto industry that either rely less on traditional fossil fuels or
use cheaper renewable sources of energy. Thus, “green” alternatives
such as fuel-efficient electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid vehicles
will attract consumers in the affluent countries while flex-fuels
such as ethanol and natural gas will be highly demanded in the
emerging auto markets due to their suitability with the local
climate and resource base.
Consequently, there will be a variety of powertrain technologies in
the auto industry in this decade and “green” cars are likely to
represent about 30% of total global sales in developed auto
markets.
Globally, the hybrid market is ruled by Toyota (which includes the
highly acclaimed Prius) and Honda (which has Civic and Insight
hybrids). Meanwhile, other automakers such as Ford, General Motors
and Nissan are also aggressively pursuing a plan to push hybrid
sales. Some of their “green” cars have already generated a huge
response in the auto industry, including the Ford Focus, GM Volt,
Nissan Leaf and others.
In late 2011, Ford and Toyota signed a memorandum of understanding
on the equal product development collaboration in order to develop
a gas-electric hybrid engine for pickup trucks and sports utility
vehicles (SUVs). The automakers have decided to sign a definitive
agreement that would lay out timelines to develop the technology.
They expect to market the product by the end of this decade. The
development of electric hybrid engines would help both the
companies meet stringent fuel economy and pollution standards in
the U.S. and elsewhere in the near future.
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FORD MOTOR CO (F): Free Stock Analysis Report
GENERAL MOTORS (GM): Free Stock Analysis Report
HONDA MOTOR (HMC): Free Stock Analysis Report
NISSAN ADR (NSANY): Free Stock Analysis Report
TOYOTA MOTOR CP (TM): Free Stock Analysis Report
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