Archive for the ‘Economic’ Category

Detroit's Big Three may have grabbed most of this week's headlines, but that doesn't mean that the rest of the world's automakers have been sitting on their hands. One story that isn't getting much play is the fact that Toyota Motor Company -- which posted its first-ever loss last fiscal year -- returned to profitability last quarter.

Although the company's financials weren't quite as impressive as those Ford released on Monday, the ¥21.8 billion ($242 million) profit Toyota realized in July, August, and September 2009 marks a welcome break from the losses Toyota posted in the three previous quarters. Of course, that ¥21.8 billion figure...

It's no secret that Ford Motor Company has withstood the current financial storm far better than Chrysler and General Motors. Between its refreshed reputation as a manufacturer of quality vehicles and the fact that Ford was the only Detroit automaker to dodge both bankruptcy and bailout dough, the company has emerged from the economic downturn (if we're truly out of it) stronger and more respected by the public than before. In fact, some analysts are predicting that Ford will announce a break-even or slightly profitable third quarter when it reveals earnings for the period next Monday.

Much of Ford's good fortune is thanks to the company's...

Bean-counters have finally assessed advertising data from the first half of 2009, and to absolutely no one's surprise, it wasn't very good. And who shoulders a big chunk of the blame for this dismal state of affairs? The auto industry, of course.

That's not entirely unfair. Auto ads generate a huge portion of total advertising revenue for media outlets like newspapers, magazines, TV stations, and websites. (Historically, between 6% and 10% of U.S. advertising dollars are spent on auto ads.) During the first six months of 2009, automakers and dealers spent $3.6 billion on advertising, or about $1.6 billion less than the same period of 2008....