| continue to import them in a few years similar to the Z in 1996 if the economy doesn't turn around. This is similar to the recession experienced in the early 90's. Took Nissan about 3 years to decide to stop importing to the USA the Z due to a "pricey car" and weakening economy. ----------------------------------------------------------- DETROIT -- U.S. auto sales reached a 15-year low with a double-digit decline in September as tightening credit and a financial system in crisis appeared to overwhelm any optimism about moderating gas prices. Sales of cars and light trucks fell 27% to 964,873 last month, down from 1.31 million a year earlier, according to Autodata Corp. The seasonally adjusted annualized selling rate was 12.5 million units down from 16.19 million in September 2007, the research firm said.
Associated Press
Car makers are trying to pare inventory in a weak market. 
At the Paris Auto Show, Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Alan Mulally and General Motors Corp. Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson expressed pessimism about the outlook for 2009, saying sales were likely to be as low as the current year. Most jarring for the industry may have been the severe drop for Japanese auto makers, widely considered the strongest players in the U.S. market, especially in the small-car segment. Hobbled by a weak truck and SUV sales as well as severe declines in sales for its popular Camry and Corolla models, Toyota Motor Corp. sales fell 32.3% in September. Honda Motor Co. dropped 24% and Nissan Motor Co. saw its North America sales tumble 37%. Those declines reflect the depth of the recession in U.S. auto sales as well as some strategic missteps, including Toyota's recent foray into a struggling pickup truck market. "Obviously, no one is immune to market shifts as dramatic as we have been seeing," said Dick Colliver, executive vice president of sales for American Honda. Ford Motor, along with other auto makers, has seen its pickup
sales slump badly this year. 
Toyota attributed its sharp decline to eroding consumer confidence as Washington battles to pass a $700 billion bailout plan to help restore lending. The company also blamed weak economies in California and in the Southeast, two regions where the auto maker traditionally posts strong numbers. "I think it certainly put the brakes on the consumers. We saw that on the luxury side. We had folks calling up asking for their deposits back," said Don Esmond, Toyota senior vice president, automotive operations. "Consumers are worried about the value of their homes and their 401(k)s." The largest drop among the Detroit Three came from Ford, whose dealers reported total sales down 34% in September compared with the same month a year ago. Chrysler LLC saw a similar drop, with monthly sales declining 33%. The luxury market wasn't immune to a general wariness among American consumers against making big-ticket purchases even as gas generally remained below $4 a gallon. Ford sales analyst George Pipas characterized the turmoil on Wall Street as "tantamount to a natural disaster" but added that auto makers probably had as easier time boosting sales following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Unsold 4Runners sit at a Toyota dealership in the southeast Denver suburb of Centennial, Colo. 
Showroom traffic was extremely weak and sales fell off sharply in the last 10 days of September as consumers focused on the crisis on Wall Street and the debate over a bailout in Washington, Mr. Pipas said. Michael Jackson, chief executive of AutoNation Inc., said tightening credit standards as a result of the nation's financial crisis is choking off auto sales. A year ago, 90% of those car buyers with top credit ratings were getting loans approved. Today only about 60% get approved, Mr. Jackson said. "Consumers and businesses are in a very fragile place," said Jim Farley, Ford group vice president for marketing and communications. "An already weak economy compounded by very tight credit conditions has created an atmosphere of caution."
Bucking the trend, General Motors reported that its U.S. sales fell% in September, measurably better than its competitors. Much of that success could be tied to GM's push for consumer incentives and a strategy that boosted fleet sales rather than sales to retail customers. For example, GM sold slightly more than 19,000 Malibus but 10,000 of them were fleet sales, which are generally seen as less profitable for auto makers and potentially damaging to their brand's reputations.
GM's sales chief Mark LaNeve said the company's performance is good relative to the wider industry, but not indicative of a healthy auto industry. "A few years ago I would have jumped out the window with these numbers, and we're on the 39th floor here," he said in a conference call from GM's headquarters in downtown Detroit. Shares in Porsche Automobil Holding SE skidded amid tumbling sales in key European markets and as the German auto maker revealed its normally robust growth had slowed. Porsche, which is in the usually resilient high-end auto market, said it couldn't give an outlook in the "present economic situation," and shares in other European auto makers declined. Porsche shares fell €6.44 ($9.06), or 8.5%, to €69.36 in Frankfurt. ----------------------------------------------------------
additionally
----------------------------------------------------------
Leading Chevy Dealer Bill Heard Files for Chapter 11
Bill Heard Enterprises Inc., one of the largest Chevrolet dealers in the U.S., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a Decatur, Ala., court after shutting down last week amid a prolonged downturn in the U.S. auto industry. Mr. Heard ran 14 Chevy dealerships and dubbed himself "Mr. Big Volume" because of the high amount of sales his stores were responsible for. About 3,200 people were put out of work when the dealerships closed their doors Wednesday. 
Bill Heard had closed his 14 Chevrolet dealerships before filing for Chapter 11. About 3,200 people lost jobs. The company operated in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, Arizona and Nevada. The company's troubles reflect troubles in the massive car-dealership industry that is connected to the Big Three Detroit auto makers. While most of these dealers are independent operators, they have been squeezed by a combination of crippled light-vehicle demand and the financial troubles of General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., and Chrysler LLC, and their struggling finance arms. Several auto dealerships have gone out of business in 2008. In a note to investors Monday, Wachovia auto analyst Rich Kwas said that as many as 60 dealerships have closed since mid-summer and "the worst operators [and] stores are not expected to survive over the next three to six months." Mr. Heard's shutdown after 89 years in business is monumental because of his strategic importance to GM. In 2007 alone, the Heard chain represented $2.1 billion in revenue, a good portion of which resulted from sales of new GM products. The downturn in the domestic auto market, however, began to take its toll on the company in 2007, when its dealerships began to post significant monthly losses. In 2008, the dealerships posted monthly losses of between $2 million and $5 million, according to court papers. GM has said it will either try to find buyers for the Heard dealerships, or come up with other ways to consolidate the dealerships into other stores. In addition, Mr. Heard said he is negotiating to sell some of its dealerships and is "actively marketing" the others. In court papers, Mr. Heard said falling new-car sales led to its decision to go out of business and begin liquidating in bankruptcy court. High gas prices, the downturn of the U.S. economy and the reluctance of some auto lenders to extend credit to customers have caused new car sales to plummet, prompting a "financial liquidity crisis" at Bill Heard dealerships. According to court papers, the company owes floor-plan lenders BMW Financial Services, J.P. Morgan Chase Bank and GMAC LLC, which financed its dealerships' purchase of new vehicles, $229 million. Bill Heard is seeking court approval to borrow $6.7 million from GMAC to fund its bankruptcy liquidation.
=============Sig begins here================ The Devils Z.com 
The Devils Z Pic
666 rwhp dyno The Demon Z pic (in progress)
View Me! Disclaimer : Not Safe For Work !
|
Long Read : If you want a the New GTR -- I doubt Nissan will - 
