Trust its no new NEWS to report on the problems with these 3 manufacturers, with strikes, laid offs, and phenomenal losses, the industry is watching how the recent petrol hike would slowly strangle them off.
GM posted a $15.5 billion loss over Q2 2008, and the drop in revenue for July 2008 is a staggering $10 billion below that of July 2007, with Toyota pulling ahead becoming the world's largest manufacturer. Ford posted a loss of $8.7 billion, dropped from the number 3 manufacturer to behind Volkswagen, placing them as the 4th largest manufacturer in the world. Thou Chrysler posted a profit of $1.1 billion, they've just recently stop their leasing business, which accounts for 20% of their total sales, and they've just gotten themselves a $24 billion funding, suggesting that liquidity is an issue here.
Finally, after all these bad news, the traditional rivals had seem to awaken from their sleep and 'realize' technology, cross-platform sharing is not a bad idea after all, Ford and GM is currently working on a new engine and transmission together where development costs are huge, and hopefully they would party-in Chrysler as well to go through tough times together.
Let's wait and see how these behemoths would turn around, the following months are very crucial, not only for these manufacturers but the entire industry as well, as the automotive industry in entirety involves the well being of more than 60 million people on the planet. Currently of the top 5 manufacturers, only Toyota (No.1) Volkswagen (No.2) and Hyundai (No.5) are profitable.
