From the Editor

Things appear to be looking up for the once traumatized auto industry. Just recently, Chrysler Group LLC reported December vehicle sales beat analysts’ estimates, affording them their best year since 2008.

As consumer confidence has increased, reaching an eight-month high in December 2011, auto sales have also increased. Wrapping up 2011 with a slow, but steady recovery, vehicle sales were looking like this:

*More than 12.8 million cars, trucks were sold in 2011, according to TrueCar.com;
*1.2 million more vehicles were sold in 2011 than in 2010, but less than the 13.8 million TrueCar predicts will be sold in 2012 as the economy improves;
*Hyundai Motor Co, and affiliate Kia Motors Corp may have recorded a 27 percent sales gain last month;
*Ford Motor Company reported it sold 210,410 vehicles in December 2011, a year-over-year increase of 10 percent; while car sales were down, truck sales were up almost 28 percent; for the full year, sales were up 17 percent to 2.06 million vehicles;
*Chrysler’s Jeep division had a 41 percent increase in sales: 36 percent for Grand Cherokee and 39 percent for Wrangler SUVs;
*GM reported total U.S. sales of 234,351 vehicles in December, and for all of 2011, sales rose 14 percent to over 2.5 million units;
*Volkswagen reported a jump of 36 percent in sales for December, to 35,502 vehicles; one best seller being the 2012 American-built Passat.

Probably the only automakers for whom business didn’t reach satisfactory levels were Honda and Toyota. Expected to suffer in light of the hurricane and damage to automotive plants in Japan, sales from these two big auto manufacturers were predicted to be down nearly 16 percent from 2010.

With these kind of reports, one can begin to feel the optimism rising in the automotive industry. While it may be cautious optimism, it nevertheless appears that things are definately improving.

On a more somber note, Swedish carmaker Saab was declared bankrupt in recent weeks, ending their nine-month battle to survive. While it remains to be seen what will actually happen to the Saab automobile, much of their fate depends on GM and what it will agree to. In the interests of protecting their technology, GM has refused to approve the proposed rescue of Saab by a Chinese investor.

In business for 64 years, Saab employs about 3,500 people, all of whom-along with suppliers would be affected by its closure. Saab presented its first prototype in 1947, building a small, loyal following. GM bought 50 percent of the company in 1990 and the rest in 2000, selling it all in 2009 after the financial crisis. Rescued in January of 2010, Saab was bought by Swedish Automobile (then called Spyker Cars).

Susan Frissell, Ph.D.