2009 - The worst year for the Automotive Industry?

Samir Taheer · 6th January 2009, 18:51

I work for an automotive components company in the UK and have seen the sharp downfall of the Industry. The company i work for has halved in the last 6mths and order books have fallen sharply.

The same is being fealt everywhere else, more so with the manufactures themselves. Some of the recent happenings -

- Honda are to stop prodution for 5 weeks and have now said they will not be making any Sports of Luxury cars in the future. So no replacment for the S2000 or NSX, also no 7 Series rival. Plus no more F1.

- We all know GM, Ford and Crysler are going thru tough times. What will happen to the companies they own? Will the Chinese buy SAAB and will the Swedish Govenment buy Volvo? What happens to Hummer and Jeep, brands we all know well.

- A few days ago Osamu Suzuki, president of Suzuki motors, shocked the Japanese markets by predicting that the country's ten large carmakers would soon have to be merged into three giants.

- Pininfarina is betting its future on electric vehicle production. From 2011 it will mass produce an electric car designed with French group Bollore. So will they stop working with Ferrari and designing cars?

What do you guys think will happen with the Automotive Industry?
Will it survive? In what form?

These are all Iconic names - Where is the Future? Electricity Hydrogen Fuel Cell or something totally different?

And - WILL IT EVER BE THE SAME AGAIN???

mnhegde · 6th January 2009, 19:21

A few hours back saw in a news channel, that Toyota is planning to stop its productions for a few days (11 days) in Japan. Its the same all around the world. lets just hope for things to come back to normalcy soon.

srishiva · 6th January 2009, 20:30

Toyota, BMW and Honda had sales drop which are little worse(by one or two percentage points) than their American counterparts (except Chrysler which had a steep 54% drop)

Sales nearing last years numbers are not expected until 2012 !

aaggoswami · 6th January 2009, 22:05

To best of what I have heard, the things in US will improve after Mid 2009. But for the rest of the world, the shocks will be there. Those who are getting affected now like Japan and Germany, they will face the economic heat till End 2009. We can say that US entered recession in Dec 2007. This will remain till 2 years ( considering the steps taken ), but those who got affected in end 2008 will face it till late.

The car makers in Japan will really face the heat when the recession wave hits them hard around 6 months from now.

But we can expect normalcy soon in US but the sales will actually dip to even low limits before coming up again.

6th January 2009, 23:27

2008 was pretty bad. It kept on getting worse. 2009 will start bad but might improve (a bit) as we go on.

VIPER_SRT · 7th January 2009, 00:51

There was a news in CNN yesterday that Hyundai will take their cars back from customers if you are laid off from their jobs or if you filed for bankruptcy or any other major changes in your life that results in your inability to make the payments. You are eligible after just first 2 monthly installments. This is one way to attract customers

GTO · 7th January 2009, 13:06

Get this, Ferrari sales crashed 85% in the last two months of 2008....November saw only 92 new Ferraris on the road worldwide (versus a monthly average of 600). Even people who have money aren't willing to buy new cars. The worst is yet to come, undoubtedly.

Samir Taheer · 7th January 2009, 13:34

We all know that Sales are crashing everywhere - But will the Car INdustry ever recover?

According to Osamu Suzuki - He think it will never be the same.

Also the main question is - Will it ever be the same?

srishiva · 7th January 2009, 13:58

Hope it will never be the same. More hybrids, electrics once it recovers in 2012 or something.
Would be interesting know how it will affect the Indian market though.

6th January 2009, 18:51	#1
Samir Taheer BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: London & Pune Posts: 459 Thanked: 278 Times	2009 - The worst year for the Automotive Industry? I work for an automotive components company in the UK and have seen the sharp downfall of the Industry. The company i work for has halved in the last 6mths and order books have fallen sharply. The same is being fealt everywhere else, more so with the manufactures themselves. Some of the recent happenings - - Honda are to stop prodution for 5 weeks and have now said they will not be making any Sports of Luxury cars in the future. So no replacment for the S2000 or NSX, also no 7 Series rival. Plus no more F1. - We all know GM, Ford and Crysler are going thru tough times. What will happen to the companies they own? Will the Chinese buy SAAB and will the Swedish Govenment buy Volvo? What happens to Hummer and Jeep, brands we all know well. - A few days ago Osamu Suzuki, president of Suzuki motors, shocked the Japanese markets by predicting that the country's ten large carmakers would soon have to be merged into three giants. - Pininfarina is betting its future on electric vehicle production. From 2011 it will mass produce an electric car designed with French group Bollore. So will they stop working with Ferrari and designing cars? What do you guys think will happen with the Automotive Industry? Will it survive? In what form? These are all Iconic names - Where is the Future? Electricity Hydrogen Fuel Cell or something totally different? And - WILL IT EVER BE THE SAME AGAIN???
	() Thanks

6th January 2009, 19:21	#2
mnhegde BHPian Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: B E N G A L U R U Posts: 473 Thanked: 0 Times	A few hours back saw in a news channel, that Toyota is planning to stop its productions for a few days (11 days) in Japan. Its the same all around the world. lets just hope for things to come back to normalcy soon.
	() Thanks

6th January 2009, 20:30	#3
srishiva Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 4,375 Thanked: 2,256 Times	Toyota, BMW and Honda had sales drop which are little worse(by one or two percentage points) than their American counterparts (except Chrysler which had a steep 54% drop) Sales nearing last years numbers are not expected until 2012 !
	() Thanks

6th January 2009, 22:05	#4
aaggoswami Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2007 Location: Vadodara Posts: 4,982 Thanked: 2,930 Times	To best of what I have heard, the things in US will improve after Mid 2009. But for the rest of the world, the shocks will be there. Those who are getting affected now like Japan and Germany, they will face the economic heat till End 2009. We can say that US entered recession in Dec 2007. This will remain till 2 years ( considering the steps taken ), but those who got affected in end 2008 will face it till late. The car makers in Japan will really face the heat when the recession wave hits them hard around 6 months from now. But we can expect normalcy soon in US but the sales will actually dip to even low limits before coming up again.
	() Thanks

6th January 2009, 23:27	#5
SuperSyn Posts: n/a	2008 was pretty bad. It kept on getting worse. 2009 will start bad but might improve (a bit) as we go on.
	() Thanks

7th January 2009, 00:51	#6
VIPER_SRT BHPian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: PA Posts: 439 Thanked: 189 Times View My Garage	There was a news in CNN yesterday that Hyundai will take their cars back from customers if you are laid off from their jobs or if you filed for bankruptcy or any other major changes in your life that results in your inability to make the payments. You are eligible after just first 2 monthly installments. This is one way to attract customers
	() Thanks

7th January 2009, 13:06	#7
GTO Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 70,476 Thanked: 300,208 Times View My Garage	Get this, Ferrari sales crashed 85% in the last two months of 2008....November saw only 92 new Ferraris on the road worldwide (versus a monthly average of 600). Even people who have money aren't willing to buy new cars. The worst is yet to come, undoubtedly.
	() Thanks

7th January 2009, 13:34	#8
Samir Taheer BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: London & Pune Posts: 459 Thanked: 278 Times	We all know that Sales are crashing everywhere - But will the Car INdustry ever recover? According to Osamu Suzuki - He think it will never be the same. Also the main question is - Will it ever be the same?
	() Thanks

7th January 2009, 13:58	#9
srishiva Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 4,375 Thanked: 2,256 Times	Hope it will never be the same. More hybrids, electrics once it recovers in 2012 or something. Would be interesting know how it will affect the Indian market though.
	() Thanks

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