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Opel European sales declined by 15.6% in the first five months of 2012, compared to the overall auto industry in Europe's decline in sales of 7.7%, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. Ford is in a similiar situation with its sales declining much faster than the decline of other auto companies.

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India Production Linked Incentive to provide incentives to manufacturing in key sectors of the economy under Atman Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan is discussed here in The Mint. PLI for textiles production and for pharmaceutical production with bold targets for 2025 are suggested. Other sectors are telecom (mobile phones) and networking (5G), computers, servers and other devices including Artificial Intelligence and related technologies a sector given special emphasis by minister Ravi Prasad in the video on PLI. 

Also included are automobiles and auto components, cell battery, solar technologies and production, specialty steel.

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A 2024 Study by the International Trade Commission predicted that a 25% tariff on imports would reduce imports by almost 75 percent while increasing average prices in the US by about 5 percent.  As US companies have about half of the US auto market this would mean US auto manufacturers now have access to an additional 37 percent of the market by investing in auto plants in the US. US steel and aluminium plants will get additional investment to build these cars in the US. There is nothing new about this the US makers built plants in China. Germans, Japanese and Koreans took the US for stupid by keeping US cars out of their markets and thinking this could go on while by destroying US manufacturing it was  destroying America's middle class. It also gives the Germans BMW and VW, Subaru, the Japanese Toyota and Honda, Nissan, the South Koreans Kia and Hyundai, Chinese makers of EV's the option to Make in the USA and build plants invest in US manufacturing.  ...

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See the related article in WSJ May 26, 2006 by Norihiko Shirouzu- In Chinese Market Toyota's Strategy is Made in USA. That article described the efforts of Northwestern Kellogg School graduate Yoshimi Inaba's efforts since June 2005 to effect a turnaround for Toyota in China. Toyota lags badly behind GM in China. Here Bremner puts together research findings of a collaborative effort between Business Week China and JD Power to develop a picture of what drives the Chinese buyer in the fastest growing auto market in the world. McGraw Hill owns JD Power and Business Week.

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BMW holds the lead in premium car market over Mercedes. GM's progress in the European car market including Russian market. 72% growth in the Russian market for GM

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Diesel cars at the Frankfurt Auto Show.

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The UK's effort to protect its pharmaceutical exports of $8 billion and auto exports of $7 billion in trade talks with the US. Reeves will meet Scott Bessent in Washington DC.

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The transformation of towns in Iowa like Newton, once the place where Maytag and washing machine plants were located, and now with many of these plants closed the shift to making parts like blades for wind energy. The transformation of Toledo, a location for the auto industry factories, and now with the closing down of these plants the shift to manufacturing solar panels for solar energy. In all a transformation that is expected to generate 3 or 4 million jobs in the midwest in energy related products, to replace the jobs lost in the auto industry and in industries like appliances, like the Maytag plant in Newton that closed. Along the way there is hope and optimism and awe at the new product being built for wind and solar energy, which is cutting edge and not easily outsourced because of the size of the blades and the structures in wind energy generation. The struggles are chronicled of the people in Newton, Iowa and a whole generation of workers who even without a college education were able to live middle class lives because of Maytag plants in the area. And the distress caused as these plants cut employees and let the plants get antiquated, and finally the distress with the shutting down of the plants....

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As the period of transition between administrations is a period when no action can be taken on the stimulus plan and 533,0000 jobs were lost in November, with the uncertainties facing the auto industry and more unemplyment expected as that industry donwsizes, and consumers overstretched, the Fed takes aggresssive steps. It reduces the target interest rate, an overnight bank lending rate called the federal funds rate, to between zero and one quarter percentage point. And it added that theat the Fed's policy will be to keep interest rates "exceptionally low " for some time. The 3 month Treasury bill rate, another borrowing rate has gone down to zero.

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U.S. auto companies are steadily reducing the incentives that reduced profit margins for many years. Cash back offers of various kinds to subsidized leasing programs are being pared back steadily in a determined effort to raise profit margins by Ford Motor, GM and Chrysler. The average incentive was $2,124 per vehicle in October, which was 1.4% below the level the prior year, according to Edumnds.com. The increase in demand helps automakers. The annualized rate for sales in 2012 was 14.4 million. The figures for incentives by automaker released by Edmunds.com show GM with the highest figure of $3037 per vehicle in incentives for October 2012, followed by Ford Motor at $2788, and Chrysler at $2683. The gap between U.S. car makers and the Japanese has narrowed, with Toyota at $1621 and Honda at $1420 per vehicle in incentives for Oct. 2012.

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The main lines of the Message to Congress by the US president in 2025 related to flood of illegal immigration, and illegal fentanyl flows with deaths of Americans in the most vulnerable neighborhoods across 51 states over 12 years, 490,000 deaths, more than Vietnam. "The media and our friends in the Democrat Party kept saying we needed new legislation to secure the border—but it turned out that all we really needed was a new president.” As it turns out the legislation Biden with Republicans led by Senator Lankford negotiated in Feb 2024 did not have the strong action taken in the first 100 days to deter illegal immigration and remove illegal immigrants endangering safety in American neighborhoods. That legislation did not have provisions to bring illegal fentanyl flows into the US to an end with strong action including tariffs on CMC countries Canada, Mexico and China responsible for the fentanyl flows into the US. Transgender was another issue addressed in the speech with DJT clearly stating that their only two genders and against mutilation of bodies, with trust in God about the gender God placed us in as best for us. Other issues were about tariffs action going into effect on reciprocal tariffs on April 2 with all nations including India, Europe, China, Japan, South Korea. DJT cited India for high tariffs, South Korea with 4 times American tariffs, and European nations. The goal was to ensure a level playing field for the US to compete- "what they charge us, we charge them." As explained in an earlier article in the WSJ reciprocal tariffs in the world context mean commodities products would not have price increases for the US consumer, smartphones autos would increase but this would be temporary as these nations play fairly and create a level playing field, and these products manufacturing is shifted to the US. This would mean growth for US auto industry and smartphones coming from inside the US and from India offsetting concentration of production in China. Apple has told the president it will start making inside America investing hundreds of billions in the US from now on. ...

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Toyota is seeing declining sales and has cut its temporary workforce by more than 20% from 8,800 in March to 6,800 in September. Sales declined 4% in the July-September quarter. The whole area in Toyota city with 76,000 jobs connected to the auto industry and the area around Nagoya is being affected. And emerging markets are not making up for steep declines in the American market. Analysts at Credit Suisse and UBS predict Japan's economy could contract by 1% in 2009. Sales at major department stores in Nagoya dropped 8.7% in September, the largest decline among 10 major cities in Japan, and there is a fivefold increase in the number of distressed businesses seeking government loans according to a report by the local chamber of commerce.

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France has reacted faster to the economic crisis presented by the pandemic. It shielded its economy earlier with government support and household consumption has held up better. Its presidential system led to faster decisions than Germany's decentralized mode leading to some experts saying it should borrow this aspect from France. France also has 70% of its energy from nuclear, Germany by contrast depended too long on Russia and Merkel's decision to completely get out of nuclear and to let overconcentration of supplies of energy from Russia happen was a mistake. Merkel also supported the auto industry without anticipating changes taking place after the Copenhagen Climate conference in 2009 and preparing for the future. The auto industry has taken a hit in Germany as it relies too much on imported EV batteries from China and was slow to make the transition to EV's and hybrids. In fairness to the SPD's Scholz and Greens Habeck considering the economy handed to them by Merkel they had to scramble after the Russian war in Ukraine in the middle of the pandemic. Germany made it through in record 1 year's time to be independent of Russian oil and gas, a huge achievement. Over time Germany will recover as it makes a transition of business away from overconcentration in China, another of Merkel's and German business failures to develop a vision for the future. China's slowdown has affected Germany. Germany has to invest in other parts of the world including in India and Japan to diversify the supply chain. Overall score card would give Habeck and Scholz a lot better score, Merkel and German business leaders of the time a low score, and Frnce and Germany about the same score. France for a steady response, and Germany for the speed in which the oil and gas crisis handled considering also that both countries have a centralized and decentralized system based on their respective history and culture. ...

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Supply chains are unraveling in many industries with the tariffs imposed by president Trump on imports from China, and renegotiated trade deals with South Korea and other countries. The growth in the value of foreign value added was possible with cuts in tariffs in the period after 1990 and the emergence of China as a low cost manufacturer with cheap labor. Foreign value added increased from 20% in 1990 to 30% in 2011. The impact on factory towns and communities in the U.S. of trade in which the U.S. manufacturing declined as it shifted to China resulted in the surge in support for president Trump. The tariffs war with China is an effort to correct this imbalance. The result is a shift in supply chains away from China in some industries and gradual shift in others. Rising wages in China had already resulted in early shifts and the the environmental costs adding to this trend. President Trump temporarily suspended a threatened imposition of duties of 25% on $325 billion of Chinese imports. A renegotiated Nafta agreement with Mexico for automobile production and determination of U.S. based content and wages was designed to reset the relationship with Mexico and the auto supply chain for production in Mexico. A threat of tariffs on European auto imports to the U.S. is set for a decision in November. The trade dispute between Japan and South Korea and threat of tariffs also shows the effect this is having in other countries. With the U.S. looking at its own interest in the global supply chain and its advantage or disadvantage, industries and companies are not free to make decisions based on which country offers the best arrangement and deal for manufacturing. Notions of competitive advantage in the tech race with China are affecting the way the U.S. and European nations are acting. ...

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Difficult conditions for public sector unions as state governors work to reduce deficits. A weak economy leads to concessions by private sector unions in 2010-2013. This is one of the most difficult periods in union history following the financial crisis of 2008 and large job losses in many industries, especially the auto industry. Maher describes conditions in different industries including telecom, auto, airlines oil, retail,and rail.

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Kristof of the NYT says about American unions that the basic reality is that with the decline of trade unions in the last two decades workers got stiffed. The wages of new auto workers at $17 an hour dropped to levels close to the minimum wage of $16 in California in 2022. At $34,000 a year these workers were below the Federal Poverty Level for families of $35,000 to $40,000. Workers lost dignity and standards of living declined. After 15 years of covering the crisis of America's working class he says he lost his disdain for unions, and he has come to believe that unions are not just good for the workers but also for America itself. Unions he says are imperfect just as capitalism is imperfect, but essential for America.

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Instead of killing the NAFTA trade agreement Trump and his advisors prefer renegotiating the treaty. Priorities for the Trump administration are reducing the U.S. deficit with Mexico of $61 billion. Trade with Mexico and Canada is worth $1.1 trillion and the complex supply chains works such that product components cross borders more than once to become finished products. Mexico promotes its auto and other industries as duty free access to the U.S. for foreign investment. Special tariffs would reduce the trade deficit with Mexico and firms that moved production to Mexico would pay additional taxes. A provision that allows Mexican and Canadian companies to challenge U.S. regulations would also be removed. Rep. Brad Sherman (Democrat) says he supports the renegotiation so that duties of 4% are imposed to reduce the deficit to $25 billion.

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Kia says it expects its sales in the United States and Canada to rise 15 percent to 350,000 vehicles in 2006, and to grow to 800,000 by 2010. Kia expects the new plant to begin production in 2009, employing about 2,500 workers and producing up to 300,000 vehicles a year. The plant will be located in West Point, on the western edge of Georgia.