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Jeff Boyer is made the new vice president for Global Vehicle Safety, reporting directly to CEO Barra.

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USA car sales drop 37% in January 2009 over same period in 2008. Sales at GM dropped 49%, at Ford 40% and Chrysler 55%, at Toyota 32%, at Honda 28%, at Nissan 30%. Subaru and Hyundai saw sales increases. Analysts at IHS Global Insight say the stimulus package may help prevent things from getting much worse, but it would be wrong to count on the stimulus package for a pickup in sales in the second half of this year. This is ominous for the Detroit car companies as they seek government help to avert bankruptcy. Chrysler is hoping to make tieup with Fiat, but it will be a year before Fiat cars make it to the US and longer for its cars to be made in the US, so it is not clear what will happen in 2010. Ford's economists think the market is nearing bottom, but if that is not the case it may prove risky for Ford.

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Steep discounts continue to hurt profits at GM by eroding margins. Profits were $300 million lower because of discounts. With special gains GM's profit was $3,687 per vehicle in North America, without the gains it was $1,653 per vehicle. Ford made $2,806 per vehicle. Emerging markets showed adrop with the car market in China cooling off. One of GM's joint ventures with SAIC Motor in China saw a decline in sales of 32% in the 1st quarter. Chairman Akerson said the challenge facing GM was to reduce incentive costs, and cost cutting to counter rising commodity costs that pushes up the cost of finished parts. On car buying patterns, Akerson says its not all about smaller cars as the smaller fuel efficient SUV's are also attracting buyers, and the smaller cars are better equipped and have higher prices.

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The poor performance of GM shares since its IPO offering. GM shares in July 2012 were 41% below the November 2010 initial offering price. Ford was at its lowest level in 2 years. One problem facing both automakers is the weakness in European sales. A second is the uncertainty for U.S. sales in a weak economy.

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At a meeting of GM engineers and Continental- which manufactured the Cobalt's diagnostic modules on May 15, 2009- the faulty ignition switch defect was confirmed by repeated verification of data from many car crashes. No evidence shows this was shared with senior managers. GM filed for bankruptcy in June 2009, two weeks later, and this could be the reason as the situation could be chaotic in managerial ranks. It was tnot until Oct 29, 2013, when GM officials met with the supplier Delphi that the issue comes up again. Records for the meeting showed clearly the defective switches were made at a Delphi plant from 2004 to late 2006. A part change had led to the defective switch. It is the period between 2009 to 2013 that GM has no answer for, as public opinion increasingly looks to GM for answers on why it took so long to make the recall. At Toyota the footdragging in managerial ranks caused the problems for the recall. At GM the problem simply disappeared at the lower levels as the company went through a bankruptcy and emerged from bankruptcy under new management....

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As U.S. carmakers vehicle sales recover and the Japanese carmakers go through a slowdown as a result of disruptions from the earthquake, the U.S. and the Japanese carmakers find their situations reversed. Japanese carmakers are facing vehicle shortages in the U.S.. Detroit carmakers see the opportunity to make gains in market share during this period, till Toyota and Honda return to normal. Detroit carmakers have also been affected by the earthquake related supplier disruptions, but to a much smaller extent. Chrysler expects to produce 50,000 to 100,000 fewer vehicles as a result of disruptions, according to Marchionne. Chrysler, the weakest of the Detroit carmakers, has staged a recovery under Fiat's Marchionne. One hurdle was the high interest payments- $348 million in the first quarter of 2011- on the $7.5 billion borrowed from U.S. and Canadian governments. Chrysler increased revenue by 35% to $13.1 billion, with global sales of vehicles up 18% to 394,000, and profits of $116 million in the first quarter 2011. The market situation is still precarious for several reasons. Sales of pickup trucks and larger vehicles- which still constitute a major portion of vehicles sales of Detroit carmakers- are vulnerable to higher gas prices. The Japanese carmakers have large cash reserves for new investments, and will introduce new models as they recover from the earthquake. In the past Detroit carmakers used incentives to maintain sales, which diluted profits. Jeremy Anwyl, chief executive of Edmunds.com, says Detroit carmakers have an opportunity to get back to a situation where they can compete with foreign carmakers on a level playing field, with better market acceptance and higher prices. GM says it will increase prices by about $123 on average to cover higher materials costs. The risk will continue to be in the product mix of a higher proportion of pickup trucks and larger vehicles in a volatile oil price environment....

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2012 car sales in France declined by 13.9%. This was higher than the 8.2% decline in the European market, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. Analysts point to low new demand in the developed world- only 2% for U.S. and Europe compared to 70% in emerging markets. Replacement demand is also declining as younger people in urban areas increasingly use subway transportation and bicycles. Better made automobiles last longer and car owners drive less with an aging population reducing replacement demand. This reporter found few customers at auto dealerships in the centre of Paris.

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The safety defects involved in the recall led to reported 13 deaths and recall of 1.6 million vehicles in 2014. The faulty ignition switch could partially turn off the vehicles while driving, disabling airbags and making it hard to steer leading to accidents. GM employees were aware of this defect since 2004, this report shows, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was also aware of this after one of its officials pointed out this problem in a March 2007 meeting.

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10.5 million vehicles is the new number at GM for USA auto sales in 2009. GM has consistently predicted a scenario for auto sales that is much higher than it has turned out to be, leading to a lack of proactive speedy decisionmaking where needed to close plants, get financing and other steps needed to pull the company out of trouble. This new lower number may also turn out to be higher than actual because figures for inventories, unemployment, foreclosures, consumer spending, exports, all are worsening.

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Peugeot's finances come as a shock to the French government as it cuts spending to reduce the deficit. A 3 billion euro loan was made to Peugeot in 2009. Another loan may be needed from the French government says Peaple because Peugeot is losing 200 million euros in cash each month. One key reason for Peugeot's problems is that it gets 58% of its sales in Europe, with particular emphasis in southern European countries, and demand in key markets France, Italy and the UK is expected to decline by about 7- 10%, according to Moody's forecasts. Peugeot's operating loss for the first half of 2012 was 700 million euros. The plan to close the Aulnay plant and other planned cost reductions may not be enough say experts. The closing of that plant could save 600-700 million euros, according to JP Morgan estimates. This would improve operating profit margins to 3.3% from 2.2% based on 2011 results, and this may not happen with the price competition in these markets. This leaves Peugeot in a precarious position....

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The increased availability of car loans and eased standards for auto loans has played a large part in rising auto sales in the U.S. Annual sales of cars and light trucks maintained a pace of 14.1 million vehicles in July 2012, and could reach 15 million for 2012. Lenders see the car loan market as more profitable and less risky than mortgage lending because of the shorter periods of the loans- 3 to 5 years and the low default rate. Currently only about 2.52% of auto loans are 30 days past due for second quarter 2012, according to Experian. Auto loans outstanding at the end of the 2nd quarter 2012, are $725 billion, according to the automotive division of Experian, up 5.7% from a year ago. The market for securities backed by auto loans has rebounded since the 2008 financial crisis. About $50 billion in bonds backed by auto loans were issued in the Jan-July 2012 period, according to Dealogic, compared to $53 billion in 2011. To get a picture of how this compares with mortgage securities- auto loan backed securities are up 33% above pre 2006 levels, and mortgage backed securities are about 70% below 2006 levels. A recent Fed survey of bank lending officials shows easing lending standards reported by 20% of respondents for the last 3 months for auto loans, compared to 3% for prime residential mortgages and 11% for credit cards....

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Low price Wuling vans in China sell for under $3500 and are used mostly for agricultural purposes. The vans will be exported to other countries by GM, a partner in the GM Wuling Automobile Company in China.