GM Sells 227,217 Vehicles in China in April, Toyota's Sales UP 68 % in the Country

April turned out to be a very positive sales month in China for two of the world's largest automakers, General Motors and Toyota. The Detroit firm and its joint ventures in China set a domestic sales record for April of 227,217 vehicles, up 11.7 percent from the same month last year. In the first four months of 2012, GM's sales totaled 972,369 units, an increase of 9.4 percent on an annual basis.
“GM and our joint ventures today [May 7, 2012] sold our 1 millionth vehicle in China this year,” said Kevin Wale, president and managing director of the GM China Group. “This is the sixth time and the earliest in our history that we have reached this important milestone in China. It has put us on track to once again set a new sales mark for the year as a whole.”
On its behalf, Toyota and its two local joint-venture partners sold about 81,700 vehicles in April, an increase of 68 percent over the same month a year ago. According to a company spokesperson, for the first four months of 2012, the Japanese carmaker delivered 293,200 vehicles, up 14.3 percent from a year ago.
Toyota said that it is on track to sell 1 million cars in China this year, up from around 883,400 vehicles in 2011.

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Toyota Camry Sells More Than 100,000 Cars in First Quarter, It , Could Surpass 400,000 Mark this Year

Automotive enthusiasts were not exactly thrilled with the new Camry, but for mainstream America, Toyota's bread-and-butter sedan model remains the first choice for a large number of buyers. In fact, with first-quarter sales of 105,405 units, the Camry is not only leading the pack in the passenger car segment with some 9,000 sales more than the second Nissan Altima, but if it continues at the current pace, it could very well break the 400,000-unit barrier for the first time since 2008.
The Camry's deliveries in the States peaked in 2007 when it sold 473,108 cars, but the recession that followed along with the hugely damaging unintended acceleration issues and more recently, Japan's catastrophic earthquake and tsunami, resulted in sales stumbling to 308,510 units last year. Nevertheless, the Camry was still able to hold the title of America's best-selling passenger car.
Autonews reported that in March, Toyota sold 42,567 Camry sedans, of which 20 percent were rental sales that seem to be picking up this year.
However, even though the Camry is on track to finish first in the passenger car category this year, Autonews says that it might not be able to "crack the 400,000" mark.
The reason is that 2012 will see a great number of redesigned models entering the market including the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu, the 2013 Nissan Altima that was presented in New York and which will reach showrooms in June, and the 2013 Ford Fusion and Honda Accord, both of which go on sale this fall.

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Toyota Cutting 350 Jobs in Australia Due to Slowing Demand

In a rare move for Toyota, the Japanese automaker announced today that it is axing 350 jobs at its Australian plant in Altona, Victoria, due to what the company describes as "unprecedented operating conditions". The job cuts will affect manufacturing and production workers as well as the firm's management.
Toyota Australia President and CEO, Max Yasuda, said the extremely strong Australian dollar, which has risen to its highest position in six weeks against the US dollar, along with the global economic crisis that saw reduced demand from the local division's main export markets such as the Middle East, are to blame.
"Toyota Australia is facing severe operating conditions resulting in unsustainable financial returns due to factors including the strong Australian currency, reduced cost competitiveness and volume decline, especially in export markets," said Yasuda.
"In consideration of current and anticipated market conditions this action is necessary. It is not possible to maintain our workforce at its current size," he added.
The Japanese firm, which currently employs 4,683 workers in Australia, saw its manufacturing production levels drop from 149,000 vehicles in 2007, to 94,000 in 2011, and an expected 95,000 cars in 2012. The Altona plant produces the Camry and Aurion sedans.
"The reality is that our volumes are down. What we assumed was a temporary circumstance has turned into a permanent situation. This drop of 36% in just four years shows the scale of our challenges," said Yasuda.
Toyota stated that it continues to be committed to the Australian market and has plans to open a new plant to manufacture four cylinder and hybrid engines at Altona later this year.

Auto Execs Take a Swipe at Each Other at the Detroit Motor Show

Good manners dictate that unless you are provoked, you can politely ignore your adversaries. In the case of those involved in the auto industry, politely point out to your clients and/or the press why and in which areas your products are superior. That's a common practice. Openly attacking your opponents is considered rude. But Not anymore. At the 2012 Detroit Motor Show, some pretty poisonous remarks were uttered by several executives. BMW North America boss, Ludwig Willisch, dismissed the new Cadillac ATS and Lincoln MKZ saying that, despite their claims, they are simply not in the same league as the 3-Series.
“We don’t produce trucks, nor taxis or buses”, said Willisch. “We don’t produce sofas on wheels – and we don’t take mass-market vehicles and rebadge them as premium.”
Although he does have a point, maybe those remarks are trying to undermine the U.S. carmakers’ amazing recovery after their 2009 bailout adventure.
Former GM chairman and car guru Bob Lutz thinks that American carmakers have recovered their mojo, while some of their competitors are losing the plot.
“Some of the big Japanese companies are showing a distinct loss of momentum in design, engine technology and public perception”, said Lutz. “The Detroit Three are just one the roll doing probably the most competitive vehicles in the history of the American automobile business.”
At the Detroit motor show, Toyota put a billboard across the Cobo Center. It was an ad for the Camry Hybrid, reading “Sorry Fusion”, a direct reference to Ford’s model.
Two can play that game: Ford answered at Tuesday’s press conference for the Fusion with a video attacking the Camry and Honda Accord. “When the recession hit, they plummeted along with the rest of the industry”, said the commentator in the video. “What you might not realize is that Camry and Accord never recovered. They saw further sales and share losses more than a year before the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.”
John Mendel, Honda’s top U.S. executive, immediately picked up his boxing gloves: “Many of our competitors were enjoying the race with Honda running at half-throttle”, he said, in a race-like metaphor.
“They temporarily picked up a lap or two while we were in the pits. We’re here to serve notice to the competition that Honda is again firing on all cylinders. We’re back to full power,” said Mendel.
GM's executives were much more restrained. CEO Dan Akerson did not brag about his company reclaiming the number one spot as the world’s largest manufacturer from Toyota, while GM North America president Mark Reuss conceded that the Cadillac ATS has to earn its place among the competition: “We’re going to have to prove this. There’s no easy game here.”

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The Worst Performing Auto Stocks of 2011

The year that is ending tomorrow night has certainly been a strange one for investors: while the Standard & Poor’s 500 will end flat, stock prices of the automotive industry have experienced a great fall.
After all that’s happened this year with the Euro debt crisis and the U.S. avoiding one at the 11th hour, this was more or less to be expected.
What is surprising though is that the worst performer in terms of stock price is the car company that has regained the number one position globally and rolled out many new competitive products. And yes, we are talking about General Motors, which saw its share price drop by 46 percent!
Despite GM’s amazing recovery after the 2009 bailout, the fact that the U.S. government is still a major stakeholder is a negative factor, since investors prefer to wait until the Treasury decides to sell – at which point, the price will most likely go down.
Furthermore, the brand's exposure in Europe, which has more than its share of problems, and GM’s loss-making operations in the Old Continent contribute to the low share price, which, if you’re willing to invest, looks quite attractive.
Like GM, Ford’s European operations have harmed its stock price that is down 37 percent. It is in better shape than GM, however, since all three major credit rating agencies are expected to upgrade Ford to investment-grade status, making it less expensive to borrow money and allowing many funds to invest in the company, thus increasing its share price.
The funny thing is that the two main U.S. carmakers that posted increased sales this year saw their shares fall far more than overseas competitors like Toyota and Honda, which were hit by more than one catastrophe.
In theory, the March earthquake and tsunami along with the October Thai floods, which seriously curtailed production, as well as the strength of the yen that made manufacturing cars in Japan unprofitable, should have hurt them the most.
Yet, while both Toyota (-27.1 percent) and Honda (-21.5 percent) lost some of their shares' value in 2011, it wasn't as bad as their U.S. counterparts.
Story References: The Motley Fool / S&P Capital IQ

Company - % Return in 2011

Tenneco - (29.7)
Tata Motors - (31.0)
Dana Holding - (31.1)
Autoliv (34.1)
Visteon - (34.9)
Magna International - (35.9)
Ford - (37.3)
TRW Automotive - (40.0)
Cooper Tire & Rubber - (41.7)
General Motors - (46.1)

2012 Toyota Camry “Recommended” by Consumer Reports

Despite having faced criticism by hard hitting publications in recent years, Toyota appears to have redeemed itself somewhat with Consumer Reports, at least as far as the 2012 Camry is concerned.

The latest version of Toyota’s best selling mid-size car, which went on sale back in October, was evaluated byCR for it’s February 2012 issue where it drew favorable comments.

Among them was,”the [2012] Camry has a nicer interior, more responsive handling, and better fuel economy than before,” while in another paragraph the magazine remarked that in terms of fuel mileage, “the [Camry] four-cylinder model’s 27 mpg overall ties with the Hyundai Sonata for the best fuel economy among conventional gasoline-powered family sedans.”

The news is no doubt welcomed by Toyota, for since 2007, Consumer Reports has been keeping a scrutinous eye on the automaker’s products following issues it discovered on the Toyota Tundra full-size pickup, the previous generation V6 powered Camry and Lexus GS luxury sedan.

Given that other media reviews of the 2012 Camry so far have tended to be favorable, along with modern America’s attraction to boring cars, there’s every indication that the latest model will help the nameplate retain its position as the best-selling car in the US.

Given that Toyota’s highly publicized recalls and more recent supplier problems caused by natural disasters in Asia  seem to have been largely rectified, it looks like 2012 could shape up to be a much better year for the Japanese automaker than the last three have been.