The firm has increased its forecast by about 10 percent, and now says it expects to sell more than 1.4 million vehicles this year.

A spokesperson from BMW explained, “Based on this much improved outlook, the BMW group expects full-year profit before tax to rise more sharply than previously forecast.” This translates to a profit estimate of more than five percent from core automaking activities.

Source: The Age

Figures from ADESA Auction, Inc. show that the average used vehicle in March, 2010 was 7 percent higher than the average price in March 2009, and 4 percent higher than it was two months ago. The average price, in dollars, was $10,549.

According to an article in Automotive News, the Manheim Used Vehicle Value also improved in March, increasing 13 percent over March 2009’s index of 106.1, to 119.9, which is also an improvement over February 2010’s index of 118.1.

Manheim’s chief economist, Tom Webb, said that the March prices were higher than he expected. Typically, he explained, every $1,000 in incentives on a new vehicle reduces the price of a used, currend model year version of the same vehicle by roughly $750, but because inventories of new vehicles are fairly low, used vehicle prices are staying high. “To the extent that dealers are not pushing new vehicles at the expense of used, you can keep both prices up,” Webb said on Wednesday, in a conference call with analysts and reporters.

Prices in March, Webb added, were improved by the low supply of recent-model used vehicle, and increased retail demand thanks to larger than usual tax refunds. In addition, there is an improving labor market, and credit availability, which also helped. Webb also said values of used Toyotas did not increase as much as their competitors, but they also didn’t decline, this despite near-record incentive spending by the troubled Japanese automaker.

Overall, sales of new vehicles were improved 24% over March of last year.

According to the folks at LeftLaneNews, GM vice chairman Bob Lutz has stated that while his company used to build cars to fill segments without paying much attention to details, causing customers to turn to brands like Honda and Toyota instead, the recent “product renaissance” at the automaker has recaptured consumer interest, and the Detroit-based company is now working hard to maintain customer satisfaction.

One of GM’s strategies to keeping customers happy is to monitor social media. Specifically, a new customer service team was formed last year, shortly after the automaker had emerged from bankruptcy. This team’s job is to surf the Web, looking for negative comments about GM products – they primarily look at sites like Facebook and Twitter – and offer solutions whenever possible.

Scott Lawson, GM’s director of customer and relationship services explained to the Detroit Free Press, “In the old GM, we said you need to call us or you need to write us a letter. That’s not treating [customers] how they want to be treated. In the new GM, we’re going to be where our customers want us to be.”

Using five call centers around the United States, GM communicates with more than 25,000 dealers and customers every day, and the automaker is planning to double its social media efforts next month. The company is also beginning to integrate the use of automated systems into the program, in order to enhance its monitoring capabilities.

So far, GM’s efforts appear to be working: since the program was implemented, customer satisfaction rates have been steadily improving.

Representatives of American Honda Motor Co., General Motors Co., and the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) said they’re reviewing the legislation, to see what it might mean to carmakers, dealers, and suppliers.

Greg Martin, a spokesman for GM told the press, “Throughout ongoing policy talks, GM will continue to work constructively to ensure its long-standing priorities of improved health care quality and cost containment are included in the bill’s implementation.”

Edward B. Cohen, Honda’s chief Washington lobbyist, is waiting for the Senate review of the “fix-it” bill that the House passed after the initial vote passed, and stated, “There are a couple of issues that we are not sure how they will look after the Senate acts on the House bill,” he said today.

Meanwhile, current NADA chairman Ed Tonkin, whose organization has been monitoring the healthcare reform legislation via several coalitions with which it is involved, such as the United States Chamber of Commerce, said, “Nobody knows exactly what’s in the bill that was voted on. I know it’s going to be expensive.”

House Democrats voted Sunday night to overhaul the U.S. health care system. In the 219-212 tally, all the House Republicans, and 34 Democrats voted against the bill.

Mitsubishi’s director of franchise development, Joe Delello, explained to reporters, “We’re looking to add dealers in targeted markets.” Such markets include primarily major metropolitan areas, such as Baltimore, Los Angeles, New York City, and Washingong, D.C. Delello added, “These are open points where we believe there will be sufficient units in operation for service business. These are not buy-sells.”

As with most automakers, Mitsubishi has seen diminishing returns over the past few years, with sales falling from 261,254 in 1999 to 53,986 last year. The company has spent the last three years regrouping, devising new-product strategies like focusing on smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Recently, at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in Orlando, FL, Mitsubishi representatives networked with potential dealers, and also displayed the new, small, i-Miev electric car, which will be coming to the United States along with a gasoline-powered twin.

Chicago-area Mitsubishi dealer, and chairman of the company’s National Dealer Advisory Board, Scott Grove told Automotive News reporters that he believes the brand needs to put more stores in markets where dealerships have recently closed. He also said that the factory is exercising caution when it comes to recruiting new dealers, however.

“We are not in boom growth,” said Grove. “We will make better decisions on where we approve points.”

Granted, the Lexus line has not suffered from the braking and acceleration issues present on models branded directly with the Toyota name, but what really gives pause here is the message the selection sends in the middle of a recession with unemployment hovering around 10% nationally and exceeding that figure regionally and by socioeconomic class. The LS 460L has an MSRP of $76,572.

Sure, it’s a great vehicle, scoring 99 out of 100 on the survey’s rating scale. Sure, the description on the survey page talks about a luxury sedan that “pampers passengers with a comfortable ride and luxurious driving environment.” Sure, you can get a spiffy, optional self-parking system. Yeah, it has a 380hp V8 and gets 21 miles to the gallon overall. Oh, and there’s a hybrid version.

But the truth of the matter?

The vast majority of Americans will probably never be able to afford a car like this again — if they ever could. This is a best overall pick that speaks to the bygone days of credit fueled excess that landed us where we are — in national and international financial hot water. Is this really the best message to send to Americans who just want a reliable, fuel-efficient, affordable car?

Yes, you can drill down through the list and find that the Hyundai Elantra SE at $18,695 was named the top Small Sedan, but clearly reviewers still have their eyes on luxury in a land of famine. Shame on you, Consumer Reports. Stick the Lexus models over in the pie-in-the-sky dreamer list where they belong and find a car all of us can realistically hope to own. Showcase that car and you encourage carmakers to put their creativity and their excellence where it solidly belongs — in cars that operate cleanly and efficiently and are affordable.

One such story, involves Nissan Motor Co.’s plan to build small cars, with matching small pricetags, in Mexico. The company is currently developing two cars for sale in the United States, each with a pricetag of roughly $10,000. Both cars will be based on Nissan’s global V platform, which is also intended to replace the subcompact Micra, currently being sold in foreign markets. A total of three models will be produced on that platform, and sales are planned for Central and South America, as well. These models have not yet been named, but are likely to smaller than the Versa, which is the smallest Nissan vehicle currently sold in the United States.

In Detroit, Carlos Tavares, Nissan’s chairman for the Americas said, “I think $10,000 is a good price point for Nissan’s coming small cars. As you know, there are very few new cars sold at that price point in the United States.” Tavares went on to state that “The V platform will be sourced in Mexico for the Americas.”

Tavares didn’t provide a timetable for the production of these new cars, but the program calls for production of at least 200,000 vehicles per year, as well as their engines and transmissions, at one of the two plants Nissan operates in Mexico. The company expects to produce at least a million V cars a year, globally, with Mexico the only factory site in the Western hemisphere.

The base Nissan Versa has a sticker price of a bit under $10,000, but be warned: the radio is optional, and the windows are powered by elbow grease. Even so, in December 2009 U.S. sales of the little car totaled 6,809 vehicles, a 33% increase over the same month in 2008, even with overall American sales down 19% over the last year.

When asked how the new Versas will be fitted out, Tavares kept it vague: “It is too early to tell you the (standard) equipment in those cars,” he said. “The only thing that we can tell you is that we will hold that price point.”

The problem is that – so far – more than 1,500 car dealerships have said they intend to seek reinstatement through arbitration – and that number is three times the number expected by the American Arbitration Association, the organization tasked with overseeing the program.

While the association says everything is under control, and is planning ways to streamline the process, it’s likely that there will be clogs in states with high numbers of filings, like Ohio, Illinois, and Pennsylvania.

Attorneys representing dealers, many of whom have worked with the arbitration association on other cases, have much greater concern.

Mike Charapp, an attorney in McLean, VA, who represents more than twenty arbitration clients told reporters, “You’re going to be putting lots of cases through very small pipelines in a compressed time period. I’m concerned there could be delays and roadblocks.”

Charapp, who acts as a consultant to state dealer groups, also said that he’s worried there may not be enough case managers to process the number of intended filings, or enough arbitrators in each state to actually decide each case. In an interview, he said that he’d recently file two arbitration notices, and had still not received case numbers for them eight days later.

“Quite clearly, they’re struggling with processing at headquarters,” he said. “I am concerned that AAA does not have a real appreciation for the seriousness of these cases.”

But other lawyers are not having the same issues. Attorney Leonard Bellavia of Mineola, NY, who has also served as an arbitrator, said the association sent him a spreadsheet with all the necessary information for the 38 notices he’d filed. On the other hand, lawyer Leonard Bellavia said the association sent him a spreadsheet with all relevant filing information in response to the 38 arbitration notices he filed for clients.

“I was impressed,” Bellavia said. “I think AAA will administer these cases without a hitch. They run their operation like a business.”

The arbitration association was charged with the task of overseeing reinstatement cases in a law signed by President Obama last December. By the January 25 deadline, over half of the 2,789 eligible dealerships had given notice of their intent to seek reinstatement. Included among them are 409 of the 789 Chrysler showrooms that were forced to close.

Industry analysts are comparing the overwhelming response to this program to last year’s cash for clunkers plan, which gave rebates to customers who traded in used cars for new, more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Read more: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100201/RETAIL07/302019921/1400#ixzz0eGHgQz4v

Apparently, December was a great month for car sales, because Fiat, which owns 20% of Chrysler Group had a trading profit of 488 million euros ($690 million) in the last quarter of 2009. According to a statement made by the company, revenues increased by 3.6% for a final total of 13.6 billion euros. This number represents earnings before interest, taxes, or one-time gains or costs.

CEO Sergio Marchionne had told reporters last week that he believed results would be better than the average of consensus estimates, which were pegged at around 460 million euros.

Looking to the future, representatives of the group have labeled 2010 “…a transitional and stabilization year…” and believe that with the exception of the core auto business, which depended on eco-incentives being reintroduced, business would grow, with trading profit for the year with incentives expected to be 1.5 billion euros, with a 3-6 percent growth in revenue to 52-53 billion euros. Without those incentives, Fiat trading profits for the auto and spare parts business will likely fall by 350-400 million euros.

Fiat also said it expects its net debt in 2010 to be under 5 billion euros in 2010. The 2009 end-debt was 4.4 billion euros.

On the other hand, because those hurting automakers were offering deep discounts in order to get cars off dealership lots, and because most dealers were willing to negotiate with the few car shoppers they did have, rather than let anyone walk away without a deal, 2009 was a fabulous year to buy a car.

So what does that mean for 2010? Well, for one thing, you can forget about those 0 percent financing car loans. Analysts are expecting to see a gradual increase in the number of cars being sold, and the prices of those cars, as the market slowly recovers. As that happens, automakers and dealerships will most likely pull back on the heavy incentives they previously used to hook buyers in an unstable market.

Equally relevant, however, is the state of the available inventory. As reported in U.S. News Rankings and Reviews Most dealers overbuilt 2009 models, then wound up having to sell cars at a discount in order to get rid of an oversupply. Production was scaled back for 2010 models, and car prices traditionally go up in January; conditions are ripe for an increase this year.

Nevertheless, there may still be bargains to be found. True, the discounts are smaller, but some dealers are still being fairly aggressive, though it’s generally one or two cars being less expensive than their competition, rather than industry-wide discounts. Also remember that there are fewer than 1,700 Pontiac and Saturn models left in the country, and since those brands are no longer in production, dealers aren’t worried about sales numbers.

Finally, remember that the best bargains are those that aren’t advertised. Ask about last year’s models, or paying cash. You may be pleasantly surprised.