With General Motors (NYSE: GM), Ford (NYSE: F), Chrysler and the rest of the Detroit auto industry looking likely to get a big chunk of the $25 billion in taxpayer-funded loans they need to remain viable, there's another group that needs more credit for the industry to turn itself around: consumers.
Light-vehicles sales are expected to have fallen 26% year-over-year for September and Goldman Sachs auto analyst Patrick Archambault told clients in a note that "Decreased credit availability [is] constraining sales even at prime levels of credit quality."
The industry will get the loans it needs to build new cars, but unless consumers can get the loans they need to buy them, the big three are still in trouble. Add that to historically high gas prices and a generally weak economy and it's hard to see any reason for near-term optimism for the industry. Longer-term, of course, lower-cost overseas producers of better cars will continue to eat Detroit's lunch.
I'll make a not so bold prediction: with liabilities far exceeding its assets and an inability to turn a profit, General Motors will be bankrupt, merged, or otherwise irrelevant within the next five years.
Last updated: February 13, 2012: 03:05 AM
Hot Stocks
Learn More About GM Cars
DailyFinance Headlines
- 4 Money-Etiquette Questions Answered
- Walmart's New Health Food Push: Is It Too Hard to Swallow?
- Newlyweds, Don't Let the IRS Spoil Your Honeymoon
- Bonds Are a 'Safe' Investment: A Big Lie Gets Even Bigger
- Why Groupon Will Never Be Great Again
Benzinga Headlines
- Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index Drops
- Don't Bank on Barclays
- GSV Capital Punished for Expanding Facebook Investment
- Chesapeake Gently Lets Go of Gas
- How to Profit off Addicts
TheFlyOnTheWall.com Headlines
BioHealth Investor Headlines
- Can Human Genome Really Double Its Stock Price? (HGSI)
- Alimera Implosion Analysis, What Is Next (ALIM, PSDV)
- Implosion Analysis For Targacept… What Lies Ahead? (TRGT, AZN)
- Rare Analyst Calls With Huge Upside in Vical and VIVUS (VICL, VVUS, BMY)
- Top Biotechs With Upside Ahead of Earnings (GILD, AMLN, ARIA, INCY, JAZZ, DNDN, HGSI, ILMN, AMGN, CELG, BIIB, BMRN, LIFE, REGN, AMLN, CBST, ONXX, THRX, VPHM)
WalletPop Headlines
- 4 Money-Etiquette Questions Answered
- Walmart's New Health Food Push: Is It Too Hard to Swallow?
- Newlyweds, Don't Let the IRS Spoil Your Honeymoon
- Bonds Are a 'Safe' Investment: A Big Lie Gets Even Bigger
- Why Groupon Will Never Be Great Again
My Portfolios
Track your stocks here!
Find out why more people track their portfolios on AOL Money & Finance then anywhere else.
BloggingStocks Partners
More from AOL Money & Finance
- Business News
- Stock Screener
- Stock Quotes
- Stock Charts
- Banking
- Identity Theft
- DJIA
- Debt Management
- Loans
- Auto Loan
- Mortgages
- Taxes
- Retirement
- Insurance
- Small Business
- Earnings
- Tech News
- Tax Forms
- Tax Deductions
- Tax Credit
- Tax Audit
- Tax Advice
- Stock Ticker
- Stock Brokers
- Resume Builder
- Pig Flu
- Online Tax Filing
- Madoff
- Investing For Retirement
- Income Tax
- Historical Stock Prices
- GOOG
- ETF Investing
- Deals
- DailyFinance
- Crude Oil Prices
- Credit Score Calculator
- Common Tax Filing Mistakes
- AMT
BioHealth Investor Headlines
- Can Human Genome Really Double Its Stock Price? (HGSI)
- Alimera Implosion Analysis, What Is Next (ALIM, PSDV)
- Implosion Analysis For Targacept… What Lies Ahead? (TRGT, AZN)
- Rare Analyst Calls With Huge Upside in Vical and VIVUS (VICL, VVUS, BMY)
- Top Biotechs With Upside Ahead of Earnings (GILD, AMLN, ARIA, INCY, JAZZ, DNDN, HGSI, ILMN, AMGN, CELG, BIIB, BMRN, LIFE, REGN, AMLN, CBST, ONXX, THRX, VPHM)
Walmart's New Health Food Push: Is It Too Hard to Swallow?
Bonds Are a 'Safe' Investment: A Big Lie Gets Even Bigger


Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-29-2008 @ 3:09PM
nick said...
you think any one is gonna take your words as gospel just because you write a post on the internet? You sir are not a fortune teller so therefore ill take it with a grain of salt. I happen to think that G.M. can ride this thing out and profit again because they are making better quality and fuel efficient vehicles. They have to in order to be #1 again