Honda Motor posts
FeedPosted Jun 23rd 2008 3:16PM by Jonathan Berr (RSS feed)
Filed under: Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM), Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), Politics, Presidential Elections
Presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain's
plan to award a $300 million prize "
for the development of a battery package that has the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars " raises many questions.
For one thing, what does he mean by "leapfrog?" Does the McCain car have to be 10?% better? 20% better? or 30% better? Will a marginal improvement suffice? Moreover, who is going to decide whether the goal is met? environmentalists? the automakers? the government? These people can not agree on what we should do to reduce air pollution; I can't imagine the fights that will occur over what constitutes a technological "leap."
McCain wants the car to deliver a power source at 30% of the "current costs." Does that mean costs as of 2008 or whenever this wonder car is ready to be sold to consumers? How does he define "costs?" Is it the total cost of ownership or a reduction in the sticker price or something else entirely? Why limit it to batteries? What about hydrogen fuel cells whose only pollution is water vapor?
In a speech he delivered today, McCain pointed out that "right now we have a hodgepodge of incentives for the purchase of fuel-efficient cars." Indeed, purchasing a hybrid only makes economic sense for the most die-hard of tree huggers. But is the answer to skyrocketing gasoline price to be found in a contest? I am not so sure.
Continue reading John McCain's $300 million electric car battery prize is a political stunt
Posted May 13th 2008 1:16PM by Eliza Popescu (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Forecasts, Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), Economic Data, Recession
Nissan Motor Corp. (NASDAQ:
NSANY), Japan's third-largest automaker, announced this morning
higher fourth quarter profit, but forecast a decline in profit for the current year, blaming an unfavorable rising yen and soaring material costs.
Nissan Motor announced that its profit during the quarter jumped 67% to 137.6 billion yen ($1.3 billion). And its income figures were definitely something to cheer about. During its fourth quarter last year, the company had a profit of 82.2 billion yen. Excluding one-time "fifth-quarter" numbers, the company's earnings figures would have showed a surge of 95%.
Despite the positive results, the automaker isn't optimistic about its future earnings and issued a gloomy outlook. The company expects net income for the current year to drop 30% to 340 billion yen ($3.3 billion), which is below the 368 billion yen that analysts at Factset Research predicted. Nissan cited unfavorable currency exchange, higher commodity and energy prices, and increased material expenses.
Continue reading Nissan reports higher Q4 profit but outlook disappoints
Posted Feb 1st 2008 2:25PM by Eliza Popescu (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Forecasts, Good news, Launches, Competitive Strategy, Japan
Despite a troubled U.S. economy, a stronger yen and increased credit costs in the US., it looks like Japanese automakers are still benefiting from a booming car demand. After
Honda Motor Ltd. (NYSE:
HMC) announced early this week its
profit rose 38.1% in the third-quarter, now it is
Nissan Motor Co. (NASDAQ:
NSANY)'s turn to prove its efficiency.
Japan's second-biggest automaker reported this morning its
third-quarter profit rose 26.6% to 132.22 billion yen ($1.24 billion), helped by higher sales in Asia. The company had posted a profit of 104.46 billion yen during the same period of last year. The company's results also show a respectable 18.2% jump in revenue to 2.770 trillion yen ($26.03 billion), following strong sales of the Rogue crossover vehicle in the U.S.
Although Nissan's earnings numbers matched analysts' predictions, the company is still showing some concerns over its further gains. The automaker stated that its bottom line could be affected by lower American consumer spending. A weaker dollar also could dampen Nissan's earnings by reducing the value of its foreign revenue.
Continue reading Nissan (NSANY) third-quarter profit rises on higher sales abroad
Posted Dec 27th 2007 3:56PM by Brian White (RSS feed)
Filed under: Products and Services, Industry, Toyota Motor Corp. (TM)
Toyota Motor (NYSE:
TM) and
Honda Motor (NYSE:
HMC) both said that production was increased for growth in overseas markets in November. Toyota built over 803,000 vehicles and Honda produced over 363,000 vehicles in November to satisfy demand in emerging markets and to find equilibrium in global markets based on currency fluctuations.
Nissan Motor also increased production in November -- by 15% -- producing over 335,000 vehicles. With Toyota's new Russian plant and increasing Chinese sales, the Japanese automaker is taking a hard look at growth outside of the slow U.S. market
that's expected in the first half of 2008.
But U.S. automaker
General Motors (NYSE:
GM)
is not sitting still either, having set its sights on Russia and China (
and India as well) in 2007 as it braces for a slowdown in U.S. sales in 2008. Just like many other industries, emerging markets like India and China are becoming hot markets for auto sales. I'm surprised it took until 2008 for this to become a focus area for global automakers.
Posted Sep 14th 2007 2:30PM by Brian White (RSS feed)
Filed under: Industry
Honda Motor Co. (NYSE:
HMC), the Japanese car brand known (with Toyota) for its reliable and dependable vehicles, has
announced a recall. The company is recalling 182,756 Civic sedans in order to repair an o-ring on each of the sedan's wheel bearings which could be prone to leak. If that happens, the wheel could fall off.
That's not exactly a door latch problem, and reminds me of the
Ford / Firestone recall years ago, although I am not sure this one is as severe. But, when terms like "wheel falling off" are bandied about, Civic owners may exercise the right to feel slightly nervous.
The Civic is a staple of the Honda lineup, and is the second-best seller in the U.S. for the automaker behind the larger Accord. The recall affects 2006 and 2007 Honda Civic sedans, all trim lines. The
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported on its website this morning that the o-rings in question may not seal properly, which could allow the introduction of water into the wheel bearing. In some cases, the wheel could unseat from the bearing and fall off completely.
Of course, Honda will be replacing these damaged parts for free after mailing letters to each affected owner. So far, no injuries or deaths have been reported due to this defective o-ring problem.
Posted Aug 30th 2007 3:15PM by Michael Rainey (RSS feed)
Filed under: Products and Services, Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM), Toyota Motor Corp. (TM)
Can
General Motors (NYSE:
GM) and
Ford (NYSE:
F) make a good car? After years of claiming that they can't make money with passenger cars, American automakers are finally taking the car market seriously. The fat years of making glorified pickup trucks tricked out with leather seats and premium sound systems -- better known as SUVs -- are now over, and Detroit finds itself in a bit of a pickle. The Americans may have ignored the basics of making well-designed cars, not gas-guzzling trucks, for so long that they may not be able to catch up with the leaders,
Toyota (NYSE:
TM) and
Honda (NYSE:
HMC).
The problem is that foreign automakers now have an enormous lead in design and manufacturing expertise when it comes to passenger cars. The Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord have long been the leading sedans in the U.S., and for good reason. They are roomy, comfortable, very well designed and made, and reasonably efficient. Their surprisingly powerful yet nearly silent engines last for hundreds of thousands of miles, which helps maintain resale values. And they are profitable: Toyota reportedly clears $1,000 per Camry, and with 400,000 Camry sedans sold last year in the U.S., that's a good chunk of change that any car company would be happy with.
Nevertheless, the competition for sedan sales is heating up. As
The Wall Street Journal reports, GM is pushing the Chevrolet Malibu as an American alternative to the Camry and the Accord. Ford, too, is entering the fray, changing the name of the Ford 500 to the Taurus in an effort to recapture the glory of that hallowed name. (I think this shows just how desperate Ford is, given that the Taurus' glory days were in the 1980s and that the car sold so poorly in recent years that it was terminated.)
But it may be too late. As John Casesa, a former Wall Street auto analyst, says in the
Journal piece, "The ship has sailed in the midsize sedan segment . . . Camry and Accord are now established titans in that part of the market." Even worse, Detroit may not be able to rule the second tier under Toyota and Honda. Other foreign manufactures, including Nissan and Hyundai, are making very good cars these days. Starting at under $18,000, Hyundai's Sonata sedan is a particularly strong alternative to the Camry and the Accord. So there isn't much room for the Malibu and the Taurus. It looks like Detroit may pay the price for ignoring cars so long for many years to come.
Posted Apr 5th 2007 10:58AM by Kevin Shult (RSS feed)
Filed under: Before the Bell, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Bad News
MOST NOTEWORTHY: CACI International Inc (CAI), SAIC, Inc (SAI), CenturyTel, Inc (CTL), Honda Motor Co (HMC) and Micron Technology, Inc (MU) were today's noteworthy downgrades:
- Morgan Stanley downgraded CACI International (NYSE: CAI) and SAIC Inc (NYSE: SAI) to Underweight from Equal Weight to reflect concerns over an increasingly unfavorable political environment as the risk of reduced funding for federal IT initiatives grows.
- Soleil downgraded shares of CenturyTel (NYSE: CTL) to Sell from Hold on valuation and a possibly active hurricane season.
- Micron Technology (NYSE: MU) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs as the firm believes improvements in DRAM pricing will be short lived and that the company will continue to generate losses given its poor cost structure.
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
- CSX Corp (NYSE: CSX) was downgraded to Reduce from Neutral at Calyon on valuation and deteriorating volume.
- WebSideStory, Inc (NASDAQ: WSSI) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC, citing short-term execution risks.
Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).Posted Apr 3rd 2007 9:43AM by Douglas McIntyre (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst Reports, Forecasts, Industry, Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM), Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), D.R.Horton (DHI)
Edmunds.com, the car research site, looks at industry trends each month and predicts how major car companies have done in US sales. The Edmunds data comes out the day before the car companies announce their sales data.
This March, Ford Motor's (NYSE:F) is expected to be the big loser, with sales down about 17% over the same month last year. At this rate, it would be impressive if Ford can stay in business much beyond 2007. With fuel prices up again, the company's important sales leaders like the F-150 pick-up are likely to do poorly.
DaimlerChrysler (NYSE:DCX) is expected to have another tough month at its Chrysler unit. Sales are expected to be off about 6%. That is not bad compared to Ford, but with parent Daimler trying to sell the US car unit, any drop in units tends to make the company less attractive to a potential buyer.
General Motors (NYSE:GM) is expected to see sales drop only 1%. Its Saturn line of cars has been doing extremely well, and it now has more fuel-efficient crossover vehicles in its product line-up. If GM can hold its own while lowering costs, it may even show a modest profit in North America for 2007.
No one should be surprised that Toyota Motor's (NYSE:TM) sales are expected to rise in March. It is projected to have an increase of almost 9% due to the Camry and Prius, both of which get good gas mileage. Honda Motor (NYSE:HMC) sales are expected to rise 3% while Nissan Motor (NASDAQ:NSANY) is forecasted to increase 1.1%.
Of course, all of this means that Detroit's share of the US market will be down again. Soon, the Big 3 may only have a 50% share in North America.
With no turnaround in sight.
Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.
Posted Apr 26th 2006 2:20PM by Lita Epstein (RSS feed)
Filed under: Good news, Industry, Microsoft (MSFT)
Your video games may soon be filled with ads coming from a company Microsoft plans to buy, according to a report
in the Wall Street Journal today. The placement of ads in video games is a new and growing
field.
One of the key players is Massive Inc., which is a closely held business started just two year ago and now has 80
employees. Microsoft plans to announce the purchase of this start-up next week. The Journal
reports that people familiar with the deal estimate it to be worth between $200 million and 400 million.
Game publishers share in the revenue of ads placed through Massive.
Coca-Cola and Honda Motor are just two of Massive's clients. Microsoft is banking on the fact that
game-industry executives believe video games could be one of the next big medium for advertising.
Gaming companies certainly are getting a lot of attention from the big boys. Viacom paid $102 million for
Xfire, which operates a instant-messaging service that enables gamers to connect over the Internet. News Corp. is
buying IGN Entertainment for $650. IGN operates Web sites for gamers.
If you enjoy gaming, be prepared to be inundated with new and more aggressive ad campaigns.
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Honda Motors (HMC - option chain) shares are rising today after the company announced this morning that its July worldwide auto production rose 21.6% year-over-year to 314,911 units, lifting hopes that the company's sales will be on the rise. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on HMC.
Every global automaker is facing sliding sales, employee layoffs and plant re-tooling in the midst of a massive and lasting shift in consumer buying habits (especially in the United States). 
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