John Casesa
John Casesa
actions america assembly await benefits capacity costs gm north ongoing plan reduce reflect step surprised visible
We were surprised that GM said that it does not plan to reduce permanently assembly capacity in North America to reflect the Olds phase-out, ... GM's restructuring, especially its discontinuance of the Olds brand, is undeniably a step in the right direction. However, the costs of these actions are much more visible than their ongoing benefits right now. We anxiously await follow-up actions.
achieve asia costs cutting essential gm growth mix north profitable
Capitalizing on growth in Asia through Daewoo is essential if GM is to achieve a profitable mix of businesses. They can't do it by just cutting costs in North America.
america clear fourth north outlook price quarter results
The outlook for the fourth quarter is not so hot. It is very clear that results in North America will be compressed by all this price cutting.
decrease driven driving earnings fell fleet gm impact improvement increase late light lower mix negative north performance pricing remains results richer truck trucks
These results are reminiscent of Ford's late 1990's performance -- driving earnings improvement with a richer truck mix, ... GM remains market-share driven and its North American pricing fell 1.0 percent. Fortunately, it was able to increase its mix of light trucks and decrease its fleet sales, offsetting partially the negative impact of lower prices.
business driver great lots mix north operations rich selling
The North American operations are the driver of the results. Business is great this year, and the mix is very rich -- they're selling lots of trucks,
brand damage
We think the damage to the (Ford) brand has already been done.
action extent gm influence takes urgency
To the extent that GM takes any action to get more competitive, that has to influence the urgency of Ford's strategy.
conditions difficult earnings expect growth improvement market mix overwhelm solid
We expect this mix improvement to overwhelm difficult market conditions for the foreseeable future, and therefore, we now expect solid earnings growth in 2002,
expect fleet gradually improve likely mix sales truck
We expect the truck mix to gradually improve through the remainder of the year, but fleet sales will likely recover, offsetting some of the mix benefits.
bought car everybody growth needs though
Even though the U.S. economy's pretty healthy, there's not much growth in demand. Everybody who needs a car has already bought one.
appear both capacity economic growth rapid sharp
We think it would take a rapid acceleration in economic growth and/or sharp capacity reduction, both of which appear unlikely.
buyers buying car confidence confident consumer future history influenced last month months next purchase six struggle ticket trend unless varies year
Car buying is influenced by consumer confidence. And confidence varies month to month but on a trend basis, it is down a lot in the last year, year-and-a-half. And my own view, unless it bounces back and unless history is wrong, we're going to really struggle to get these buyers in next year because they're just not as confident about the future to make a big ticket purchase as they were six months or a year ago.
explorer ford good guess issue people tire view
My guess is most people view this as a tire issue than a Ford Explorer issue. But there are a lot of good competitors to Ford Explorer out there on the market.
change gm heightens hiring inside major signals strategy
Lutz's hiring signals the possibility of a renaissance at GM and heightens our sensitivity to the possibility of more constructive change, ... This is a major change in strategy for GM, which has historically relied heavily on inside promotions.