Automakers post lower US sales, Toyota gains

When GM sold nearly 50% of the vehicle market, in the US, there were about five US manufactures and combined they sold 7,000,000 vehicles. Today there are what, 15, with the majority being foreign.. However the market today in nearly 19,000,000 and GM sells even more vehicles today, in the much large market. The three remaining domestics still sell nearly 58% of all the vehicles sold in the US with dozen foreign brands sharing the balance. ;)

mike hunt

Some years ago I worked out of the United Kingdom which used to pride itself in being the motorcycle supplier to a good part of the world. Of course, Harley of the USA was a major American supplier.

The British story was that the Japanese got a foothold on the market that finally destroyed the classic British cycle industry. Low prices, good performance, an eye to what the people wanted rather than trying to sell what the industry wanted to push. The Japanese destroyed the British industry (or rather, the British committed suicide) which never rebounded.

If history repeats itself, the Japanese are jockeying to control the auto industry that the US has been so proud of. Same tactics. And with a solid ten years of constantly increasing market penetration, they are gnawing away at the American bedrock.

Like it or not, get your poop hot or not, and accuse me of denigrating the USA or not, only a fool avoids the facts. The American auto industry is headed for tough times, both because of international competition, because of organizational problems, because of producing what the people don't really want to buy, and **worst of all** because the cheap fuel situation here is a thing of the past.

Last year the dollar was half the value it was two years ago so a lot of people started to import cars from USA

Now they have arrived the proud owners are not so proud anymore

The cars that arrived needed a lot of repairs

The cars are a lot more expensive to run than similar cars from Japan

So the cheap cars from USA turned out to be just that - cheap

Absolutely. The dollar was cheapened deliberately so that foreigners could buy our products easier. It also was intended to make it harder for us to buy foreign products.

The dollar always falls in value when the interest rates go down. Now the Fed has started upwards again, and the dollar will inevitably strengthen.

US exports will fall, and foreign imports will again become easier for us to purchase.

the dollar is sure to fall further when the chinese send it back home