Competitive Connection
April 10, 2007
A look at the competition
March Sales Data (Sales Day-Adjusted)
GM |
Down 7.7% |
DCX |
Down 8.4% |
Ford |
Down 12.2% |
Toyota |
Up 7.5% |
Honda |
Up 7.3% |
Nissan |
Up 3.9% |
Then and Now
The impact of Boomers
Boomers transformed our culture with their automotive obsessions. In 1962, when the first boomers turned 16, there were 78 million cars and trucks on the road. Today there are 237 million, a threefold increase, according to the U.S. Highway Administration. Cars now outnumber licensed drivers in American households, giving rise to the three-car family. One in five new houses today is built with a three-car garage, double the rate of just 15 years ago, according to the National Association of Home Builders.—Source: Newsweek, April 9, 2007
A look at the competition
Toyota investing in Georgetown
Toyota Motor Corp. said that the auto maker is mulling a $413 million investment in its Georgetown, Ky., car manufacturing plant as part of an ongoing effort to pump up its product portfolio in the U.S.
Today, Toyota builds more than 500,000 vehicles annually at the plant.–Source: Dow Jones, March 30, 2007
A look at the competition
Cheapest car ever made
Tata Motors is developing a car it aims to sell in India for about $2,500–the cheapest, by far, ever made. It would give millions of people now relegated to lesser means of transportation the chance to drive cars.
Workers at the Tata Motors factory have been trained in Japanese manufacturing techniques that call for continuous improvement. A worker building Safaris noticed that each day on average, one front grille was ruined when a worker leaned over to work on the engine and accidentally scratched the grille with his belt buckle. Cost: about $57–a day, or $17,000 a year. Tata designed a simple protective cover for the grilles, plus a slip-on fabric cover for belts and watches that is now used to cut down on expensive waste at each of Tata Motors' factories.
Indian car buyers today represent a tiny slice of a potentially giant market–India has just seven cars per 1,000 people. India's auto industry has grown an average of 12 percent for the past decade, but just 1.3 million passenger vehicles were sold in India in the past year. That means a billion Indians buy about the same number of cars in a year as 300 million Americans buy in a month.
If four wheels cost as little as two wheels, that could change fast. About 7 million scooters and motorcycles were sold in India last year, typically for prices between $675 to $1,600. Tata is targeting a price of about $2,500 at current exchange rates, for its small car. That sounds impossibly cheap in the West but remains three times higher than India's annual per capita income. The average pay for factory workers at Tata Motors is just $5,500 a year.
"Everybody is talking of small cars as $5,000 or $7,000. After we get done with it, there will hopefully be a new definition of low-cost."–Source: Forbes, April 16, 2007
A look at the competition
Hyundai is largest car company in South Korea
The early years for Hyundai Motor America were downright painful, with the company made the butt of numerous jokes. But that was then. This is now.
Hyundai Motor America is part of the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, the largest car company in South Korea. With combined global sales of 3.7 million vehicles in 2005, a number it is likely to have matched or slightly surpassed when all of the figures are in for 2006, Hyundai Kia Automotive is now the sixth-largest car company in the world, ahead of Japanese rivals Nissan and Honda.–Washington Post, April 1, 2007