Filed under: Chrysler, Ford, GM, Autoline on Autoblog
Signs To Watch For As The Cycle Repeats
Detroit’s automakers are starting to beat their chests in exultation, and who can blame them? The last 16 months have been nothing short of a miracle. Who would have believed they could recover so quickly?
Dial back the clock to last summer, June of 2009. Chrysler had just clawed its way out of bankruptcy, GM was still bankrupt. And Ford just barely avoided filing, saved only by borrowing heavily before the credit market collapsed.
If someone had come up to you then and said that in less than a year Ford would be earning over billion and that it would surpass Toyota and Honda in quality, you would have said it was not going to happen.
If they had told you that General Motors would be earning over billion in profits, you would have called them crazy.
If they had told you Chrysler would report an operating profit and come within a whisker of catching Honda in market share, you would have said they’re mad.
And if they had told you that Toyota would be battered by criticism for all its defects and quality problems, you would have said that’s impossible.
But here we are a year and a half later and the American auto industry has been completely transformed. The Big Three are more competitive than they’ve been in nearly four decades. Even more amazing, the good times are just getting going. The next five years could be phenomenal.
John McElroy is host of the TV program “Autoline Detroit” and daily web video “Autoline Daily”. Every week he brings his unique insights as a Detroit insider to Autoblog readers.Continue reading Big Three Have Five Years of Prosperity Until Party Ends
Big Three Have Five Years of Prosperity Until Party Ends originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 02 Dec 2010 14:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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