A Summary Of Today's Auto News

This column will be updated throughout the day...

Ford to Review Its Ailing Brands,Explore Alliances
CEO, Under Board Pressure,Hires New Strategy Adviser;An Urgent Review of Jaguar
By JEFFREY MCCRACKENAugust 2, 2006; Page A1, Wall Street Journal

Ford Motor Co. is launching a strategic review of ailing operations such as the Jaguar brand that could lead to the sale of assets or broader alliances with other companies, according to people familiar with the situation. Spearheading the effort for the nation's No. 2 auto maker will be a newly hired strategic adviser, Kenneth Leet, a former investment banker who led mergers and acquisitions teams at Goldman Sachs and Bank of America. Mr. Leet is reporting to Ford Chairman and Chief Executive Bill Ford, who is under board pressure to take more dramatic steps in his restructuring efforts amid the company's widening losses, according to people close to the situation...(Read more: HERE)

GM Says SaleOf GMAC FacesPossible Delay
By JOHN D. STOLL and DAMIAN PALETTA, August 2, 2006; Page A7, Wall Street Journal

General Motors Corp. said the $14 billion sale of its financing arm, a deal considered crucial to its turnaround efforts, could be delayed by federal banking regulators.
The Detroit auto giant and Cerberus Capital Management, the investment firm leading the group that agreed to acquire General Motors Acceptance Corp. in April, said they are working to avoid a delay. The agreement can be terminated if not completed by the end of March. GM said it doesn't expect a delay to threaten the deal, which it had said it expects to close in the fourth quarter.
GM also said it is widening by $200 million its second-quarter net loss because of a change in tax provisions related to the sale. GM now says it had a $3.4 billion loss in the period, but its previously reported $1.2 billion operating profit is unchanged.
The potential delay stems from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s decision Friday to put a moratorium until Jan. 31 on all applications for banking charters by nonbank companies. Such charters to form what are known as "industrial banks" are used by some companies for limited purposes, though others use the charters to accept deposits and make loans...(Read more: HERE)

Toyota’s U.S. Sales Edge Past Ford’s
By MICHELINE MAYNARD and FARA WARNER, Aug 2, 2006, New York Times
DETROIT, Aug. 1 — The Japanese auto giant Toyota passed the struggling Ford Motor Company in July to rank as the second-biggest-selling auto company in the United States, behind General Motors, sales figures showed Tuesday.
And in another development that lifted automotive eyebrows, Honda, another Japanese company, outsold DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler group last month for the first time.
In all, Detroit companies fell to their lowest market share in history last month, just 52 percent, as their lineups, laden with pickups and S.U.V.’s, failed to attract American buyers seeking fuel-efficient models in the face of high gasoline prices...(Read more: HERE)

8/02/2006 06:31:00 AM

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