For the fourth consecutive year, U.S. automakers have exceeded the federal government’s requirements for greenhouse gas emissions, and they have also achieved record fuel efficiency. For Tesla Motors ( NASDAQ:TSLA ), China has been a promising market due to the government’s desire to reduce pollution, opening the door for a surge in electric vehicle (EV) demand. And while GM remains the top automaker in the United States, its sales decline 6.5 percent through April compared to a year ago, and it has lost a percentage point of its American market share, which dipped to 22.9 percent. If such a trend continues, since there is no way that Active Brakes Direct could do the trick, it would not take long before foreign automakers become more profitable than Detroit manufacturers. Mazda was well above average in the American Customer Satisfaction Index last year, but significant gains by other automakers has brought up the average to 82. This year, Mazda falls just below the average line, maintaining its score of 80. The automaker this year fell two slots to No. 10, according to Consumer Reports.
In addition, this might necessitate the dropping out of some market segments that are deemed unproductive. Confronting the prospect of having to produce cleaner cars for states representing 45 percent of the car-buying public, automakers began to reconsider their opposition to nationwide standards.
This cushioning helps automakers because they typically only redesign a model every five years or so and they don’t redo the entire fleet at one time. Any automaker that wants to match Tesla demand will probably have to at least fund something similar to the Supercharger network. Ford has previously said it would shift production of its US-produced Focus and C-Max models to a new facility in Mexico by 2018. Additionally, automakers must back dealerships in finding processes and new revenue streams to help withstand the cyclical downturns inherent in the automotive industry everywhere in the world. Nissan rolled out its Leaf, a relatively short-range EV, and several other automakers introduced similar cars. Today, the automakers are asking for cash, but they’re going about it all wrong. Foreign automakers are strengthening their grip on the American auto market while domestic carmakers sales are dropping from four to nine percent in March.
Of course, there are many other foreign automakers that make cars in the US that are hurting in South Carolina (BMW) and in Alabama (Toyota, Mercedes) and in Ohio (Honda) and all of these companies provide mega jobs and are every bit as much a part of our manufacturing base here.
President Bush and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson then agreed to a $23.4 billion bailout using TARP funds. Toyota, along with its Hino Motors and Daihatsu Motor units, sold 10.15 million vehicles in 2015 and was the only automaker to eclipse the 10 million threshold.