Posts Tagged auto

Retail Sales in the U.S. Increase More Than Forecast

Posted by Tetyana Matychak in Trading Markets on November 16th, 2009

October retail sales in the U.S. rebounded more than anticipated as demand for autos climbed, easing concern households will curtail spending after government incentives ended.

The 1.4 percent increase followed a 2.3 percent drop in the prior month that was much larger than previously estimated, making last month’s gain less impressive, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Purchases excluding autos rose less than forecast.

Rising demand at retailers from discount chain TJX Cos. to luxury store Saks Inc. may foreshadow a brighter holiday shopping season. Acceleration in consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of the economy, will depend on an improvement in the labor market that has yet to unfold.

“Consumers are looking relatively resilient,” said Michael Feroli, an economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York, who projected sales would increase 1.3 percent. “They are spending a little more freely, which bodes well for the holiday season. Given the backdrop of the labor market, this is actually as good as one can hope for.”  Read the rest of this entry »

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Car industry shakeup opens door to China upstarts

Posted by Tetyana Matychak in Trading Markets on April 21st, 2009

As ailing global automakers agonize over their survival strategies, China’s upstarts are racing them to launch homegrown hybrid and electric vehicles in the only major market that is still growing.

Shanghai’s biannual auto show, which opens Monday, will showcase these”new energy”vehicles, as the Chinese call them, alongside a cornucopia of conventional gas guzzlers, compacts, luxury and mid-range vehicles.

No purely electric vehicles, apart from a few experimental buses, are on Chinese roads just yet: automakers are still working on developing products with prices and performance that are competitive with conventional cars.

Yet, the focus on innovation reflects China’s desire to curb its growing dependence on imported crude oil and clear its polluted city skies. Beijing is plowing $1.5 billion into new energy vehicle technologies in the next three years.

“There’s a lot of interest in electric vehicles because it’s a technology that’s emerging from China’s strong research and development base for lithium-ion batteries,”said Ray Bierzynski, vice president for engineering in the Asia-Pacific for General Motors Corp. Read the rest of this entry »

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