Jesse SnyderJESSE SNYDER Diving deep into Power’s soft data 3:36 pm U.S. ET | July 25, 2012  J.D. Power and Associates’ annual Initial Quality Study always gets more attention than the APEAL Study, even though the data are drawn from the same massive pool of respondents. But I like ’em both, especially when the unexpected pops up.... Read More »
JESSE SNYDER Let's hear it for 'tweeners 5:45 pm U.S. ET | July 3, 2012  It's a 'tweener year. Let's celebrate it. U.S. auto sales this year will fall between 2008's dreadful 13.2 million units and 2007's 16.2 million. Technically, we're still behind the 2008 sales pace, but we'll beat it like a drum by year end.... Read More »
JESSE SNYDER The profit windfall is over 3:50 pm U.S. ET | June 1, 2012  Forget that 26 percent May sales jump. Because it's not a surprise. Anybody really think Toyota and Honda wouldn't outsell last May, when their cupboards were bare?... Read More »
JESSE SNYDER How speed kept Carroll Shelby alive an extra 50 years 8:14 pm U.S. ET | May 11, 2012  Carroll Shelby finally lost the grudge match against his own human frailty. His heart gave out in his thirties. He should have died in the '50s when he was racing Aston Martins in Europe, popping nitro glycerin capsules under his tongue each race. But he didn't die -- not for another half-century.... Read More »
JESSE SNYDER Pare it down or beef it up? 4:55 pm U.S. ET | May 1, 2012  It finally happened. Lincoln is now just a rounding error for Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. sales. In April, Ford brand sales fell 5 percent, the same percentage as FoMoCo's total. Lincoln lost 13 percent, but it's too small -- and too alone -- to affect the corporate number.... Read More »
JESSE SNYDER 'Nylon 12' shortage? Watch logistics wizards work 4:02 pm U.S. ET | April 17, 2012  Today in Detroit, rival suppliers and automakers are huddling in emergency session because of a March 31 explosion and fire at an Evonik chemical plant in Marl, Germany. It's a chance for the industry's unheralded miracle workers -- the logistics experts -- to do their jobs.... Read More »
JESSE SNYDER Hyundai moves from 'value brand to a valuable brand' 4:09 pm U.S. ET | April 13, 2012  Hyundai Motor America CEO John Krafcik talks a lot these days about transitioning from a “value brand to a valuable brand.” He's got the slides to back him: Hyundai has the lowest cash incentives in the biz and the second smallest discount from sticker prices.... Read More »
JESSE SNYDER Warning: Superlative shortage ahead! 5:02 pm U.S. ET | April 3, 2012  Auto sales are booming. Great. Super. Just ask manufacturers and dealers. On second thought, don’t ask dealers. They’re going to tell you anyhow and they’re running out of superlatives.... Read More »
JESSE SNYDER Can I get a 'woo-hoo'? 4:13 pm U.S. ET | March 27, 2012  Spring came early this year. So has the blossoming of auto sales. After three years of slow, reluctant, sometimes grindingly grudging growth, auto sales are finally flowing swiftly.... Read More »
JESSE SNYDER Why Chrysler's Francois aims to go viral 9:51 am U.S. ET | March 14, 2012  Self described as "a French employee of an Italian automaker living in Detroit," Olivier Francois was holed up in a hotel in a snowstorm during his first Michigan winter, trying to get a handle on U.S. car buyers by watching American TV.... Read More »
JESSE SNYDER From 'oh, no' to 'go-go' 6:04 pm U.S. ET | March 1, 2012  February could be the breakthrough month the U.S. auto industry has been banking on. For the first time since tumbling into the ditch four years ago, the industry wasn't an overburdened giant trying to climb out of the mud and regain some dignity.... Read More »
JESSE SNYDER Up early: Automakers find their inner rooster 5:00 pm U.S. ET | Feb. 1, 2012  A certain sign that U.S. auto sales are recovering: Automakers are releasing monthly results earlier in the day to catch better news headlines.... Read More »
JESSE SNYDER Saab swan song sparks online flurry 3:26 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 17, 2012  Apparently nothing piques interest in a Saab like declaring bankruptcy and dropping warranty coverage.... Read More »
JESSE SNYDER Mood in Detroit: Anticipating ’12 but remembering ’09 4:23 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 12, 2012  The Detroit auto show started on a high note and as the week progressed from media days to industry days the mood has been rising. Peter Fuss, German-area auto leader for Ernst & Young, noticed it as soon as he got off the flight from Stuttgart. “Everybody arrived happy and they get happier after talking to others.”... Read More »
JESSE SNYDER Show mood driven by the survivor mentality 10:46 am U.S. ET | Jan. 9, 2012  There’s a different mood at this year’s Detroit auto show. Upbeat to be sure, but calm, more restrained than bubbly. I haven’t seen anything quite like this in 30-some years on the auto beat. It seemed familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.... Read More »
JESSE SNYDER We avoided a bust in 2011 -- thanks to gutsy consumers 6:31 pm U.S. ET | Jan. 4, 2012  I'm happy to usher out the 2011 U.S. auto sales year. It's been, ahem, an interesting year -- in the same sense as in the ancient curse: "May you live in interesting times." Mostly, it was the kind of year you want to scrape off your boots.... Read More »
JESSE SNYDER Knocked-loose market share is up for grabs 10:11 am U.S. ET | Dec. 22, 2011  The New Year will come with a market share showdown -- a high noon in the U.S. auto marketplace, but with new rules. Certainly not Gary Cooper's High Noon, not even Neo and Trinity's “Guns, lots of guns” rescue in The Matrix.... Read More »
JESSE SNYDER For Honda, it's coming down to the wire 5:22 pm U.S. ET | Dec. 1, 2011  It's been a very tough sales year for American Honda. And it still could get worse. Let's be clear. The problems of a U.S. sales arm and its dealer network cannot begin to compare to the horror and tragedy of the Japanese parent company, and its network of Asian suppliers this year.... Read More »
JESSE SNYDER In praise of cash cows 1:45 pm U.S. ET | Nov. 18, 2011  Every automaker aims to make money on its vehicles, but which ones stand out? Which are the most profitable vehicles in modern times?... Read More »
JESSE SNYDER Forget fundamentals; pent-up demand gets tough 6:19 pm U.S. ET | Nov. 1, 2011  I don't trust the fundamentals to drive auto sales as much as I used to. You know, those macro-economic factors the auto industry used to obsess on. For years, everybody from economists and forecasters to product planners and production schedulers closely watched every twitch of the data. That's not the case anymore.... Read More »
JESSE SNYDER Scion's iQ surprise: I fit, it's quick 4:38 pm U.S. ET | Oct. 18, 2011  I approach micro-cars with some hesitation. Let's face it: I'm the worst-case scenario for micro-car designers.... Read More »
JESSE SNYDER Slovak squeeze: paying to be the adult in the room 3:51 pm U.S. ET | Oct. 14, 2011  On Thursday, Slovakian lawmakers reversed themselves and stopped blocking the plan to expand the European Union’s bailout fund. Now the EU can boost the 440 billion euro ($600 billion) fund, its main weapon against the debt crisis.... Read More »
JESSE SNYDER Spiff wars heat up, with Toyota cranking up incentives the most 4:40 pm U.S. ET | Oct. 3, 2011  It's official. The post-quake product shortage is over. That tight-supply, low-incentives lull since Japan's March 11 earthquake/tsunami whacked production? Forget it. The U.S. auto marketing wars are back. How do we know? Toyota group and American Honda are boosting incentives, a sign they have restocked enough to compete -- and are going after the 6 points of market share they lost between May and August.... Read More »
JESSE SNYDER Did the White House pressure Ford to pull an ad? Does it matter? 4:20 pm U.S. ET | Sept. 30, 2011  So congressman Darrell Issa, chairman of the House’s Government Oversight Committee, wants Ford to tell whether somebody in the White House pressured it to kill a commercial that touted Ford not taking a U.S. bailout. Is it a Republican political stunt aimed at embarrassing President Obama? Of course it’s political.... Read More »
JESSE SNYDER With all the bad news, a 12.1 million sales rate doesn’t look that bad 6:19 pm U.S. ET | Sept. 1, 2011  What an ugly month. August was never going to be a pretty baby. Not a good month to sell new cars. We started with a lousy set of economic indicators. Pick your favorite: unemployment rate, personal income, housing starts, stock market. Lousy, lousy, really lousy, volatile. It ain’t exactly 2006, but it still beats 2009.... Read More »
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