After learning over the weekend that Trump plans to call for an investigation into China over allegations that the nation violated U.S. intellectual property rights and forced technology transfers, we learn that several Chinese companies may have submitted bids for Fiat Chrysler (FCA) in a deal that would include the company's iconic Jeep brand. According to AutomotiveNews, at least one Chinese automaker made a bid earlier this month for FCA at a slight premium to the company's prevailing market price but it was rejected for being too low.
It was hard to find a bright spot for auto investors in July's auto sales figures released earlier today with GM down 15% YoY, Ford off 7% and Chrysler down 11%.
The companies blamed the drops on lower fleet sales but GM’s retail sales also fell 14.4% from July 2016. Meanwhile, Ford and Fiat Chrysler retail sales had single-digit declines, and their fleet sales fell 26% and 35%, respectively.
Here's a recap of how each of the largest OEM's made out in July:
GM:
It was expected to be a bad quarter for General Motors. It ended up being abysmal.
GM reported that July auto sales crashed by a whopping 15%, nearly double Wall Street's already depressed expectations of a 8% drop, and with GM mothballing production across the country to catch up with lagging demand, it still sold only 226,107 vehicles as a result of double digits drops in Chevy, Build and Cadillac Sales of 15.3%, -30.5% and -21.7%, respectively. The only "good" performer was GMC, which dropped by "only" 7.3% Y/Y.
Suddenly the coolest thing in corporate America is announcing major capital investments in the US while adding thousands of American jobs, in other words the opposite of the globalization trend of the past 30 years, in yet other words, doing precisely what Donald Trump demands. The latest to jump on the bandwagon is none other than Fiat Chrysler, the Italian carmaking giant which ironically acquired US automotive icon Chrysler's assets after just a 42 day stay in bankruptcy during the financial crisis.