Car companies to be closed in a nearest decade

[Ferrer]

Originally Posted by Matra et Alpine

You can't create a "premium" identity, it has to be earned or inherited

Hey, if Lexus and Infiniti did it in the 80's/90's in the US, I'm sure Volvo could do it too in China.

Originally Posted by Matra et Alpine

And do you think anybody is actually making money out of building Buick ? It's a repeat of India and the UK in the 50s/60s. Move old productin line to emerging nation who will be happy to buy second rate. What are the per unit costs and profit for the Buick productino in China ?

Well as 2ndCC said Buick doesn't sell cheap asian cars alone there, but also a rebadged version of the big Holden with six cylinder engines.

All in all I'd say that whoever gets it right in China it'll definitely be big player in the future. It's an interesting opportunity for car manufacturers.

[faksta]

Originally Posted by F1_Master

Who said he was talking about these supercars, and not cars in general? Either way, he is correct as is 2ndclass. I'm willing to bet the Volvo R models are probably of better build quality than the Panoz Esperante as well.

Unfortunately, the new R Volvos are just 'R-Design' bodykits
In my opinion Volvo and Saab started loosing money exactly because of their NA-orientated lineup. Both started to develop a vast line of pointless SUV's. That 9-7X, for example - I don't know whether at least one person have bought it... Yes, XC90 is another thing - it was successful and it's appreciated. But who the hell needed the XC60 EXACTLY in time of crisis? They should have better make a new S60 instead of it, which, I'm almost sure, would sell good in Europe, America and Asia at the same time... That's what I think.

Ah..and then, besides Ford there are tons of other Volvo shareholders - maybe some of them would like to buy Volvo out.

[IBrake4Rainbows]

In the next 10 years I think we'll see, in all likelyhood, GM go bankrupt. not necessarily closed down, but certainly bankrupt.

Volvo is an interesting proposition - because I'm assuming it's name would be worth a lot on the open market and go for a pretty penny - It's just making products in such a way as to be profitable nowadays.

Saab needs a complete re-think because bluntly the current situation is not acceptable. It could be that both companies are bought by the one conglomerate or entity and turned into a single Swedish car company. stranger things have happened.

I don't see companies like Bugatti surviving another credit crunch - again they're name might live on but the current arrangement perhaps not.

I don't see any manufacturer suffering greatly at the hands of time but there is likely to be a slowing of sales - and perhaps a shrinking of plants - as the market reaches saturation in the western world. as for China, India and other developing nations, I see VW, Mercedes Benz and BMW doing very well out of those areas.

[john14]

Originally Posted by IBrake4Rainbows

I don't see any manufacturer suffering greatly at the hands of time but there is likely to be a slowing of sales - and perhaps a shrinking of plants - as the market reaches saturation in the western world. as for China, India and other developing nations, I see VW, Mercedes Benz and BMW doing very well out of those areas.

I agree with IB4R. In the future (and currently), VW, BMW and Mercedes Benz will do well in developing nations such as China, India and other developing nations.

Is it true that VW cars, BMW cars and Mercedes Benz cars have been manufactured in China for a while, or is this just an untrue rumor?

[faksta]

That's true. Add Citroen and Audi here, too

[drakkie]

Originally Posted by faksta

That's true. Add Citroen and Audi here, too

The citroen's are models based on the french vehicles but with some modifications. Forgot their name, but sounds like zhen hua or something.

[faksta]

Dongfeng

[roosterjuicer]

Gm can probably get rid of buick in america, but buick is huge in China so they should definately keep it there.

i personally love buicks and if i could afford one i would buy one but it has been mismanaged and underrepresented here for the past 20 years.

As to GMC, its not going anywhere. GMC sells lots of trucks here and has a very loyal following. Remember, while GMC sells a lot less than Chevy it still sells more sierra's than Toyota does tundra's so i dont think GMC will go anywhere.

as to pontiac, i dont want it to go, but it does seem somewhat irrelevant. but once again, there are a lot of loyal pontiac buyers out there.

[faksta]

Originally Posted by roosterjuicer

Remember, while GMC sells a lot less than Chevy it still sells more sierra's than Toyota does tundra's so i dont think GMC will go anywhere.

You can't measure any company's success in terms of one model only

[Ferrer]

Originally Posted by faksta

You can't measure any company's success in terms of one model only

Oh yes you can. The Ypsilon literally saved Lancia from getting the axe in 2002-2003. And has since supported the brand on its shoulders alone, lately with a bit of help from the Musa.

[faksta]

Originally Posted by Ferrer

Oh yes you can. The Ypsilon literally saved Lancia from getting the axe in 2002-2003. And has since supported the brand on its shoulders alone, lately with a bit of help from the Musa.

But you can't say that it was successful because Lancia sold more Ypsilons than, say, Daihatsu Cuore's in Europe.

[roosterjuicer]

Originally Posted by faksta

You can't measure any company's success in terms of one model only

Well GMC only has 4 models and i was just using it as an example. plus pickuptrucks and large SUV's are big time profit makers for GM and GMC sells plenty of both so they are not going anywhere.

[Fiorano]

i would imagaine building cars as per demand might help profitability in any market but Union contracts demand a certain amount of work per day and thus car are being built for nothing...that is so many are simply not being sold...
i have a 2 year old V50 volvo now, and a 13 year old Nissan and a 40 year old volvo..
keeping a car has never been in the plan for manufacturers- finance for 5 years and get a new one and finance for 5 years.... American cars in the range of years simply aren't up to snuff with the cars i have, except maybe the Amazon year range 40-50 years ago-

volvo simply makes a better car than most.
Ford won't shut them down...and MAzda has made a profit for the last 8 years no matter how small and has equaled or bettered their sales number every year...

so FOrd might do well dumping a now meaningless brand like Mercury...lincoln can be revived as a luxury mark, but do they need it?

[bombaclothras]

Yeah but with rising gas prices, those mini cars are looking more and more better.

[Ferrer]

Originally Posted by faksta

But you can't say that it was successful because Lancia sold more Ypsilons than, say, Daihatsu Cuore's in Europe.

No because the Cuore wasn't a prospective rival (probably). But comparing its sales to the sales of a main rival I think it's fine measure of the cars success, altough of course you can use others.