Prospects for the world's major vehicle manufacturers

Toyota's revision of its earnings outlook, a first in several years is a grim indicator of the health of the global automotive industry.

The collapse of the global financial order triggered by the aggregation of toxic assets by banks and financial intermediaries has brought forth a challenging situation for the industry. The lack of availability of consumer finance has forced willing buyers to defer their purchase plans as the financers are redefining their risk profiles. Coupled with the crisis is another challenge that is dynamically reshaping the prospects of vehicle manufacturers - that of changing consumer preferences.

Previously announced product investments and acquisitions are being stalled. One such case is Daimler's US$2bn acquisition of Russian truck manufacturer OAO KamAZ. Tata Motors is also having problems in arranging lines of credit to close the Land Rover-Jaguar buyout deal with Ford.

Several manufacturers are stalling production, laying off temporary workforce or closing plants to rid themselves of piling inventory. Volvo's order bookings in the third quarter in fiscal 2008 dropped 99.63% year-on-year.

The authors of just-auto's company profiles have compiled a round-up of the prospects of the top 24 OE vehicle manufacturers. Use this new mini-report to understand what just-auto predicts for the future of the major VMs, how the current industry downturn is impacting on them, and the variables that affect each company, its products & NPD focus, geographic markets, JVs and M&As.

The vehicle manufacturers covered are:

• Toyota Motors
• General Motors
• Ford
• Volkswagen
• Daimler
• Honda
• PSA Peugeot Citron SA
• Nissan
• Fiat Group
• BMW
• Renault
• Audi
• Volvo Trucks
• Chrysler
• Volvo Cars
• Hyundai
• Mitsubishi Motors
• Iveco
• MAN
• PACCAR
• Scania
• koda
• SEAT
• Tata Motors

• Chapter 1 Introduction
• Chapter 2 The companies
  • Toyota Motors
  • General Motors
  • Ford
  • Volkswagen
  • Daimler
  • Honda
  • PSA Peugeot Citron SA
  • Nissan
  • Fiat Group
  • BMW
  • Renault
  • Audi
  • Volvo Trucks
  • Chrysler
  • Volvo Cars
  • Hyundai
  • Mitsubishi Motors
  • Iveco
  • MAN
  • PACCAR
  • Scania
  • koda
  • SEAT
  • Tata Motors
• Chapter 3 Conclusions
• List of tables
  • Table 1: Major vehicle manufacturers (ranked by 2007/08 sales), and their strategic focus across products, products development, geographies and collaborations
  • Table 2: Top 24 OE vehicle manufacturers ranked by 2007/08 sales