I've been a proponent of the auto industry for a good part of 2010 (although I missed the boat in latter 2009 and early 2010) once sales rebounded north of the 11.25M+ annual levels. As I've said many times, analysts and normal folk simply did not realize how much cost (read: jobs, lower benefits, wage concessions, plant closings) have been taken out of the system. I'm starting to see recognition of this only in the past two months.
General Motors (GM) and Chrysler are their own specific situations as they had huge debt restructurings (major bonus go forward), and apparently the government (which was supposed to be in a position of power when negotiating) gave GM the Christmas gift of $45-$50 billion of profits tax-free going forward. Boggling. Ford (F) does not have that benefit, but has the advantage of a proven management team, and the current superstar in the space in management Alan Mulally. But this trend is bigger than any one man - the cost structure in both the U.S. majors and the supplier base has been completely overhauled to make the entire auto industry profitable at 11-12M annual sales in the U.S. versus 15M+.
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Larissa Meek Gina Carano Sanaa Lathan Ana Beatriz Barros Maria Menounos
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