If these doods are going to play dirtball manipulation with the currency I think we owe it to our country to not reward them. While I'm a huge fan of Japanese cars and think they are reliable I cannot sit back and reward them with my money.
Monday February 11, 3:38 pm Eastern Time
Chrysler Chief Warns of Weak Yen
DETROIT (Reuters) - The head of the Chrysler arm of
DaimlerChrysler AG (NYSE:DCX - news) warned on Monday that a deliberate weakening of the Japanese yen against the U.S. dollar could have ``serious implications'' for other automakers and the U.S. economy.
Chrysler President Dieter Zetsche said in prepared remarks to business leaders in Detroit that ``slowly and deliberately,'' the yen had been pushed down against the dollar. He said that one analyst had estimated a $1,200 to $1,400 advantage per vehicle for Japanese automakers because of the weak yen.
``This deliberate manipulation of the yen is giving (Japanese automakers) cost and price advantages that they can pump right back into their products,'' Zetsche said.
Japanese and Korean automakers have been making deep inroads into the American market over the past decade, mostly at the expense of Detroit's ``Big Three.'' Last month, Detroit's market share fell to its lowest level ever and Honda Motor Co. Ltd.'s Civic passed Ford Motor Co.'s (NYSE:F - news) Taurus for third on the list of best-selling vehicles.
In recent weeks, U.S. automakers have been raising alarms about the weak yen. Zetsche and the other two heads of Detroit's Big Three automakers sent a letter to President Bush two weeks ago complaining about the yen's recent weakness and warning of the advantage it was giving to Japanese automakers.
While all three companies own stakes in Japanese automakers, Zetsche said, those ties did not make their argument any less valid.
Zetsche noted that even the president of Honda -- which builds most of the vehicles it sells in North America at plants in the United States and Canada -- had warned recently that a further weakening of the yen could lead it to consider boosting exports from Japan. Such a move could translate into fewer U.S. jobs, Zetsche said.
CHRYSLER ON TRACK
As he has all year, Zetsche reaffirmed that Chrysler was committed to breaking even this year, a target some analysts said was less likely after DaimlerChrysler cut its dividend and lowered its overall forecasts for 2002 last week.
The company announced on Monday it had sold its Dayton, Ohio, thermal products plant to Behr GmbH, part of Zetsche's strategy to shed some of Chrysler's parts plants to improve its balance sheet.
Zetsche said the company was also close to a long-expected deal to sell its Eurostar factory in Graz, Austria, to the Magna-Steyr unit of Magna International Inc. (Toronto:MGa.TO - news)
Shares of DaimlerChrysler were down 17 cents at $38.07 in late-afternoon trading Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.
TIME TO BURN SOME NIP MOBILE DEALERSHIPS. |
