Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : China Warehouse- More Than Crockery -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RealMuLan who wrote (3525)	10/1/2004 6:15:48 PM
From: RealMuLan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6370

Gentlemen, kill your engines By Jamil Anderlini SHANGHAI - Two weeks ago, in a beautiful display of dry banker's understatement, Morgan Stanley lowered its rating on China's automobile industry to "cautious" from "in-line". But "cautious" doesn't quite tally with the actions of the world's biggest auto manufacturers over the last year and certainly fails to capture the current mood that must pervade the Shanghai boardrooms of General Motors, Volkswagen and all the other car companies that have been pouring spectacular sums into the Chinese car market. "Blind panic" might be a more apt description. Sitting in their corporate boxes at Shanghai's first-ever Formula 1 Grand Prix last weekend, the top brass of the auto-manufacturing world was probably praying that the spectacle would somehow inspire the masses to go out and buy themselves a Buick or a Passat. Despite figures showing rising incomes and increased consumer spending, car-sales growth has evaporated almost overnight as the government continues its attempts to slow down the overheated sectors of the economy. China's National Passenger Car Association said car sales in August stood virtually still, compared with July, marking the fifth straight month of declining growth. This has been a massive shock to an industry that saw sales rise 75% last year and 62% in 2002. atimes.com