Move over USA and Japan, China is Hot on your Car Production Heels

Made in China

Now the US and Japan car makers are making a rough go of it, it looks as though the Chinese are getting by unscathed. According to recent numbers, Chinese auto sales are increasing and by units sold, it’s looking like they will displace the Japanese by year’s end.

If the above is true, then a question needs to be asked. Will the Chinese try to buy pieces of American auto makers at discounted prices? Voices are mum, but it does present an interesting situation for one to mull over. According to analysts, it would be a perfect fit for China to step into the US car production market. But will Americans buy them? Will the US Government let them buy US car companies? Is American auto manufacturing becoming another victim of globalization?

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Looks like the Ro-ro’s are rolling less.

Well, it looks like the Ro-ro carrier business is taking a few lumps. For the record Roll on/roll off carriers (Ro-ro) are sea-faring container ships designed to transport wheeled cargo. Automobiles, trailer trucks, trailers, and railroad cars are freight that can be driven off the transport ship on their own wheels, thus coined the term Ro-ro. If you looked at recent number lately, it seems that much isn’t rolling.

Two big players in international auto shipping NYK line (100 plus ships) and MOL are planning to send 15 + Ro-ro’s straight to the scrap yard.

The global financial crisis and aging of some of the ships has forced the two companies to decommission a number of  vessels to stay competitive. Both companies have new vessels on order but capacity remains high. The glut of capacity is growing because 95 new car carriers with a combined capacity to carry 500,000 vehicles are scheduled for delivery this year. Another 90 ships of 470,000-vehicle capacity are set to arrive in 2010.

A joint Norwegian-Swedish car carrier that operates about 65 vessels, announced in March that it expects to lay up 15 to 20 percent of its fleet this year amid a 30 to 40 percent decline in automobile shipments. It said, however, it would maintain all its trades and port coverage. The $2.3 billion company handles some 2.3 million vehicles a year on 20 routes.

~ Francis

Welcome to Carmover

Welcome to Carmover. This blog’s mission will be to follow US auto shipping trends and provide and opine on key metrics as they relate to the open and enclosed auto shipping as a business. As an individual in the auto shipping business (3+ years) I have seen and experienced much that I feel may be benefit to US consumers. In the coming weeks I plan to submit entries that I feel are relevant, topical, interesting, and meaty. To put it bluntly, I will not blog just to blog. Hopefully you find the information useful enough to bookmark this. Only time will tell

Regards,

~ Francis