Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Ford (F) Chairman Concerned Volatility Could Slow Sales

In the midst of the turmoil in Japan, American auto makers like Ford (NYSE:F) and General Motors (NYSE:GM) appear to have an advantage over their counterparts for obvious reasons.

But Ford Motors Chairman Bill Ford said he sees challenges at this time from the volatility in the world, including the ongoing Middle East crisis which has been driving the price of oil and gasoline up.

He said, "Volatility paralyzes customers." Adding that the customer can be left thinking, "Am I making a decision today that I am going to regret six months from now?"

So even with an edge for a period of time, the other elements involved with making a decision on buying a car could limit the upside for auto makers, although we're still early on the depth of the fallout for some of their competitors like Toyota (NYSE:TM).

Ford was trading at $14.33, or $0.34, or 2.32 percent, as of 12:09 PM EDT. GM was trading at $31.93, down $0.42, or 1.30 percent.

No comments: