The number of cars and light trucks sold in America is staggering (light trucks are consumer-
market pickups, tow trucks, ambulances, the engines and frames used for small motorhomes and the many different kinds of work trucks and minivans, SUVs, etc.; large trucks, like the classic 18-wheelers and large motorhomes and industrial trucks, are reported in their own categories).
Sales figures from the car and truck industry worldwide tell a story of more than just vehicles (Photo --- 2008 Ford Taurus; one of the few nearly all-American parts-supplied and assembled cars still available, the car is shipped to Ford dealerships from its Chicago-area factory ... But it is built on a frame "borrowed" from Ford's Volvo division). They tell us which countries and peoples feature heavy manufacturing as a solid part of their economies, and those which have yet to join the world's manufacturing nations. And they also tell us which nations are contributing most to pollution and global warming due to those heavy manufacturing industries, and the cars and trucks they produce. And as the auto industry continues its over-100-year-long movement "west" from its birth in Western Europe, what kind of cars will countries be making and people buying and driving 50 or 100 years from now?
For the past few years, annual sales of these car/light truck vehicles in the US have been hovering around 16,000,000. That works out to about 43,835 cars and trucks sold in America --- every day. Told you it was staggering ... But think of how that contributes to our economy. Those figures used to have a much bigger influence on the American economy than any other nations, but today, these figures have more of an effect on the world economy. Especially Japan's and Korea's; companies based there (and Germany) have factories and assembly plants in the US. Also, scores or even 100's of supplier companies from those nations also have facilities in the US to supply these "captive" car factories in the US. These plants in total employ many thousands of Americans, and they are all non-union; each and every one of them. The Flat Rock, MI, plant once shared by Ford and Mazda has had rumblings throughout its history of attempts by workers to unionize. Also called the Auto Alliance International (AAI) plant, it is now the home of both Ford's rear-drive Mustang and of the front-drive Mazda6 --- both being built on one assembly line, a tremendous accomplishment in an American auto assembly plant. And while all these foreign-owned factories and companies write a lot checks for many millions of dollars to all those American employees, all of the profit, every cent, made by these companies returns to the economies their home nations to benefit those countries' economies.
The products sold in the US by companies which build them here are called "captive imports" (Photo --- BMW's "captive import" plant in Greenville, SC). These products are made in the US in spanking-new, non-union "green field" factories. "Green field" is a relatively new labor term meaning that the plants are built from scratch, and not in areas where there traditionally has been heavy industry, but in, literally, "green fields". These captive imports are often given huge tax advantages and "loans" from the state where they're built. In fact, those kinds of gifts from the states, paid for by the state's tax-paying residents, are often the most important factors when the companies are making their final decisions on where to build. And it's all kind of a bet on the part of the state, and their population's money; whether or not the plant will ever open and its products will be successful takes years to find out. It's almost the same as when a city or country or state goes into a "partnership" with a sports team to build a new stadium with the public's cash; there are no guarantees of success. Another critical item of extreme importance to the car-maker is that there are no unions or history thereof in the area they've chosen to build.
In North America, which combines for the sake of this report, Canada, Mexico and the US, 2006 sales totaled 19,990,000 vehicles, in Europe, 2006 sales were 21,953,000. Worldwide sales in 2006 were 68,727,000 cars and light trucks, 2.8% more vehicles sold than in 2005 around the globe. Compare those numbers to these sales figures for 2006 for the continent of Africa (1,323,900, a 10.7% rise over 2005's figures), Central and South America (3,584,214, a 14.1% increase over the year before) and Middle East sales (2,177,983, a 5.2% rise over 2005). The Euro numbers are a bit misleading, because countries such as Russia are now included in the sales numbers for Europe, where, before the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia was counted as being in "Eastern Europe", which included the Eastern Bloc nations, and always showed dramatically fewer sales than those countries in Central And Western Europe.
For instance, in 2006 in Russia, which is still the largest nation in the world in size, and has a population
of 142,000,000, making it the eighth most populous nation, there were 2,129,698 cars and light trucks sold, a mammoth 20.3% increase over 2005 sales. The US population is about 60 million more than Russia's, and produced sales of 17,141,000, a drop of 2.2% over 2005's.
What these national, regional and worldwide numbers clearly show "between-the-lines" is that there are huge swaths of the planet where private ownership of cars and light trucks is still a rare occurrence. These areas include huge swaths of land and the population of hundreds of millions of people, even billions, in Eastern Europe, China (1,131,000,000 population, world's largest, and only 7,525,000 sales in 2005, a whopping increase over the previous year of 16.8%; authorities say more than 7,000 cars a week are being registered in Beijing alone), India (1,129,000,000 population, second in the world, 1,740,000, a 19.4% increase) and Pakistan, South America, Indonesia (world's fourth most populous nation behind China, India and the US) and all of Africa. (Photo ---- An assembly line at the "captive import" Mercedes-Benz factory in Vance, Alabama).
The ultimate "bottom line" of this piece: As established, through the above figures, that most people in the world as yet do not have access to cars and light trucks, the auto industry will continue to be the world's most important manufacturing industry for at least another 100 years, as it has for the past 100; one in every seven employees in manufacturing work in the world work in companies which are a part of the auto business.
The big question is: Where will all this manufacturing take place? In a recent world industry report, the United Nations recommended the following --- If a person plans to work in the auto industry in the coming years of this century, they should move to India; that's where the continued automotive manufacturing boom is going to be found. The auto industry started in the UK and Western Europe, then, when established there, moved west across the Atlantic Ocean to the USA where it is still very viable. The industry has continued its move west, across the Pacific Ocean, to Japan, then quickly, in less than one generation, to Korea and is now entrenched in Southeast Asia and becoming a gigantic part of China's burgeoning economy. And all signs are that it will continue moving now north and east, to India, as the UN says, then to Asia and Eastern Europe and even the Mideast (Iran has that area's biggest auto industry).
As in the past, it appears that the vast majority of the auto industry will stay in the Northern Hemisphere; South America, for the most part, and all of Africa, are still "out of the loop". Which means out of the flow of $$$ ... (Photo --- Ford's mammoth Rouge River Plant, built on 2,000 acres of reclaimed marshland, opens in Dearborn, Michigan in 1918. Its first products were "Eagle Boats" for the US Navy; today the Rouge Plant, where the Mustang and other Ford products have been made for decades, has been modernized inside and out, and much of its roof has grass growing on it to help clean the air, insulate the building and provide a sports activity area for workers and the nearby community. It's an awesome sight; raw materials from Canada enter the plant by ship on one end, and cars roll-out the other end).
Finally, a look at car and light truck sales in the US for one month. Automakers have released their September, 2006 U.S. sales figures. Here are the top-selling vehicles for the month, as well as the total number sold and the percent change in sales from September 2006. Remember, these are sales for the month of September, 2007, ONLY ... And of these vehicle sales only in America. The Honda Accord, the Dodge Ram pickup and the Chevy Cobalt are the big winners. Biggest loser for the month? The Ford F-series pickup, which has been the best-selling vehicle of any kind in America (and the world) for the past 50 years.
Vehicle September 2007 sales Percent change
1. Ford F-series pickup 56,056 -21 percent
2. Chevrolet Silverado p/u 52,480 1 percent
3. Toyota Camry 40,438 6 percent
4. Honda Accord 35,031 26 percent
5. Dodge Ram pickup 30,100 20 percent
6. Toyota Corolla/Matrix 29,550 -9 percent
7. Nissan Altima 27,871 41 percent
8. Honda Civic 24,752 -6 percent
9. Chevrolet Impala 23,172 6 percent
10. Chevrolet Cobalt 19,794 30 percent
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