Demand for cars is collapsing around the world as fears of possibly deep recessions in the United States and Europe prompt consumers to put off big-ticket purchases and a worldwide credit crunch makes it harder for those who are interested in buying cars to get loans.
Ford said it depleted its cash by $7.7 billion -- almost 30 percent -- during the quarter as it had to pay costs related to production cuts and make upfront payments to Ford Credit in an effort to spur consumers to buy automobiles. GM went through $6.9 billion in cash during the quarter.
In Germany both BMW, the world's largest premium carmaker, and its archrival Mercedes-Benz Cars of Daimler, posted sharp unit sales declines in October, citing continued weakness in U.S. and western European markets.
Nissan Motor and Suzuki Motor also issued profit warnings last month.
Porsche SE posted a 46 percent rise in pretax profit for the 12 months ended in July that easily topped analysts' forecasts. The growth was largely the result of better-than-expected returns from hedging strategies on shares of Volkswagen.
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