Adam Jonas Quotations

Peugeot had a bad year but their sales volumes improved. GM and Ford are operating at about their break-even market share.

If Western Europe were the only market for these carmakers, it would be a headwind, definitely. Companies will have to take an offensive and defensive approach - coming up with new models and attracting more up-market customers.

Recalls are a cost of doing business. Even high-quality companies like Toyota set aside a little money for each car to cover that risk.

I think everybody is worried about April. In the U.S. so far in April Chrysler car sales are down pretty significantly.

It is decisive, it is early and it gets a lot of uncertainty out.

Michelin and the industry continue to pass on rising material costs through tire price increases. Tire price increases have been crucial to offsetting the projected 15 percent increase in raw material costs Michelin will feel in 2005 (approximately 450 million increase vs. 2004).

Volkswagen said at the start of the year that it would be going up in market share and instead it has gone down. They appear to have lost the U.S. consumer in terms of design and functionality.

Toyota is at the top when it comes to real and perceived quality. One recall isn't a problem. It takes two points to draw a line and it that happens then you'll hear my tone change.

BMW reported a positive surprise to fourth quarter profit numbers today along with a proposal for a three percent increase in the dividend and notice that the board is to seek authorization for a 10 percent share buyback.

At this pace, Fiat should gain significant share.

The second quarter is going to be a very difficult quarter for most auto companies. Earnings will be down for almost every auto manufacturer with the exception of possibly Porsche , truck companies and select parts and tyre companies.

That's why Porsche bought Volkswagen. Working together on a common electronic architecture is a no-brainer.

There?s a reason Renault is getting a lot of attention with this car. They?re the only one doing this so aggressively. If they are successful, there will be followers.

They did about 2,001 euros per car for other risk provisions, and that is the lowest level of provisioning in five years.

In the last two days you had Renault talking about a price war, Fiat referring to a price war, Honda and Peugeot all referring to a price war in Europe ... The pricing environment is even worse than people anticipated.

The underlying Mercedes margin excluding one-off items and provision releases was significantly weaker than expected. That was an area where the market was prepared for upside surprise.

The concern should be at Chrysler. Chrysler overproduced in the fourth quarter and when you overproduce you should make more money, but they made less.