June 24, 2008  From http://english.autoinfo.gov.cn

(June 24)--The stock market punished the automotive sector today after warnings of credit ratings downgrades for the Detroit 3 and lower analyst estimates for June vehicle sales. 
     
General Motors stock hit its lowest price since 1975 today before rebounding slightly. GM shares traded at $12.78 just before noon, then recovered slightly. After news of new production cuts at GM broke this afternoon, the share price fell again. GM also told its dealers today about a return to 0 percent financing incentives this month and a 3.5 percent increase in prices for 2009 models. 
     
GM shares closed down 6.09 percent to $12.95. That brings GM’ s market value to about $7.8 billion. 
     
The same worries about the U.S. auto industry that hit GM’ s share price also hurt shares of suppliers and publicly held dealership groups, with many hitting historic lows. All of the companies below saw share prices hit 52-week lows today: 
     
• American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. 
     
• AutoNation Inc. 
     
 • CarMax Inc. 
     
• Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. 
     
• Dana Holding Corp. 
     
• Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. 
     
 • Lear Corp. 
     
• Lithia Motors Inc. 
     
• Magna International Inc. 
     
• Sonic Automotive Inc. 
     
Ford Motor Co. shares closed down 8.9 percent to $5.29. 
     
The decline in automotive stocks reflects uncertainty about the ability of Ford Motor and GM to restructure quickly enough to meet shifting consumer demand and return to profitability. On Friday, June 20, Standard and Poor’ s ratings service said it might cut credit ratings on Ford, GM and Chrysler LLC because of their weakening cash position. Also on Friday, Ford announced that it was delaying the release of a new F-150 pickup. 
     
Problems for the Detroit 3 translate into problems for their suppliers and dealers, and investors fled those stocks as well today. 
     
Citigroup predicted that June sales will fall to 13 million on an annualized basis from 16.3 million a year ago. A Lehman Brothers analyst said he expects June sales to fall to less than 13 million on an annualized basis. 
     
Broader markets were mostly flat today, with the Dow Jones industrial average virtually unchanged.

(Editor: Haijing Qu)