BUOYANT US MARKET
Vehicle makers on track for better year
Leading global car brands predict good times rolling from Trump effect and lower fuel prices
Southfield — For a year in which vehicle makers are facing their first US sales decline since the recession, 2017 is off to an awfully auspicious start. General Motors (GM) projected its fifth consecutive year of improving profit on Tuesday — not counting ignition switch recall costs — and heaped a $5bn share buyback plan on top of the $9bn it started repurchasing in 2015. Hours later, Ford Motor added $200m cash to its regular first-quarter dividend — a sweetener for investors to begin a temporary one-year profit drop due to spending on robotic and electric cars. Japanese and German car makers at this week’s Detroit car show joined the hometown players in expressing optimism. Nissan Motor, just two months removed from calling a US market peak, now sees the rise in consumer confidence after the election of president-elect Donald Trump as a harbinger of an even better 2017. Good Times BMW pointed to the good times rolling on Wall Street as one reason luxury vehicle sales will be sust...
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