AUTOMOTIVE brake manufacturer Pacifica Group says rising costs and falling demand are making for an increasingly difficult outlook for the global vehicle industry.
Pacifica executive chairman Peter Delhey told shareholders recently that the company was unable to provide any accurate earnings forecast given the challenging operating conditions.
The company had said in February that its underlying operating earnings would remain under considerable pressure in 2008.
"Since then, the picture in North America has indeed deteriorated," Delhey said.
He laid the blame for the industry's woes on rising oil and steel prices and falling demand for large cars and small trucks.
Delhey also said that a continuing strike at American Axle in the United States had caused automotive giant General Motors to cut its truck production.
Delhey said the future lay in more fuel-efficient smaller cars but most of Pacifica's production was at present linked to larger cars and small trucks.
"The trend is clearly away from bigger vehicles to smaller ones, so that's one of our weak areas, but also a chance to develop into this segment," he said.
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