CSM Automotive Production Barometer (APB) - December 2005

DETROIT, Dec. 12, 2005 -- CSM Worldwide, the leading provider of market intelligence and forecasting to the automotive industry, announces the December 2005 CSM Automotive Production Barometer(TM). Released in advance of existing sources of information, this service provides an accurate record of light vehicle production for the previous month to assist automotive economists and financial analysts in their ongoing industry evaluations.

The CSM Automotive Production Barometer for December 2005 is currently available via the CSM Worldwide website: http://www.csmauto.com/auto-production-barometer .

The effects from the strong sales pull ahead from this summer's employee discount programs continues to be felt as sales in November were off 3.00% over last year's results. Strong U.S. production in recent months has finally given way as output slipped -1.40% over last year to a seasonally adjusted rate of 11.37M units in November. Total U.S. light vehicle production recorded 0.90M units for the month, falling -14.90% over last month and down -1.50% over last year's results. U.S. production continues to lag last year's pace, with output down -0.70% at a seasonally adjusted rate of 11.64M units to date.

North American production increased 4.90% on a year-over-year basis to a seasonally adjusted 16.45M units in November. Year-to-date, production is at 15.76M units on a seasonally adjusted rate. Fears of a potential UAW strike of Delphi operations continue to loom, as such a scenario could play out in 1Q 2006. Production at GM has been at the highest levels of the year, with November totaling 4.98M units on a seasonally adjusted basis. Following these strong production months, GM has sufficient inventory, over three month's supply according to Autodata, to traverse a possible strike. The production pull ahead caused by the inventory depleting employee pricing programs and the desire to book revenue will affect 1Q 2006 output as the Traditional Big 3 plan downtime at numerous facilities in North America.

Additional fears concerning the death of the U.S. auto industry are at the forefront of late as GM announced capacity and workforce reductions with Ford's restructuring plan due next month expected to result in similarly widespread actions. These capacity adjustments will be good for Traditional Big 3 allowing them to build to natural demand instead of supporting profit eroding, artificial sales levels. According to Joseph Langley, Market Analyst at CSM Worldwide, "The U.S. auto industry is far from dead as the Big 3 evolves into the 'New 6' that includes Toyota, Honda and Nissan in addition to General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler. There is simply a shift in the manufacturing landscape in North America that offers numerous growth opportunities in the region, but requires a paradigm shift in the industry. It is this transition over the short-term that will be difficult across many facets of the industry."

As expected, renewed incentive activity among the Traditional Big 3 was implemented in November for the remainder of the year. These new incentive programs are expected to spur some interest and have an impact in December; though not at the levels evidenced by the employee pricing programs used effectively this summer. Total North American production for the year is expected to total 15.8M units with the production environment in December exhibiting some weakness as build rates slow and several manufacturers retool in preparation to launch several high volume redesigned models.

CSM Worldwide (http://www.csmauto.com/ ) supports more than 350 of the world's top automakers, suppliers and financial organizations with global market intelligence and forecasting services. With corporate offices in Detroit, CSM Worldwide covers the global automotive environment from London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Paris, Sao Paulo, Singapore, Shanghai, Bangalore and Budapest.