CSM Automotive Production Barometer (APB) - August 2006

DETROIT, Aug. 14, 2006 -- CSM Worldwide, the leading provider of market intelligence and forecasting to the automotive industry, announces the August 2006 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 August 2006 and release schedule is currently available via the CSM Worldwide website: http://www.csmauto.com/auto-production-barometer .

Each year, July marks an unusual month for light vehicle production as the traditional two-week summer shutdown period typically results in the lowest production volume of the year. U.S. light vehicle production continued its slide, declining 9.20% in July versus a year ago to a seasonally adjusted 10.39M units. Total U.S. car production dropped 10.50% over last year with light truck output down 8.50% from last year's levels. Actual unit production in the United States totaled over 530,000 units in July, an 8.10% decline from July last year. North American production inched up 0.30% over last July to a seasonally adjusted 15.17M units. Year to date, production continues to outpace last year at 15.80M units, 2.10% above last year's pace through the first half of the year.

For the New Six North American manufacturers, year-to-date production is up slightly by 0.30% from year-ago levels and accounts for 94.1% of total North American output. Year-to-date production in North America is up for most manufacturers, with the exception of Ford Motor Co. and Nissan, down 2.90% and 4.60% respectively. Ford Motor Co. and Nissan continue to be points of weakness and are expected to remain in the negative for the remainder of the year. Amid an environment of increasing uncertainty and volatility, the rest of 2006 is now expected to be weaker than previously expected.

"There are a number of pessimistic scenarios that were previously outside the baseline forecast for 2006 that are being integrated for the remainder of the year," said CSM Worldwide Market Analyst Joe Langley.

Under this revised outlook, General Motors Corp. is expected to see any expected gains washed away as production of full-size pickups transition to the new GMT900 models. Ford Motor Co. will experience even wider losses for the year, and Nissan will recover slightly from current levels with the launch of several new high-volume vehicles. Amid rising and volatile fuel prices and escalating concern surrounding global events, consumers may stay on the sidelines for an extended period. Overall, the market will likely experience an accelerated shift between the types of vehicles that are purchased and produced rather than an outright decline.

Most vulnerable to these market-climate changes are mid- and full-size trucks. With already high inventory levels, manufacturers plan to implement downtime and stem overtime at plants for the remainder of the year. Highly correlated with economic activity, full-size pickups are expected to take a slight hit based on a slowdown in new-housing starts. Consumers' realigned fuel-pricing expectations are a consideration for these vehicles, as well as in the SUV market. The traditional mid-size SUV market is at even greater risk than the full-size market due to a more price sensitive buyer demographic.

CSM Worldwide (http://www.csmauto.com/ ) supports more than 450 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, Paris, Tokyo, Shanghai, Sao Paulo, Singapore, Bangalore and Budapest.