Michael Smitka Male Lexington, VA in the Shenandoah Valley United States: Share; Share on Twitter; Share on Facebook

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Dealer Forum

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CFPA

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Remarketing Remix

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Auto Finance Risk Manage…

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What to Tell Today's College Students?

Replied Apr. 23, 2009

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Michael Smitka and Commonwealth Management Group are now friends

December 17, 2009

Michael Smitka joined Marcie Belles's group

CFPA

This group will monitor developments related to the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, the group meant to police the financial services industry.

October 15, 2009

Michael Smitka commented on JJ Hornblass's blog post 'Chinese Food (for Thought)'

你好吗！中国的汽车市场竞争是。。。 As to competition in the Chinese automotive market: "Keep its head" or find its head?! Not only is every "global" producer in the market, but there are still dozens -- not just a couple, three or four dozen -- domestic players. In…

September 8, 2009

Michael Smitka commented on JJ Hornblass's blog post 'A Better SAAR'

Remember the large regional variation in (un)employment rates ... job losses in some parts of the country are far, far higher than elsewhere. Housing was a big part of such regional booms (and now busts), so for your local market, try to think about…

July 24, 2009

Michael Smitka joined JJ Hornblass's group

Remarketing Remix

Remarketing has come to the front and center of the auto finance process now that SUV values have plummeted. In this group, we explore ways to improve remarketing and share info on what's happening on the front lines.

July 20, 2009

Michael Smitka might attend Molly Devine's event

Of Sales, Unemployment, and Production: The Economy’s Effects on Auto Finance at Audio Conference

July 22, 2009 from 2pm to 2:45pm

This complimentary audio conference exclusively for AutoFinanceNews.net Members held on Wednesday July 22 at 2:00 PM eastern time will provide a comprehensive view of the U.S. economy and its future, with details on consumer demand and spending and…

July 20, 2009

Michael Smitka replied to JJ Hornblass's discussion 'What Should Fiat Do to Fix Chrysler?' in the group Auto Finance Risk Management

1. Fiat needs to really work on product launches, get the bugs out in advance. Buyouts decimated Chrysler staffing across a wide array of functions, and Fiat should assume this will lead to lots of problems. It's pretty hard to audit what's been don…

July 7, 2009

Michael Smitka joined JJ Hornblass's group

Auto Finance Risk Management

This group is dedicated to exploring new developments and sharing ideas in risk management.

June 3, 2009

Profile Information

Name

Michael Smitka

Corporate Title

Professor of Economics

Company

Washington and Lee University

Company Description

elite (undergraduate) liberal arts college, I specialize on Japan and on auto industry

City, ST

Lexington, VA

Michael Smitka's Blog

Detroit's Drop Dead Day: Op/Ed on policies to support the auto industry

Richmond Times-Dispatch, Saturday, January 14, 2008; A15.

Detroit's Drop Dead Day
When the good news is that Honda's sales in the US are down by only 28% – and Toyota projects losses of only $5 billion – it’s clear the problems in the auto industry extend well beyond Detroit. Market projections by car companies for 2009 vary by 30%, while light truck sales are up – for now. Which cars will sell is no clearer than how many will sell. Yet in its December "bailout" to the industry Congress mandate… Continue

Posted on February 16, 2009 at 8:55am — 3 Comments

Initial Post on "What if GM...."

Note I've just joined the forum so what follows may be redundant ... I've not searched for what others have said on the topic. Yet. The following was posted as a comment to Marcie Belles, and I'm reposting here.

Anyway, I'm working with my university's communications people right now to try to put together an audio portion, a news release and then work on op-eds and the like. Once I know a web link (later today!), I'll put it here. I've also exchanged many emails with a forum member, David Rugg… Continue

Posted on November 19, 2008 at 1:06pm — 7 Comments

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At 7:33pm on December 1, 2008, Bill Thaxton said…: No issue here. I was just trying to relate to what the media and others are trying to do to dispel what all of us have grown up to understand as the Big 3. Not only are they no longer that but as things are moving maybe the end result could be that none of them survive. It's sort of like "Prince, formerly known as" for who knows what is ultimately going to happen to the auto industry. You and I could see Toyota consuming parts of all the Detroit 3, However, given the financial crisis as we know it no one can likely buy anyone these days. Have a good day.

At 7:25pm on December 1, 2008, Michael Smitka said…: Sorry, replied on Bill's site in more detail, my preference is for the Big Six plus Little Eight plus imports, but force of habit and the current policy debates lead me to fall back on the most readily understood group of labels. From an analytic standpoint, singling out 3 firms doesn't make sense in the NAFTA market.

At 2:36pm on December 1, 2008, Bill Thaxton said…: Michael, I noticed you continue to call GM, Ford and Chrysler the Big 3. The industry has adapted to calling them the Detroit 3 since they are no longer the biggest 3.

At 12:18pm on November 19, 2008, Marcie Belles said…: Hi, Michael. Welcome to the site. I'm curious: What's your take on what's going on in the auto industry right now?