This I found in the web that may interest you and give you information about automakers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Automakers plan to urge Congress to support funding up to $50 billion in low-interest loans over three years to help them modernize their assembly plants and develop next-generation fuel-efficient vehicles.

Industry officials said the loans, which are twice the amount authorized in last year’s energy bill, are a top priority when Congress returns next month because of the declining fortunes of Detroit’s automakers and tightening credit markets.

“The amount of concern and urgency from the Detroit companies has increased in the last month and significantly ratcheted up what they’re communicating what their funding needs are,” said Alan Reuther, legislative director for the United Auto Workers union.

Congress authorized $25 billion in low-interest loans in last year’s energy bill, but the auto industry’s allies in Congress have been unable to get funding for the plan.
The loans would provide low-interest credit for up to 30 percent of the cost of retooling facilities to build hybrids, plug-in hybrids, electric cars and other alternatives.

Detroit’s automakers have struggled this year amid a sluggish economy and consumers shunning large sport utility vehicles and trucks because of high fuel prices. General Motors Corp. reported a second-quarter loss of $15.5 billion and Ford Motor Co. reported an $8.7 billion loss.

The auto industry’s future has been a top issue in Midwest battleground states key to the presidential race. Sen. John McCain had opposed the retooling efforts, arguing that his $5,000 tax credits for consumers who buy fuel-efficient vehicles and a $300 million battery prize would accomplish the same goal.
But in a statement released Friday, the Arizona Republican said Congress should fund the loan program in the energy bill: “I believe we should fund it and take action that will assist Detroit and its suppliers in making it through this difficult time of transition.”

When applying for an auto loan, most buyers grapple with some question of whether they should opt for a fixed or floating rate option. The question assumes importance as car loans have a lower tenure than home loans, home loans have a 15 – 20 year tenures, during the borrower will go through a few rate cycles.

Car loans are for three to four years and maximum tenure: 7 years and that on an average. It means that a person mostly would find it difficult to gauge that whether they are entering a rising or a falling cycle. Many public sector banks, including State Bank of India, Bank of India and Bank of Baroda have started offering floating rates on auto loans. ICICI Bank was offering both floating and fixed options way bank in September 2007 and is planning to offer only floating rate loans in August 25. Private sector lenders are beginning to offer floating rate loans.

“Earlier, we were planning to increase over fixed and floating rates by 50 basis points each. However, now we feel that the interest rate cycle has almost peaked. For the customer, it will make a lot of sense to get into floating rate auto loans,” said N R Narayan, head of vehicle loan in ICICI Bank. He also said that the interest rates would move southwards after that.

Director of Acorn Wealth Govind Pathak said “Six months ago, the answer would have been definitely fixed because of the uncertainty in the interest rate scenario. Now, floating rate looks like a better option.” Though this is the immediate solution as far as the choosing the interest rate goes, auto buyers in the future will have to carefully gauge the scenario before taking a call on the right option.

The financial aid office at the University of Maryland is busy before classes begin. So many students returning to campus are counting on financial aid to pay for tuition, books and supplies. College students feel the effect of the credit crunch as some private companies stop issuing student loans and others raise interest rates. Abhas Mathur student said “I think in today’s day and age, student loans are very important, there aren’t too many jobs out here that cover a full student’s expense for a college education, so student loans bridge the gap.”

Each year Paul Hassler consolidates the outstanding student loans to make one interest payment, but this year, he was told he couldn’t consolidate, and the new loan carried a higher interest rate. Paul Hassler is putting his youngest daughter through college. Paul Hassler also said “the cost of the loans was running me about $550 a month, but by not being able to consolidate would have move the cost of the loan up to almost $1,100 to $1,200 for our budget, it really just would have blown things out of kilter with us.”

Financial Aid Director Sarah Bauder the University of Maryland said the rules have changed and she also said that consolidation is no longer an attractive option, and she does not recommend it anymore. Hassler rolled the student loans from private lenders into direct loans funded by the federal governemtn rather than deal with $1,200 monthly payment.

The UAW, which has endorsed Democratic rival Barrack Obama, has pushed lawmakers to fund $25 billion in low interest loans for Detroit automakers to help cover retooling costs. Automakers have embraced the idea in recent months as a vicious economic downturn has shut their access to traditional financing. The UAW President Ron Gettelfinger critizized Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Monday for opposing government loans for Detroit automakers, saying John McCain “has slammed the door on any real support for the domestic auto industry.”

In McCain’s visit to Michigan last week he said such loans would not be prudent, adding he was worried about predicting failure on the part of automakers when they have made strides on things like labor agreements. He has proposed a $300 million prize for battery research and a $5000 tax credit for consumers who buy fuel efficient vehicles.

McCain said he was open to more direct aid for Detroit’s automakers, an opinion piece printed in the Detroit News. McCain’s proposals would do little to return jobs said Gettelfinger. Obama has backed a UAW proposal for Congress to approve $4 billion this year that would cover the costs for lending $25 billion, a plan that faces many hurdles to passages

In applying for a car loan there are things you need to consider. If you have applied for a vehicle loan or planning to apply for one, these 5 things you must know. First shop online, shopping for auto loan online is a time saver. Almost all information you can get at a click of a mouse and pick the best deal by comparing offers from different sites. Second, know the basic criteria for applying for a loan. Best is if you earn at least Rs 20,000 per month and have six month bank statement ready for your lender’s perusal. This helps your lender understand you’re spending habits better and help you in getting loan at a cheaper interest rate.

Third is to get approved first, don’t make a mistake of looking for a car before getting a bank’s approval. Get you loan approved first from your lending bank or finance company. Then get sanction letter from lending bank or finance company to know the amount of loan approved. Four is down payment, this varies from lender to lender, and some do not even require you to make a down payment but typically it is about 10 percent of the vehicle you want to purchase.

Last is the interest rates, interest rate is not fixed, but it can surely be negotiated. If you have negotiating skills you can bargain for a lower interest rate. It is always better to ask an authorized dealer or loan official for their advice. If there is something you don’t understand ask them. They are there to answer your questions.

Car sales drop down in July for the first time in three years as the oil price spike and measures to control inflation dampened the mood August 11 New Delhi. While two-wheeler sales grew 19.47 percent and domestic passenger car sales fell 1.71 percent in July. Dilip Chenoy director-general of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said “this is the first time since November 2005 that the passenger vehicle segment registered a decline. The central bank’s measures to contain inflation of the oil price hike and cost of finance has impacted growth in this segment. ”

Total sales of domestic vehicles stood at 778,907 units compared with 681,771 units in the same month last year. According to figures released by SIAM, passenger cars clocked sales of 87,724 units during the month against 89,250 units in the same month a year ago. Dilip Chenoy said the challenges continue to be the availability of finance, especially in semi urban and rural areas. Interest rates on auto loans, were in the range of 10-12 percent in 2007, increased to 12-15 percent the year. And according to auto analyst Murad Ali Baig, “Second-quarter sales are traditionally lower than first quarter since people wait for the festive season.”

Vice-president in sales and marketing of Hyundai Motor India Ltd Arvind Saxena said “Inflation is affecting the affordability of customers and high interest rates are also making it difficult for buyers to get loans. As the trend suggests, it will not be too surprising if we close the fiscal recording single-digit growth.” Maruti Suzuki India sales grew 1.45 percent to 45,757 units in July against 45,101 units in the same month a year ago while rival Hyundai Motors recorded a flat month by selling 15,061 units in July and while the sales of Tata Motors fell 8.87 percent to 12,012 units.

Consumers taking out car loans from vehicle dealerships have rocketed over the past year, and as other lenders have raised both their interest rates and their rejection rates. In spite of an overall slump in car sales in UK, Volkswagen said last weekend that it had hits its 2008 target of £1bn worth of car loans five months ahead of schedule. Volkswagen’s managing director Graham Wheeler said “We put our success down to the fact that we have more available funds and can move faster than other financial organization.”

According to Moneysupermarket.com, the comparison website, the average of the top five cheapest personal loans is currently 7.7 percent, compared with 6.5 percent this time last year. Lender are rejecting many more loan applications this year, accepting only those with the very best credit ratings. While car finance has historically been expensive compared with personal loans available in the wider market, most high street lenders have been increasing their interest rates over the past year.

Volkswagen is currently offering loans as low as 7.8 percent APR while Peugeot Citroen offers finance starting at 7.9 percent and Renault loans are just over 8 percent. Head of loans at moneysupermarket.com Tim Moss said that the success of the car finance products was driven by two factors.

Toyota, the world’s second largest carmaker, rose the most since January in Tokyo after saying the weaker yen will allow it to meet its full year earnings forecast. Asian auto and technology stocks climbed after Toyota Motor Corp. beat profit estimates and Lenovo Group Ltd. Increased earnings. Lenovo is the China’s biggest personal computer maker surged in Hong Kong as Chinese and European demand boosted sales. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index eased 0.2 percent to 127.80 in Tokyo, paring a loss of 1.1 percent.

Toyota gained 5.7 percent, to 4,840 yen. The maker of Prius hybrids expects the yen to be weaker over the rest of the year than it predicted in May, helping the company stick to its annual earnings forecast, even after cutting its estimate of vehicle sales by 3.5 percent. Profit fell 28 percent to 353.7 billion yen ($3.23 billion) in the three months ended June 30, better than the 329 billion yen median estimate by five analysts compiled.

Lenovo added 4.4 percent to HK$5.47, the biggest increase since May 19. Profit in the three months ended June 30 climbed 65 percent to $110.6 million. The fifth straight increase in quarterly profit followed stronger demand in Europe and China, helping to compensate for lower revenue from the U.S.

Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan’s No. 1 bank by market value fell 3.6 percent to 838 yen and a drop of 9.5 percent for the week. Lending growth at Japanese banks stalled in July after accelerating for six months, as the nation’s economy moved closer to a recession, making small companies more cautious about borrowing.

The credit rating forms a very integral part in the people who live in United Kingdom, these ratings that determine if a person is eligible for taking any kind of loans or mortgage. However, UK financial market have designed a interesting product that is called no credit check loans which no credit check auto loans is very popular among people who have faced recent bankruptcy and foreclosures.

The financial institutions have a look at the yearly income and then decide on the loan amount. Even the person’s good character makes a significant contribution. These auto loans are offered to people who have a regular source of income or can provide some kind of collateral like property or other assets. It’s always advisable to do a good market research before applying for no credit check auto loans.

Many institutions provide smaller loan amounts, as much is at risk in such lending and try to apply the highest rate available in the market so it is very important how to choose the correct lenders. It would be best to apply in several financial institutions and the institution that gives the best offer in term of loan amount. If a person finalizes his/her deal with the lender then make sure that they make regular monthly payments on the no credit check auto loan.

Brazil’s automakers’ association said that they expect car sales to slow in the second half of the year after July’s spike in sales. Anfavea, the auto manufacturers’ association, pointed to the rising costs of consumer loans as a reason for the anticipated slowdown. Domestic sales grew even more with 288,100 vehicles and an increase of 32.6 percent year-on-year and 12.6percent over June. Anfacea said; just over 320,000 cars rolled off assembly lines in July, up 19.8 percent over the same month a year earlier and 3.5percent more than in June.

Toyata Motor Corp will invest between $600 million and $700 million to build a new plant in Brazil to keep up with the surging demand. With interest rates on the rise, automakers expect demand will ease in coming months. Higher wages and cheaper credit have pushed up car demand and are fueling economic growth of around 5 percent. Anfavea expects by the end of the year the output to total 3.43 million vehicles from 2.01 million units at the end of July. That is a reduction from 287,000 units per month on average through July to 210,000 units per month for and fro the remainder of the year.

Brazil has become a major market for several international manufacturers. The central bank has increased its benchmark Selic rate by 1.75 percent points this year in an effort to help curb rising inflation. In Brazil, around 90 percent of all new cars sold are equipped with flex fuel engines, which run on either gasoline or cane based ethanol. The country’s car market is dominated by automakers such as Italy’s Fiat, Volkswagen in Germany, Ford Motor Co and General Motors Corps and followed by Japanese and French manufacturers.