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HTML clipboardThe battered U.S. auto industry could have been the poster child for everything that went awry with the economy and manufacturing in 2008. Total revenue for motor vehicle manufacturers appearing on this year's IW U.S. 500 list fell to $343.6 billion, a 14% drop from 2007. Poor auto sales trickled down to OEM suppliers, whose total revenue declined 2.6% on the IW 500.
In fact, out of 29 IW 500 categories, auto manufacturers and vehicle parts suppliers were two of only six industrial sectors on the list this year to experience lower revenue. (The others were the housing-related furniture and fixtures and wood products industries, communications equipment, and the tobacco sector.)
While total revenue for IW 500 manufacturers increased in 2008 by nearly 7% from 2007, the downfall of the auto industry dominated news headlines and set the tone for the worst economic downturn since 1982. General Motors Corp. finished the year with a $30.9 billion loss and revenue of $149 billion compared with $181.1 billion in 2007, a drop of nearly 18%.
The falloff knocks GM down one spot from the previous year on the IW 500 list to No. 5 behind General Electric. Ford Motor Co. remains at the No. 6 spot, but the company didn't fare much better with revenue sinking 15.2% to $146.3 billion and a record $14.7 billion loss, compared with a $2.7 billion loss in 2007.
Auto supplier American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. had the second-greatest drop in rankings on the IW 500, falling 96 spots to No. 351. The Detroit-based company posted a $1.2 billion loss on revenue of $2.1 billion, which plummeted 35% from the previous year. As 2008 came to a close, the federal government had provided $17.4 billion of bailout funds to Chrysler and GM. By May 1 of this year, Chrysler had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and announced a federal-backed plan to form an alliance with Fiat SpA. At the same time, experts have said a GM bankruptcy is "inevitable."
