The U.S. auto industry returned to profitability last year and
sales are expected to surge higher this year. Though there is
currently no
automobile exchange traded fund (ETF)
available, that won't stop you if you want to get exposure to this
comeback story.
U.S. auto sales could increase by 12.9 million cars this year,
with total deliveries rising by 11% from 2010,
reports Craig Trudell for Bloomberg
. Morgan Stanley provided an even more optimistic outlook, stating
that
sales could rise
to 14 million this year, driven by a "V-shaped" recovery, analyst
Adam Jones adds. Talk about coming back from the brink:
- Ford Motor (NYSE:
F
) brought in $6.37 billion in earnings through three quarters of
2010.
- General Motors (NYSE:
GM
), Ford and Chrysler Group LLC all reported better-than-expected
sales, which put the industry's annual sales rate at 12.6
million, ending in December. GM and Ford executives believe that
auto sales could top 13.5 million.
- For December, GM's monthly sales jumped 7.5%, Ford sales
increased 3.5% and Chrysler's sales surged 16%.
- Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE:
TM
) reported sales declines after the company announced its 8
million auto recalls as related to unintended acceleration.
- According to Autoweek, "most every automaker gained sales in
December, a month highlighted by a 37% surge for Hyundai-Kia and
a 28% advance at Nissan North America,"
writes Jim Sharifi for U.S. News
.
As stated by
The Wall Street Journal
, "The emergence of seven major car makers means companies can no
longer focus on besting a single rival, as they did years ago when
GM was on top, or in recent years when Toyota set the bar for
quality and reputation." Now, companies will have to produce an
edge to stand out in the consumers' eyes.
Having seven major car makers strengthens the case for ETFs -
you can get exposure to many of them in one swoop. Get exposure to
a few or many of them in these funds:
-
First Trust IPOX-100 Index Fund (NYSEArca: FPX)
. GM is 10.3%.
-
BLDRS Asia 50 ADR Index (
ADRA
).
Toyota is 8.6%, Honda is 5.2%, Mitsubishi is 5.4%.
-
Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca:
XLY).
Ford is 5.2%.
-
iShares Dow Jones U.S. Consumer Goods (NYSEArca:
IYK).
Ford is 4.1% and GM is 1.5%.
-
SPDR S&P International Consumer Discretionary
(NYSEArca: IPD):
Toyota is 6.7, Daimler Chrysler is 4%, Honda is 3.7% and Hyundai
is 1.8%.
If you'd rather just wait for an auto ETF,
Direxion Auto Shares
is in registration
, though no launch date has been announced.
For more information on car industry, visit our
automobiles category
.
Max Chen contributed to this article
.