Surging steel prices cost automakers $500 more per vehicle

Surging steel prices cost automakers $500 more per vehicle

Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Toyota
A few years ago, high(ish) gas prices and fierce competition had Detroit automakers talking about the "perfect storm" that the domestic industry was facing. Fast forward to 2008 and the entire auto industry, not just U.S. automakers, is in a full-blown tsunami. Gas is $4 per gallon, the U.S. is muddling its way through some seriously wobbly financial times, and now the price of steel has nearly doubled in five months to $1,035 per ton. Since just this January, the cost of steel in your automobile has risen $500 per car. The reasons for the sharp incline in prices includes both the increased cost of energy for steel makers and higher demand for the strong stuff coming from rapid growth in countries like China and India.
With everybody feeling the pinch of high materials, which also includes sharp increases in platinum and aluminum, suppliers are passing these costs on to OEMs, who in turn will be passing them on to us. That means we may soon be paying a lot more for our next vehicle. With rising gas prices, inflation, and a weak U.S. economy, car customers appear to be experiencing their own little thunder storm, too.
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]


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off topic but, last year a rig carrying 2 of those jacknifed and a roll landed on a pickup killing a dude.

on topic. well that sux. i might move to mexico and live life cheaper over there.

guys im scared.... are we going thou a depression? wtf is wrong in this country.

Bush and the damn war. That's what's wrong.

yeah. They are saying that those cheap tools and cheap products we buy from China in Walmart are going to be no longer cheap because it cost too much in fuel to ship over here, commodity prices going up, and China/India's economy getting better, Dollar losing strength............

THANK YOU GEORGE W. BUSH, THE WORST PRESIDENT EVER BUT THE PEOPLE ELECTED AND RELECTED YOU SO I GUESS THAT MAKES US THE MORONS!

lol mexico? i won't be following you

no we're not going through a depression..

we will, if McCain is elected. then i'ma have to sell my car and whatever else i got to afford a slice of bread. haahhahahhah

It's not a depression... yet. It's just a bad recession. There's only been 2 really bad ones fairly recently. I hope there's not a third.

anything ending in "sion" and has something to do with the economy is bad.

i dont know but mexico is pretty nice, well over here at least. i dont know about tijuana for u guys in cali. most of my friends have places in monterey, nice places and they are cheap. but i guess they bought it back then when the us dollar had more value.