Report: Investing in blue-chip classic cars has been lucrative this decade

Filed under: Classics, Auctions, Earnings/Financials

Classic car values have been increasing quickly in the past decade.

There’s always a financial risk with investing in collectibles – and that includes cars. They must be maintained and stored, which costs more money, and ultimately sold (they’re investments, right?). On top of that, if they’re driven, they can be damaged or just lose value with more miles. But lately, the rate of return from investing in some collectibles – particularly classic cars – has been much higher than that of traditional investments, The Economist reports.

According to an index of the 50 most valuable automobiles compiled by the Historic Automobile Group and cited by The Economist, the past decade has been a great time to invest in blue-chip classic cars. Since 2002, their value has risen by almost 450 percent, which is a much larger increase than that of the MSCI World index, an index of stocks in developed markets, which increased by a relatively paltry 147 percent during the same period.

A case in point, The Economist points out, is one of the most expensive, ultra-rare classic cars to be sold at auction this year at Pebble Beach: a 1957 Ferrari 250 GT 14-Louver Berlinetta that sold for $9.46 million. The gavel price was within the car’s estimated price range of $9 million to $11 million. An even better case in point at Monterey Week this year was the 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 NART Spider that sold for $27.5 million, a record sum for a car sold in the US – the second-highest price paid for a car at auction ever. On top of that, it beat the high end of its presale estimate by over $10 million! The most expensive auction car ever remains Juan Manuel Fangio’s Mercedes W196R F1 racer, which sold earlier this year for $29.65 million. Last year, a 1936 Mercedes-Benz 540K von Krieger Special Roadster was auctioned off for almost $12 million. In 2011, a 1957 Ferrari Testa Rossa prototype sold for over $16 million. You get the picture.

But if you’re not into making money on classic cars, then maybe you should start a collection of stamps, coins or violins, all of which have been increasing in value for the past decade. Or just go to work.

Investing in blue-chip classic cars has been lucrative this decade originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 03 Sep 2013 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Investing in blue-chip classic cars has been lucrative this decade

Filed under: Classics, Auctions, Earnings/Financials

Classic car values have been increasing quickly in the past decade.

There’s always a financial risk with investing in collectibles – and that includes cars. They must be maintained and stored, which costs more money, and ultimately sold (they’re investments, right?). On top of that, if they’re driven, they can be damaged or just lose value with more miles. But lately, the rate of return from investing in some collectibles – particularly classic cars – has been much higher than that of traditional investments, The Economist reports.

According to an index of the 50 most valuable automobiles compiled by the Historic Automobile Group and cited by The Economist, the past decade has been a great time to invest in blue-chip classic cars. Since 2002, their value has risen by almost 450 percent, which is a much larger increase than that of the MSCI World index, an index of stocks in developed markets, which increased by a relatively paltry 147 percent during the same period.

A case in point, The Economist points out, is one of the most expensive, ultra-rare classic cars to be sold at auction this year at Pebble Beach: a 1957 Ferrari 250 GT 14-Louver Berlinetta that sold for $9.46 million. The gavel price was within the car’s estimated price range of $9 million to $11 million. An even better case in point at Monterey Week this year was the 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 NART Spider that sold for $27.5 million, a record sum for a car sold in the US – the second-highest price paid for a car at auction ever. On top of that, it beat the high end of its presale estimate by over $10 million! The most expensive auction car ever remains Juan Manuel Fangio’s Mercedes W196R F1 racer, which sold earlier this year for $29.65 million. Last year, a 1936 Mercedes-Benz 540K von Krieger Special Roadster was auctioned off for almost $12 million. In 2011, a 1957 Ferrari Testa Rossa prototype sold for over $16 million. You get the picture.

But if you’re not into making money on classic cars, then maybe you should start a collection of stamps, coins or violins, all of which have been increasing in value for the past decade. Or just go to work.

Investing in blue-chip classic cars has been lucrative this decade originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 03 Sep 2013 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Official: GM investing $167m in Spring Hill for new midsize vehicles

Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Buick, GM, Earnings/Financials, UAW/Unions

General Motors' Spring Hill Assembly

General Motors has announced a large investment in its Spring Hill, Tennessee facility. The former home of Saturn production will be getting a $167 million addition to a previously announced $183 million, to cover a pair of new midsize vehicles. The investment is expected to create 1,800 jobs at the factory.

That $350 million is being divvied up for a pair of programs at Spring Hill. The first will take the bulk of the money ($223 million) and create 1,000 of the 1,800 jobs, while the other will take the remaining $127 million and generate the leftover 800 positions. But GM says the investment will cover “midsize vehicle programs.” So what could they be?

The leading candidate in our minds is a new crossover for Buick, called the Anthem, that will slot between the Encore and Enclave, but will be slightly smaller than the Equinox and Terrain. As we’ve explained, the new model will likely be the first product to sport GM’s new D2UX platform, which will eventually replace both the Delta and Theta platforms. Spring Hill is already building the Equinox, so there could be some credence to this theory.

As for the other project, well, that one is a bit more of a mystery. It seems unlikely that GM would earmark two separate funds for “midsize vehicles” only to build a pair of crossovers. Could there be a D2UX car in the works? Hopefully, we’ll find out soon.

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GM investing $167m in Spring Hill for new midsize vehicles originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 06 Aug 2013 18:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Official: Toyota investing $30 million in Indiana for more Highlander production

Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Toyota

2014 Toyota Highlander front three-quarter

Indiana seems like the place to be if you’re looking for work in a car factory. In May, Subaru announced plans to invest $400 million in its Lafayette, Indiana plant, creating 900 new jobs in the process and increasing capacity to 300,000 units per year. Now, Toyota has announced plans to invest $30 million in its Princeton, Indiana plant, 170 miles south of the Subaru factory, which also builds the Camry.

Toyota’s investment will create an additional 200 jobs and increase the factory’s volume by 15,000 units. Toyota announced an investment in the plant in February of 2012 that bumped volume up from 300,000 to 350,000 units. Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana, as the Princeton facility is officially known, produces the recently revised Toyota Highlander, the Sequoia and the Sienna. It employs 4,500 people, and this announcement represents Toyota’s tenth production increase in under two years.

Scroll down below for the official announcement.

Continue reading Toyota investing $30 million in Indiana for more Highlander production

Toyota investing $30 million in Indiana for more Highlander production originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 28 Jul 2013 11:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Official: Toyota investing $200M in Southern manufacturing

Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Toyota

Over the past two years, Toyota has invested more than $2 billion at its North American production facilities, and it apparently doesn’t plan on stopping there. To keep up with recent strong sales, Toyota is investing an additional $200 million at its engine plants in the Southern US to increase production capacity of its V6 engines.

The bulk of this money ($150 million) will go to expand Toyota’s engine plant in Huntsville, AL, which is currently responsible for supplying engines – four-cylinder, V6 and V8 – to eight of Toyota’s 12 domestically produced vehicles. That includes the best-selling Toyota Camry (shown above).

Toyota didn’t say exactly what improvements are being made to the plant, but this follows last year’s $80 million investment in the plant that is set to be completed by next year raising the engine capacity to 750,000 annual units including 362,000 V6s. The remaining $50 million will go to the casting plants of Toyota-owned Bodine Aluminum in Missouri and Tennessee, which supply engine blocks and cylinder heads to the Huntsville engine plant as well as others in Kentucky and West Virginia. Scroll down below for the official press release.

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Toyota investing $200M in Southern manufacturing originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 23 Jun 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GM investing $109M in MI to boost 1.4L Ecotec production

Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, GM, Earnings/Financials

GM Ecotec production

General Motors has announced that it is investing $109 million to support production of its 1.4-liter Ecotec engine in Michigan. This will create (or protect) 96 jobs at The General’s manufacturing facilities in the cities of Flint and Bay City.

In Flint, $84 million will be used to increase production capacity of the engine, while in Bay City, the remaining $25 million will go towards increasing production of the connecting rods and camshafts used in the 1.4-liter mill.

Currently, GM uses the 1.4-liter engine in both the Cruze and Volt, the former of which adds a turbocharger. Later this year, the 1.4 will find its way under the hood of the new Aveo Sonic subcompact. Follow the jump for GM’s official release.

Continue reading GM investing $109M in MI to boost 1.4L Ecotec production

GM investing $109M in MI to boost 1.4L Ecotec production originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 13 May 2011 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GM investing $131 million in Corvette factory

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Government/Legal, Plants/Manufacturing, Chevrolet, GM, Luxury

2012 Chevrolet Corvette

2012 Chevrolet Corvette – Click above for high-res image gallery

There are plenty who feel about the Chevrolet Corvette, ‘may you live long and prosper,’ and General Motors is aiding that sentiment with a $131 million investment in the Bowling Green, Kentucky plant that builds the Chevrolet halo car. Apparently, though, the reason GM feels that way is because, in April, the state of Kentucky offered $7.5 million in tax incentives in order to hold on to production.

The investment begins this summer as the plant retools to produce the upgraded 2012 model line, and continues as it gears up to build the next-generation Corvette said to bow in 2013. Part of the funds will pay for 250 new workers to join the 400 that currently assemble the five different variants. GM’s press release is after the jump with more information.

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GM investing $131 million in Corvette factory originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 04 May 2011 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ford investing $400M in Kansas City plant for unnamed new car

Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Ford

2009 Ford F-150 at Kansas City Assembly Plant

Ford has announced plans to invest $400 million in its Kansas City Assembly plant in Missouri. The company is shifting production of the Escape from that facility to its Louisville, Kentucky plant, which will open up a line for an unnamed model. There’s some indication that the FoMoCo crew is planning to build the Transit Connect alongside the F-150 at the Kansas City facility. Regardless of what model Ford plans to build there, the company’s investment will go toward new tooling, a new body shop and other improvements, while managing to save 3,750 jobs in the process.

Ford will receive around $150 million in tax breaks over 10 years for keeping the Kansas City plant up and kicking as part of the 2010 Missouri Manufacturing Jobs Act. The legislation provides tax incentives for automakers who retain jobs through new investments.

The Blue Oval is now in the process of retooling a total of four plants for upcoming products. The company just recently announced that it is investing $600 million in the Louisville, Kentucky plant to produced the next-generation Escape. Hit the jump for the press release.

[Sources: Ford, Automotive News – Sub. Req.]

Continue reading Ford investing $400M in Kansas City plant for unnamed new car

Ford investing $400M in Kansas City plant for unnamed new car originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ford investing $600M in Louisville plant for next-gen Escape

Filed under: Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Plants/Manufacturing, Ford

Louisville Assembly

Ford’s Louisville plant is old and out-of-date, but that’s about to change with a $600 million cash infusion. Ford says that the forthcoming overhaul will make the facility the automaker’s most flexible plant in the world, while adding an additional 1,800 union jobs to handle increased production.

Construction at the facility will commence later this month, with new tooling and equipment pouring in. Ford will re-open the Louisville plant in late 2011, in time to produce the next-generation Escape while “providing future manufacturing flexibility.” In other words, Ford will be able to add other models to the facility as demand shifts.

News of Ford’s Louisville plant upgrade is likely good for those who live and work in the region, and the state of Kentucky is showing its appreciation with tax incentives. Ford will receive up to $240 million in tax breaks over the next 10 years. Hit the jump to read over Ford’s press release.

[Source: Ford]

Continue reading Ford investing $600M in Louisville plant for next-gen Escape

Ford investing $600M in Louisville plant for next-gen Escape originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 11 Dec 2010 17:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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General Motors investing $40 million to offset 2011 carbon footprint [w/video]

Filed under: Technology, Videos, GM

General Motors Carbon Footprint

General Motors invests in green solutions – Click above to watch video after the jump

General Motors is planning to invest $40 million in a host of clean energy efforts in an attempt to offset around 8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. The company says the investments will come over the next three to five years and will involve everything from solar panels for schools to encouraging wind farms and forestry projects all over the country. GM is hoping that these efforts will offset the amount of carbon dioxide put out by the 1.9 million vehicles that the manufacturer is expected to sell in 2011

GM says that it has reduced its manufacturing emissions by 60 percent since 1990, and that a separate effort has seen water use during production drop by 35 percent between 2005 and 2009 worldwide. Additionally, The General operates 75 landfill-free facilities worldwide with a total of 90 percent of the company’s waste being recycled.

These eco investments will be made via third-party organizations that include the Bonneville Environmental Foundation. Hit the jump for a video and the full press release.

[Source: GM]

Continue reading General Motors investing $40 million to offset 2011 carbon footprint [w/video]

General Motors investing $40 million to offset 2011 carbon footprint [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 18 Nov 2010 15:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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