Document 70DnJRzYERYOE7GerBjv694zo

ggfflgpjBfJTT^NAL .-Via/y n< < < ]^**Domestic auto sales for the To'day-s of July fell 197c. somewhat less some analysts had expected but indi- ng a continuation of the industry's bnths-long downward trend. uuuia i/peu, even witu uic oi.j uuuuu m teu- eral aid it has been promised, unless the company undertakes still another "drastic" EPA Sues Makers as tne enryster ujan uuaiainee tsoara gaye IK* preliminary approval to an additional $300 sit million in federal loan guarantees for the troubled auto maker. ' ' -ty The board, which was set up to oversee tht the federal aid program approved by Con PI In early July, U.S. auto makers said gress late last year, said that $50 million of vl Of Toxic Wastes Jieir dealers sold an estimated 155,352 cars, fjmpared with 168,099 in the year-earlier pe the new guarantees would be contingent on' 'm Chrysler's raising "matching," nonguaran* cd riod. The industry total is estimated because teed private financing. < iV'- Us merican Motors Corp. doesn't report intrahonth sales figures along with the rest of fce industry. Because there were eight sellJg days during the period this year cornfared with seven last year, percentage dif For Unsafe Storage Hi/ Waij. Street Journal filull Reporter . WASHINGTON-In a change of tactics, Congress will have 15 days to look over thejboard's preliminary decision before final: board approval can be given. The action came only three weeks after; ferences are based on daily selling rates. General Motors Corp. sales fell 227c to 8,462 units; Ford Motor Co.'s dropped 147c jfo 45,884; Chrysler Corp.'s declined 237c to J'4,463; Volkswagen of America Inc.'s rose |J7c to 3,743 and AMC's fell 187c to an esti- I mated 2.S00. j . Early-July sales were boosted by Ford's rebate program, which ended last Saturday. Ford had been offering rebates of $100 to $1,000 on all its vehicles in an effort to in crease sales. Typically, when such pro grams draw to a close, higher-than-usual sales are recorded, temporarily distorting industry figures. the government has begun suing companies that produced chemical wastes as well as the operators of dump sites where the wastes may have been stored unsafely. On behalf of the Environmental Protec tion Agency, the Justice Department sued 10 chemical companies on grounds that they "knew, or should have known" that their toxic wastes were being stored unsafely at two dump sites near Baton Rouge, La. Also named as a defendant was Petro Processors of Louisiana Inc., the company that operates the two sites. In a flurry of recent suits, the govern ment has gone after several operators of al legedly unsafe sites. But the latest action the federal panel had given its final apij- proval for the first $500 million in federal; guarantees, which Chrysler used for deben-i \ tures marketed June 24. -, The financially troubled auto maker is el-' igible for up to $1.5 billion in federal guaran-! tees under the congressionally passed pro- ;; gram. -. - .. ' ; - ' `Want to Be Forthright' A statement from the board indicated that the board's staff believes Chrysler will need to use $1 billion of the guarantees this year, with an additional $200 million in 1981. "Previously, the staff had projected use =of $800 million in guaranteed loans in 1980 and an additional $300 million in 1981," the re Thus, Ford captured nearly 307c of the domestic market, far larger than the 22% to 257c that the No. 2 auto maker has been tak ing. A Ford spokesman asserted that the marks the first time it also has sued the companies that produced the wastes, and it is likely to be bitterly opposed by the chemi cal industry. ' ' , port said. . \ 'v - . : Treasury Secretary G. William Miller, who chairs the Chrysler review panel, told a news briefing that "we want to be as forth company couldn't accommodate that large a percentage of the market for long because Besides Petro Processors, defendants in clude Ethyl Corp.; USS Chemical Co.; Dow right as we can with Congress" about the its domestic capacity is far less than a 257c Chemical Co.; Uniroyal Inc.; Shell Chemical share. Most of Ford's gain came at the ex Co., a biit'of Shell Oil Co., an affiliate of pense of GM, which has been making nearly Royal Dutch/Shell Group; Exxon Chemical -w "-.va: . 607c, compared with its early-July 597o. Co.-, a unit of Exxon Corp.; Allied dhemical ' Detroit auto sales analysts said early- Corp.; Rubicon Chemical Corp.; Copolymer -.38 July sales were equivalent to a seasonally Rubber & Chemical Corp., and American adjusted annual rate of about 6.9 million Hoechst Corp. units, substantially better than the 5.2 mil In strictly financial terms, the defen lion-unit pace of June. However, sales aren't dants' possible liability isn't huge. The gov expected to continue at that pace. Forecasts ernment is asking only'for a civil $10,000 call for a sales rate of six million to 6.5 mil fine against the defendants, and for a court lion units a year for the entire month. order that allegedly hazardous dumping at "This is a big contest payoff, and the the sites be halted and that they be cleaned rate is probably overstated," acknowledged up. ; 4 J - ; one Big Three sales expert. "Still, it's rela But a court decision affixing at least tively good news, as these are the best num bers we've seen since April." some responsibility for safe storage on the chemical producers themselves could have a GENERAL MOTORS CORF. July MO July 1*10 1990 1979 x% Cho. major impact on the industry,.'as'well.as on Chevrolet Div. J,..', 35.590 . 43.125 -27.8 the government's campaign to . insure safe PooU*c OlV. ..4... 0Hmo64* DW. i ... 14.572 18.150 19.773 17,328 -35.5 - 8.3 handling of hazardous wastes. ' tViKl Dw................ Cxsiiac 3 04*1 CAfS .... 15,108 5.<X? 11.40 5,?*1 9S.W - 2.0 -In addition to the recent suits, the gov -U 5 -31.1 ernment also is issuing regulations tighten FORD MOTOR CO. f , F-ord Ov...................... ' Lincoln-Mercury Dt* ' TcUJ car* ....... CHRYSLER CORP. Chrv-Plym Div. ... Dodo* Div. Total cars ....... VOLKSWAGEN j 14^20 11.064 45.884 3xm 13.340 46.732 - 8.8 -27.4 -14.1 8,462 6,001 .14,463 9.533 *,6,850 ,2 16r3d3 ;*V 2 - -22.3 -23.3 '-22.8 V. ing procedures for the handling and disposal of hazardous materials. The Carter adminis tration also is pushing a bill in Congress to establish a special fund, financed in part by a levy on the chemical industry, to help pay the costs of cleaning up abandoned dump Total cars ..J.... 3,743 -V- 2,993 . + 9.4 AMERICAN MOTORS CORP. sites. "-.`V-V.' -V Total cars U.S. INDUSTRY Total cars e2,800 e3,000 -18.3 In the current case,- filed in federal court ............ el55,352 ' e168,099 ` --19.1 in Baton Rouge,-the government asserts that x-There were' 8 Selling days in the period this year and 7 last year.. Percentage differences are, based on Petro Processors ^didn't adequately, manage' daily sales rate rather than on sales volume.r" ' ' ` the toxic materials at the sites, leading to at Percentage of market {excluding Imports) - ;j. ' - 1979 1980 ; , ... : . .* Period Period General Motors ' 4* -** 56.9 58,9 Ford Motor 29.6 'V* '27% Chrysler J.. .V;: 9.3 " V '.'* 9.7 Volksv/agen : . ....... -2.4 1.8 American FAotors ;............. .......... 1.8 '1.8.. least `one ispill of.dangerous substances, ear;* tier this ./iThejEPA said, however, ..that The com- paiiyVrriay ih'ave' a longer histoj-y of prob lems! :It;'$aid"thatJatfspill'at' one of the two sites in :;1969 led to a private suit, filed in state court by a nearby property owner, that named as. defendants almost all the compa Citicorp's 91-Day Paper Sells for Average S.9Jt2% nies cited in the latest-government action. . That private suit; the. EPA said, ended in 1978 with a-judgment.against Betro Proces-' llyu WallStreetJournal Slalf Reporter NEW YORK--An average rate of 8.9427c was set up at Citicorp's $150 mil lion auction of 91-day commercial pa per, or- corporate IOUs. That's up slightly from 8.9397o at last week's sale. Bids totaling $740 million were sub mitted, a Citicorp spokesman said. Ac cepted bids I ranged from 8.89% to 8.9757c, the company said. The bank holding company, parent of Citibank, sors and Ethyl,,Corp.;, In Houston,; Shell Chemical *said that it had contracted with Petro Processors from 1968 to 1970 to dispose about 5,000 gallons of waste oil! and had been informed that the oil was burned. Shell says it became aware of problems' at the dump sites a few years' ago and offered to undertake a study of the sites with the other companies named in the suit. The offer'was accepted by the state, Shell says, but-was rejected by the Justice De scheduled another $150 million sale for partment.; VWe feel we have acted responsi next week, i .' -.- bly with the state in-trying towork out a so lution for the sites," a spokesman says. , No Prepayment Required, Your Selection Mailed Immediately For Your Personal Inspection, Without Cost or Obligation ' . 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