DaimlerChrysler- Chrysler Division, one of North America's major automotive manufacturing companies, is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Mi. Chrysler Division, along with its competitors in the automotive industry, plays a major role in the United States economy. Chief Economist, Gail Fosler, believes that the economy is recovering and due to this recovery trend, we will see a major growth by 2003. With this type of prediction, it would be safe to say that the automotive industry would show positive trends too.
             To forecast the trends in the automotive industry as well as the United States economy overall, economist use indicators or statistics for their predictions. These indicators deal with, but are not limited to, unemployment rates, interest rates, retail sales, inflation rates, gross domestic product (GDP), housing starts and employment growth. To discuss the outlook for the Chrysler division, we will look at three indicators, interest rates, unemployment rates and employment growth.
             Interest rates for the United States are forecasted at lower rates for the next two years. In the survey of professional forecasters, released in August of this year, it was expected for the three-month rate to average 2.0 percent in 2002 and 3.4 percent in 2003. However, forecasters are cutting that forecast for interest rates over the next two years. It is now expected that the average for 2002 will be 1.7 percent and 2.5 percent in 2003. (conference-board.org )
             With the prediction for the overall economy having an upward trend, it is interesting to see how this compares to the forecast for the automotive industry. The annual report found at carmetrics.com, shows that there will be a small rise in the inflation rate over the next year. However, it is also predicted that the trend will decrease in 2005 at 2.8%, which would be lower than it's been for the previous four years. The short-term interest rates show that 2002 ...