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Américaine ou japonaise? Honda Civic 2010 André Pratte Depuis toujours, les automobilistes ont un faible pour une marque ou pour une autre. Certains ne jurent que par les voitures américaines. D’autres sont des fidèles de Volkswagen, malgré la réputation de mauvaise fiabilité du constructeur allemand. Et, depuis au moins une décennie, un nombre croissant de conducteurs sont mordus des automobiles construites par les Japonais Honda, Toyota et autres Subaru. Le magazine Consumer Reports, le Protégez-vous américain, vient de publier son guide annuel de l’auto. Ce guide est basé sur les essais réalisés par les ingénieurs du CR, de même que sur des sondages menés auprès des millions d’abonnés du magazine. La conclusion des essais de cette année est tranchée: les manufacturiers japonais construisent de loin les meilleures véhicules. «Ils fabriquent des voitures complètes et équilibrées qui excellent à tous les niveaux, qui obtiennent de bonnes notes lors de nos essais routiers et qui sont très bien cotées par nos abonnés», affirment les auteurs du guide. Vous trouverez un bon résumé du contenu du guide dans cet article de mon collègue Denis Arcand. Les automobiles américaines se retrouvent généralement au bas du classement. Si certaines Ford sont aussi bonnes que leurs concurrentes, la plupart des GM font piètre figure, tandis qu’aucune Chrysler n’est recommandée par le Consumer Reports. Le CR déplore notamment la piètre performance des américaines en matière de consommation d’essence. Outre la récession et la crise du crédit, c’est évidemment là la source des difficultés des trois grands de Détroit: ils ne construisent plus des automobiles correspondant aux besoins du consommateur. Les améliorations apportées chez Ford semblent avoir permis à cette entreprise de s’en tirer un peu mieux que GM et Chrysler. Mais est-ce que c’est trop peu trop tard pour l’industrie nord-américaine de l’auto? Pour ma part, j’ai conduit des japonaises toute ma vie. Je trouve les automobiles américaines mal conçues, mal construites. La direction et la suspension sont molles. La finition est de mauvaise qualité. Préjugés ou réalité? Qu’en dites-vous?

Des téléviseurs branchés aux téléphones intelligents, le Consumer Electronics Show a été marqué par des nouveautés qui font de plus en plus de place au contenu vidéo tiré d'Internet. Pour en lire plus...

U.S. Economy: Retail Sales Drop in October by Most on Record By Shobhana Chandra and Bob Willis Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Retail sales and prices of goods imported to the U.S. dropped by the most on record, signaling the economy may be in its worst slump in decades. Purchases fell 2.8 percent in October, the fourth straight decline, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Labor Department figures showed import prices dropped 4.7 percent, pointing to a rising danger of deflation, and a private report said consumer confidence this month remained near the lowest level since 1980. ``The weakness in growth is intensifying and inflation pressures have evaporated,'' said James O'Sullivan, a senior economist at UBS Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut, who accurately projected the decline in sales. ``Deflation is a word that will be increasingly used over the coming months.'' Spending may continue to falter as mounting job losses, plunging stocks and falling home values leave household finances in tatters. Retailers from Best Buy Co. to J.C. Penney Co. are cutting profit forecasts ahead of the year-end holiday shopping season, when many stores do most of their business. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said at a conference today in Frankfurt that continuing strains in financial markets and recent economic data ``confirm that challenges remain.'' The Fed chief said central bankers worldwide ``stand ready to take additional steps'' as warranted. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News predict the Fed will lower its benchmark interest rate to a record 0.5 percent by March from the current 1 percent. Policy makers next gather in Washington Dec. 16. Stocks, Treasuries Stocks fell and Treasuries rose. The Standard & Poor's 500 Stock Index dropped 1.8 percent to 894.09 at 10:11 a.m. in New York. Yields on benchmark 10-year notes fell to 3.75 percent from 3.85 percent late yesterday. The Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment was 57.9 in November compared with 57.6 last month. The measure averaged 85.6 in 2007. Retail sales were expected to fall 2.1 percent, according to the median forecast of 73 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Purchases in September were revised down to show a 1.3 percent decrease compared with an originally reported 1.2 percent drop. ``The September-October credit jolt to the economy is showing up in all of the numbers now,'' Ellen Zentner, a senior U.S. macroeconomist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. ``We're expecting the worst recession, possibly, post-World War II.'' Worse Than Estimates Retailers have now logged the longest string of monthly declines since the Commerce Department's comparable data series began in 1992. Excluding automobiles, purchases decreased 2.2 percent, almost twice as much as the 1.2 percent decline anticipated and also the worst performance on record. Declines were broad based as furniture, electronics, clothing and department stores all showed loses. Demand at automobile dealerships and parts stores plunged 5.5 percent after falling 4.8 percent in September. Car sales are among the most affected as banks make it harder to borrow. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson this week said the government will shift the focus of the second half of the $700 billion rescue plan from buying mortgage assets to unclogging consumer credit. President-elect Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress are under pressure to push through another stimulus plan even before the new administration takes over. Filling-station sales decreased 13 percent, also the most ever, in part reflecting a $1-per-gallon drop in the average cost of gasoline. Excluding gas, retail sales fell 1.5 percent. Gain at Restaurants Sales at furniture, electronics, clothing, sporting goods and department stores were also among the losers. Restaurants, grocery stores and a miscellaneous category were the only areas that showed a gain. ``Since mid-September, rapid, seismic changes in consumer behavior have created the most difficult climate we've ever seen,'' Brad Anderson, chief executive officer of Best Buy, said in a Nov. 12 statement. The Richfield, Minnesota-based electronics chain said sales in the four months through February 2009 will decline more than it previously estimated. Rival Circuit City Stores Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection this week. Macy's Inc., Target Corp. and Gap Inc. were among the chains that reported same-store sales dropped in October, while shoppers searching for discounts on groceries gave sales a lift at Wal- Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer. Nordstrom yesterday cut its profit forecast for the third time this year. Worst Season J.C. Penney, the third-largest U.S. department-store company, today forecast earnings that trailed analysts' estimates and posted its fifth straight quarterly profit decline as shoppers cut spending on home goods and jewelry. Shoppers are pulling back as the labor market slumps. The unemployment rate jumped to 6.5 percent in October, the highest level since 1994. Employers cut more than a half million workers from payrolls in the past two months. The longest expansion in consumer spending on record ended last quarter, causing the economy to shrink at a 0.3 percent annual pace. The economic slump will intensify this quarter and persist into the first three months of 2009, making it the longest downturn since 1974-75, economists forecast in a Bloomberg survey conducted from Nov. 3 to Nov. 11. Excluding autos, gasoline and building materials, the retail group the government uses to calculate gross domestic product figures for consumer spending, sales decreased 0.5. The government uses data from other sources to calculate the contribution from the three categories excluded. To contact the reporter on this story: Shobhana Chandra in Washington schandra1@bloomberg.net

Le prix de l'essence a eu une influence sur les habitudes de consommation des Américains. C'est ce qu'indique une étude menée par le Consumer Reports National Research Center. Pour en lire plus...

Canadian health care system lags behind Europe, study says The Canadian Press January 21, 2008 at 2:57 AM EST, The Globe & Mail (online edition) OTTAWA — Canada ranks 23rd out of 30 countries surveyed in the “consumer friendliness” of its health care system, says a new report compiled by European and Canadian researchers. The study undertaken by a pair of private think tanks — the Winnipeg-based Frontier Centre for Public Policy and Brussels-based Health Consumer Powerhouse — measured Canada's performance against that of 29 European nations. It found Canada scored well in terms of medical outcomes, a category that included factors such as heart attack and cancer survival rates and data on a range of other medical procedures. But the Canadian score plunged in areas such as waiting times for treatment, range of services available, ready access to new drugs and some diagnostic tools, and the legal rights of patients. Austria was at the top of the list, with an overall score of 806 of a possible 1,000 points on a complex statistical grid. The next five finishers in order were the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Germany and Sweden. Canada was three-quarters of the way down the list with 550 points out of 1,000, a showing that was better than countries like Latvia and Poland but not as good as the U.K., Czech Republic, Spain and Estonia. The study is billed as the first annual Euro-Canada Health Consumer Index, although it consists essentially of plugging Canadian data into European rankings that have been published for the last several years. Comparing Canada with Europe, rather than with its next-door neighbour the United States, offers a better picture of the state of national health care, say the study's sponsors. “The Canadian health care system — publicly financed and governed — has much more in common with most European systems than it does with the American one,” said a joint statement by Johan Hjertqvist of Health Consumer Powerhouse and Peter Holle, president of the Frontier Centre. They promised another report later this year comparing Canadian provinces with each other to “support further debate” about health care in Canada. Mr. Hjertqvist has made a name in his native Swede, and across Europe, as an advocate of a greater role for private medical services within an overall system that is publicly funded. The Frontier Centre describes itself as non-partisan and independent, but critics say it has a decidedly right-wing philosophy. The organization was at the centre of a controversy last year when it was given a contract by the Conservative government of Stephen Harper to study electoral reform — even though it was already on record as favouring the current first-past-the-post system. The consumer health study notes that “no one country excels across the entire range” of statistical indicators used to compile the rankings. It notes, however, that countries with “pluralistic financing” — systems that feature multiple insurers and a for-profit component — generally score high on issues like patient rights and access to medical records and information. By contrast, countries like Canada suffer from an “expert-driven attitude” that isn't as consumer friendly. The thumbnail verdict on Canada is: “Solid outcomes, moderate to poor provision levels and very poor scores with regard to patients' rights and accessibility.” The study also notes that Canada spends more on health care than any other country surveyed, even though it obtains poorer than average results. That means Canada ranks dead last out of 30 on yet another statistical grid called the Bang for the Buck index.