"Big Three" of the Auto Industry: Analyzing and Predicting Performance

Abstract

We analyze the financial performance of three leading automobile manufacturers (referred to as the "Big Three"). The analysis incorporates the use of leading finance web sites with traditional and newer financial ratio methods. The end purpose of the analysis is to estimate future profitability of the "Big Three." From a pedagogical standpoint, the paper offers instructors a skill that will enable them to impart knowledge of an analytical approach to investing. This approach can be used by business students and practitioners alike when analyzing a firm's performance. As a byproduct, this paper includes a class exercise that goes beyond just the "X's and O's" of financial ratio analysis by requiring students to integrate their financial ratio findings with online sources offering economic and industrial analysis and analysts' predications.