Rising costs, intense competition from Bajaj Auto dented net margin, stock price.

FORBES: Magazine Article

For years Goodyear had chased volume, selling low-margin tires to auto manufacturers and replacement tires to the middle of the market.

FORBES: Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

That gave Great Wall, at least temporarily, the global auto industry's fattest gross profit margin at 28 percent, according to Bernstein Research analyst Max Warburton.

NPR: China's Struggling Automakers Jump On SUV Boom

Auto dealers have notched improvements in net profit margin from 2008, when they were barely at break even, to 2012, when they were approximately 3.8 percent, according to preliminary estimates by Sageworks.

FORBES: Auto dealers push back on required renovations

And water handling is profitable: This side of ITT enjoys a pretax, preinterest profit margin of roughly 15%, versus auto's 5%.

FORBES: Muckraker