Comments on: Automaker Sales Continue Dismal Slide

Chrysler Sales Drop 53% In December; Ford, Toyota, Honda Not Much Better Amid U.S. Economic Angst

[ludvig1-2009]

I could use a new vehicle and I''ve always bought Chevy''s, Fords and Buicks in my 59 years of life, but I have to figure a way to keep from paying the local sales tax as I don''t feel like paying a bunch of goons driving around in cop cars taking pictures of me when I ride a bicycle down the street. As it is now, the only plan I have is to wait till my son gets ready to buy a new car in the town he lives in and buy his old one. I''m going to look into flying back to the east coast and see if I can get out of paying California and local sales tax by buying a car back there and driving it back here.

[roscoe2400-2009]

go get yourself a chevy tahoe for $57,000. how about a vehicle that gets 45 miles to the gallon, seats three, can carry 2x4''''s and some plywood, and sells for $6000. American innovation will always be snubbed as long as you have the big 3. oh, by the way, they''''ll be looking for more money in July.


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Posted by iphyt4u at 05:37 PM : Jan 05, 2009


they can''t survive until July--- they''ll burn through what they have by the end of March. Then they''re toast!

17.4 Billion straight down a rathole!

[debinok1]

You really think that your salary will drive the decision to sell cars? That''''s funny!

Posted by ErniePF
********************
I didn''t say MY salary I said the average wage. I do not feel a car should be priced as high as they are. It should not cost more to purchase transportation than it does to put a downpayment on a house.

[erniepf]

"When I can go to a car lot and see prices that actually fit the average wages in this country I MIGHT buy a new car. Until then I will drive the one I have that is paid off."

Posted by DebinOK1 at 05:51 PM : Jan 05, 2009

You really think that your salary will drive the decision to sell cars? That''s funny!

[debinok1]

When I can go to a car lot and see prices that actually fit the average wages in this country I MIGHT buy a new car. Until then I will drive the one I have that is paid off.

[renonv5]

Despite the gloomy news, consumer confidence in automakers seems to be up because the Treasury Department infused $17.4 billion into General Motors last week,

What an absolute crock of sh-t. If they really want to move vehicles, lower the price. Forget the "incentives", they are just a scam, similar to the 400% mark-up at the retail stores. I don''t believe consumers have ANY confidence whatsoever, not anymore.

[debinok1]

If GM would sell me a brand new Saturn VUE for, say, 15K, I''''''''d consider buying a new car.

New cars are ALL waaay overpriced.

But I guess the big three didn''''''''t get that message.

Posted by ErniePF
You really think they are going to knock $10,000 to $15,000 of the price. Thats funny.

Off not of. geesh.

[debinok1]

If GM would sell me a brand new Saturn VUE for, say, 15K, I''''d consider buying a new car.

New cars are ALL waaay overpriced.

But I guess the big three didn''''t get that message.

Posted by ErniePF
You really think they are going to knock $10,000 to $15,000 of the price. Thats funny.

[erniepf]

If GM would sell me a brand new Saturn VUE for, say, 15K, I''d consider buying a new car.

New cars are ALL waaay overpriced.

But I guess the big three didn''t get that message.

[iphyt4u]

go get yourself a chevy tahoe for $57,000. how about a vehicle that gets 45 miles to the gallon, seats three, can carry 2x4''s and some plywood, and sells for $6000. American innovation will always be snubbed as long as you have the big 3. oh, by the way, they''ll be looking for more money in July.

[bobnjersey]

[Look at what happened with the banks! NOTHING! We don''''t even know what they''''re doing with our money! They''''re certainly not lending it!]
[Posted by brannigon at 02:13 PM : Jan 05, 2009]

how do you know they''re not lending it?

[debinok1]

Full-size truck incentives ran from $7,000 to $8,000 in December, and Bragman expects that to continue all year as the economy fails to improve.

"You look in the paper and the deals on brand new GM pickups are astonishing," he said. "The discount that you get buys a heck of a lot of gasoline."


Amazing. Inacurate but amazing. I was on a GM lot just today. The deepest discount on their trucks was two thousand. Which means either they are not discounting them as deeply as they say or the dealerships are not passing that savings on to the consumer. Either way people are going in and going right back out because prices are not what was expected. Which is exactly what my boss did.

[glidescube]

Ok Obama! What are YOU going to do? More of your empty BS?

Wow such sour grapes!!!
We won you lost get over it
Now you know how we felt when the Reps stole teh election in 2000 except we have a legit reason to rejoice with Obama.
BTW .It was YOUR beloved Bush that approved the bail out

[rickwar]

DUH! Is that any big surprise? All the money thrown at the auto industry is just money wasted. This proves it! Its just the beginning! Why pump billions into the industry when people aren''''t buying? THEY CAN''''T!!! So what good is it? DUH! Help the consumer! No one is doing this! Ok Obama! What are YOU going to do? More of your empty BS?


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Posted by brannigon at 02:11 PM : Jan 05, 2009


Lets see, they have had the money about a week and a 1/2. Ah yes the instant gratification crowd and naysayers. Gotta love um.

Thrown at? Hmmm, last time I looked no one "throws" a "loan" with interest at anyone.

[usgeneral-2009]

SALES DO NOT MATTER.

All that matters in today''s distorted and perverted marketplace is the size of the federal government BAILOUT.

As long as dumbya and the d-crats are around, the bailouts will continue non-stop.

The stock markets have figured this out weeks ago - hence the on-going bailout rally, reflecting the fact that no big company or union in the US can fail as long as the taxpayer dollars keep flowing to them.

Capitalism is dead; long live marxism!

/

[whitemale08]

The fact that all auto sales are down shows that we don''t need more new cars in this country.

What we need is to use that ''machine-tool'' capacity to manufacture parts for power-grids, nuclear power plants, infrastructure, pipelines, mag-lev transportation etc.

However to accomplish this, Obama will have to scrap the Federal Reserve System by announcing bankruptcy proceedings under Congressional authority,

lead the way for a New Bretton Woods Conference to go back to fixed-exchange-rates, and nationalize our credit system with the a new stable currency: "U.S. Dollar" not Federal Reserve Notes.

If Obama did that along with an ''open-ended'' budget to develop our country like we are starting from scratch, then we have a chance to rebuild America.

If not, our country and modern civilization as a whole will breakdown to the point where we are ''hunter-gatherers'' again and there will be less then 2 billion people scattered throughout the earth.

[william_lerd]

Toyota? Sales down? Say it aint so! Must be their high labor costs huh?

[cbsnews55]

What the NEA needs to commit to is cranking out graduates with imagination, who are trained to think in terms of starting their own businesses in and right out of high school.

Posted by trogwolf at 02:15 PM : Jan 05, 2009

LOL...How do you train people to have imagination? Are you thinking of sending your kid to art school in order to get a business degree?

I think people already have imagination in this country. Hence, the bailouts to fix America in a time of need.

All the people against the bailouts, ask yourself this. If you had a savings account specifically for hard times, which most of you should have, would you continue to not use it if you came upon hard times?

[trogwolf]

Re: "Small Auto Dealer Beats Odds"
interviewer: "Why should GM be kept alive?"
Schumacher-Tilton: "Because the domestic Automotive industry is the foundation of this country." ...
interviewer: "What would happen to your business if, in two months, you woke up and General Motors said, ''We''re done. We can''t do this any more.''?"
Schumacher-Tilton: "I''d figure it out; just like my father did. He made flame-throwers for the U.S. Army - out of this dealership ... .
There were no cars being sold, for years. He figured it out."
interviewer: "And you''ll figure it out."
Schumacher-Tilton: "And I''ll figure it out."
Ms Schumacher-Tilton is mistaken. The domestic automotive industry has not been around for even half the life of this nation. It is far from being the foundation of this country. Rather, that "I''ll figure it out just like my father did" spirit is the foundation of this country. I''d like to see CBS News take on a story like "What the domestic automotive industry is the foundation of: the assembly-line, jobism mindset and the commitment of the NEA to crank out reliable little assembly line workers."
This commitment continues in spite of the fact that our entire economy ceased to be based on assembly-line production 40 years ago, when transistors replaced vacuum tubes and we put a man on the moon. What the NEA needs to commit to is cranking out graduates with imagination, who are trained to think in terms of starting their own businesses in and right out of high school.

[brannigon]

Look at what happened with the banks! NOTHING! We don''t even know what they''re doing with our money! They''re certainly not lending it!