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Chrysler, led by sales of its Jeep nameplate, was among the biggest sales gainers in November.
By Joseph Szczesny, The Detroit Bureau
In the best showing in months, sales of new cars, trucks and crossovers climbed to an annualized rate of 13.5 million during November as virtually all the domestic, Asian and European brands posted double-digit sales increases.
In fact, several makers — including both Audi and Hyundai—announced all-time records for November.
But the impact of the strong monthly showing is being felt well beyond the auto industry. Following a solid October, when sales were driven by so-called pent-up demand, many analysts feared the November numbers would slide along with the rest of the economy. But the strong showing in the automotive market suggests there’s more life to the overall economy than many had anticipated.
Among Detroit’s Big Three, Chrysler Group LLC reported a 45 percent increase in sales last month while Ford Motor Co. posted a 13 percent increase, including a 20 percent increase in its retail sales. General Motors Co. sales increased 7 percent on strong retail sales.
Hyundai, Kia, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen/Audi , Mercedes-Benz also all reported increases of 40 percent or better, while Nissan, Mazda, Suzuki, Porsche and the BMW Group had to be content with double-digit increases.
For the first time in months Toyota as posted a sales increase. Though only a modest 2.4 percent gain it was nonetheless the first sign that the company was beginning to work its way out of a production crisis triggered by the March earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan.
Only Honda reported a decline among major makers, a dip of 4.5 percent overall, with sales of Honda brand vehicles down nearly 10 percent. The maker had been hoping for a stronger November but was slammed by Thai flooding which cut into the availability of key models.
The increase in overall industry sales tells only part of the story. Automotive data tracking service TrueCar.com estimated the average transaction price for light vehicles in the United States rose to $30,317 in November 2011, up $1,163, or 4.0 percent, from November 2010 and up $164, or 0.5 percent, from October 2011.
“Transaction prices have been creeping back up after a slight decline in August with average new vehicle prices (now back) over $30K,” said Jesse Toprak, VP of Industry Trends and Insights for TrueCar.com. “We are going to see automakers really push incentives in December to finish the year off strong,” he forecast.
Among the biggest gainers, Chrysler is crediting new products and a string of awards those vehicles have won in recent months.
“With sales up 45 percent, November was another huge month for the Chrysler Group and our highest year-over-year sales gain of 2011,” said Reid Bigland, President and CEO/Dodge Brand and Head of U.S. Sales.
Sales of the new 2012 Chrysler 200 midsize sedan increased 496 percent in November compared with sales of its predecessor the same month a year ago. The Jeep Wrangler set another monthly sales record, the SUV’s sixth-consecutive monthly record this year.
Meanwhile, GM reported its sales increased 7 percent as it delivered more than 180,000 cars and trucks during November.
Retail deliveries were up 15 percent compared with the same month a year ago and accounted for 77 percent of GM sales. Deliveries to fleets were down 14 percent.
“We are seeing a broad spectrum of customers return to the market,” said Don Johnson, vice president of U.S. sales operations. “Truck sales showed a very solid increase, as we expected, but the momentum building behind our most fuel-efficient vehicles was even stronger.”
So far this year, all four GM brands have increased their sales compared with the same period a year ago, on the strength of double-digit increases in retail sales.
Ford brand retail sales were higher for most products, with double-digit gains posted by Fiesta, Fusion, Escape, Explorer, F-Series, Econoline and Ranger.
“With gasoline prices continuing to track higher than last year, consumers continue to value fuel economy – no matter what size or kind of vehicle best meets their needs,” said Ken Czubay, Ford vice president, U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service. “Most Ford products deliver best-in-class fuel economy and provide customers an opportunity to choose what best works for them – EcoBoost technology or electrified vehicles.”
Ford plans to build 675,000 vehicles in the first quarter of 2012, up 3 percent compared with first quarter 2011.
Notably, the November sales figures suggest that buyers are returning to virtually all key market segments. The subcompact Versa might have been Nissan’s driver, with sales rising 38 percent, but the Japanese maker reports SUV and truck sales were up 32 percent.
“We are seeing a broad spectrum of customers return to the market,” noted GM’s Johnson. Industry officials gave at least some of the credit to the increased availability of credit. But there also appears to be less concern about fuel costs as pump prices hold steady or even decline in most parts of the country,
Though consumers might have been getting ready for the upcoming holiday gift season, Hyundai officials said they experienced a strong surge in demand on post-Thanksgiving Black Friday. The maker’s volume was up 22 percent for November, giving it an all-time record for the month.
Audi, meanwhile, ended the month with a 15.2 percent gain — which brought its year-to-date sales total to 104,906. That, in turn, beat the German maker’s all-time record total of 101,629 which it recorded for all of 2010.
Up 40.1 percent, Audi’s sibling Volkswagen brand was another solid performer for November, with a 40.7 percent year-over-year increase.
“November has been a tremendous month for Volkswagen,” said Jonathan Browning, President and CEO, Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. “With the 2012 Passat named Motor Trend’s Car of the Year, anticipated improvements in J.D. Power’s Sales Satisfaction Index and once again double-digit sales growth, the proof points of German Engineering and our commitment to the U.S. market are all starting to come together.”
Paul A. Eisenstein contributed to this report.
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Well good for them. Wonder how many pay cash, how many mortgage the next 6-7 years of their life away on humongous car payments. Good luck.
It's good for the economy, it creates jobs, it's a transfer of wealth from the buyer to the dealership, salesman, automaker, parts manufacturers, insurance companies, etc.
As for a humongous payment, it's all relative to your income level. A $400 payment at 0% for 5 years seems like a no brainer. It's like paying cash, but using the banks money.
We are a consumer society.
Thank you for your post. You have "nailed" it. Yes indeed, after signing for that average priced car, quoted at $30,317, (an insane sum in itself) one may have the pleasure of adding the interest charges amortized over 3 to 7 years. The long and the short is after that time period of X # of years, what did that automobile really cost? Then you can add regular maintenance, new tires, brake work, etc. If it breaks down after the warranty........more out of pocket. Then there is the required insurance, annual tags, should I mention MPG and the price of gasoline?
Many are able to write a check for the car they want. That ability puts one in a stronger negotiating position when it comes to the price. Another thought is to keep the old ride and every month sock away what would be ones projected monthly payment for that new dream car.
You realize that car loans are not mortgages, right? There's a big difference between the two.
Obama 2012!! And stop rooting against the economy you unpatriotic teabaggers!!!!
Mr. Cool, I have to correct you on one thing: CASH IS NO LONGER KING! I'm a car sales "consultant" for the past 18-months. Dealerships would prefer you finance a vehicle because we get a couple of hundred dollars from the bank. Therefore, cash doesn't affect if you get a bigger discount if you pay cash. If you can afford to payt cash for a new car, congrats. For the rest of the world, take advantage of the great interest rates. We're offering 0.9% through New Year's.
Buying a new automobile if you can afford it is fine. However, paying more is not smart and in the long run not good for the economy. It artificially inflates car prices, which artificially inflate insurance rates, taxes and whatever other fees and charges that go along with buy a vehicle in today's world.
Buy a new car if you are able, but for the good of ALL, be smart about it. Paying more (or "buying "more automobile") when you don't have to is stupid. Period!
I believe in a related story a few days earlier, they reported that average car loan balances are sharply up in recent months. People are jumping right back on the debt merry-go-round!
I hope to avoid buying a new car for another 5 years or so. But then again, I hardly drive anymore. I have a 99 roadster with 34,000 miles on it. At this rate, it will be 30 years old before it hits the 100,000 mile mark...
And yea, it's paid for. Debt-free is the way to be. But if it makes all you debtors out there feel better, I'll say what a nice new ride you have. Being in debt has to be worth something, if not just bragging rights...
$400 a month for 5 years ???????????????????? No thanks ! Jake must be a car salesman !
Payments for cars used to be for 3 years MAX.
Now, it's up to 7 years. THEY COST TOO DAMNN MUCH !!
The next bubble in this country
A Jake Reyna link scroll down a few comments to where his link is.
They talk about subprime and deep subprime auto loans !!!!!!!
The average car on the road is 7 yrs old. If anyone wants to buy a new car, now is the time to do it. Who knows where interest rates will be in 3 or 4 yrs? At the dealership I work for, it is the high dollar units that are going. There are still a lot of people out there ready and able to buy them.
Cars are also much better built than they used to be. Even during the golden era of the American automobile people were constantly working on their cars tweaking the engine. They are much more reliable and it shows by the continuing age increases of the average car.
Car salemen/women are after one thing, M.O.N.E.Y. I've heard that same old line, "Now is a good time to buy" for years. If you buy a new car, you lose thousands of dollars when the key is turned and driven off the parking lot and it's a dead loss, always has been, always will be.
Buy a car if you can. Great! Have fun, but DON'T finance it. Financing is just a way to pay more for something. Save your money until you have enough to buy it outright, then start saving again for the next one. You'll have a lot more money that way.
Beev I can tell you no one pays cash anymore, unless they own a printing press. Oh wait that would be the fed.
About 30% of all home sales are cash. Do a google search for validation, you don't have to believe me. How does this relate to car sales. If you can afford to pay cash for a house, odds are you can afford to pay cash for a car.
Load O crap... My parents paid cash for their most recent new car. My boss paid cash for his new car just 6 months ago.
It was already said, and I've heard different figures, but 1 in 5 sales of homes today in the US are paid for in cash. Investors are buying properties to rent and make money off of the hot rental market.
Yeah, nobody pays for anything in cash these days...
Most people with cash are also smart enough to buy a late-model used car, and save 20% or more off the price of a new one. So yea, the cash crowd rarely shows up at a new car dealer, which is why car dealers advertise monthly prices, not overall prices.
I paid cash for my last four cars. My neighbors pay cash for theirs. But we are all over 50 and not kids anymore.
Thanks for playing, though.
The debt Industry HAS to keep hammering the normative cue that debt is a normal condition, so that people willingly chain themselves to houses and cars.
I'll always go with the used cars; 2-5 years old and never regreted but one, which was a T-Bird.
Let someone else buy the car new, then you pick it up later after they trade it.
Depends how long you keep it. If you want your car forever, then I'd buy new. You'll never have to wonder what kind of maintenance it received before you go it and you'll never wonder about the boogers on the floor or the spit on the steering wheel either (watched a show about this once). If you only keep your car for a few years, then used is probably smarter.
And yes, I paid cash for my last (new) car, too. Probably get used next time though, despite the bodily fluids.
I don't need a car right now just got my car paid off 7 year contract, It's a Toyota Camry XLE V6 I hope it last a few years when it's time to buy a new car, I think it will be used, I wont pay the price of a new car, as much as thay are.
It appears that the pent up demand for new cars will initially come from the higher end vehicles. As the middle class of America recovers, then I think you will see the demand for lower end "value" platforms rise as well. For the auto industry to get back to normal, i. e., 15+ million cars per year, then the middle class in the US will need to recover.
"higher end"? They state here Hyundai and Audi hit records. Since when is Hyundai a higher end car?
True, they are leasing one model for 700/month but they don't qualify as high end to me.
OneJulia,
Hyundai luxury cars are crafted by the hands of South Korean artisans. They are some of the best vehicles on the road and provide great value to wealthy Americans that can afford them. If the Big 3 can craft high end luxury cars, like Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Jaguar, Lexus, Infinity, ans some others, then their sales will grow in America as well. Until then, the Big 3 cars will compete with used cars from the brands above.
HYundai has a $65,000 car.
Enjoy your gas cow while you can. Soon OPEC will triple rates on oil will be $250 a barrel and gas $10 a gallon! But then Americans never learn.
The Wall Street Journal said today on the front page that Americans are again loving their SUVs. WSJ said as long as gasoline is below $4 a gallon it doesn't seem to upset SUV sales.
This is probably true, but that doesn't make it a smart move. 70% of Americans have credit card debt. That doesn't make Credit Card debt a good idea. 50% of Americans are overweight. That doesn't make obesity healthy.
The price of gas, adjusted for inflation, actually remains fairly flat over the last 50 years, with the exceptions being very short-term spikes and valleys - such as the $5 a gallon gas we had under Bush or the 89-cent gas we had under Clinton. Today, I see gas here in Georgia for $3.15 and I think $2.99 is right around the corner. Adjusted for inflation, this is actually cheaper than the dollar-a-gallon I had in high school.
That being said, I plan on driving slower, saving gas, and the next car I get (years from now) will have to get at least 30-40 mph.
Why? Because I want to retire and goof-off, not work hard to pay for gas. And now that I am debt free, one of my major expenses (after taxes, of course) is gasoline and utility bills. Putting $70 a week into a gas tank is no fun. I'd rather put in $30 and spend the rest on booze. But hey, everyone has different priorities, right?
There should be a law that people have to sign a piece of paper when they buy an SUV stating that when gas prices go up to $5 a gallon again (and they will, someday) they are legally barred from appearing on the local TeeVee News show saying "Golly gee-whiz, them gas prices sure is high!"
I'd call it the "No B*tching act of 2011". Buy your gas hog, but don't whine about it when it all goes horribly wrong!
The article said fuel efficiency was driving many sales. They may be buying SUVs, but they're the more efficient models. Some of those hybrids are getting pretty good mileage these days.
They can have the "sixty incredibly easy monthly payments of------" , too. Better them than me. I have a 2006 paid-for F-150, and I don't intend to get a new vehicle anytime soon.
And you get maybe 15 MPG if you're lucky.
BS Detector, even a new truck only gets if your lucky 23 MPG. When compaired to a monthly payment for a new truck over the next 5 yrs. I think he is doing just fine....... NOBRAINER....
@ BS Detector, I own a 2006 F-150 4WD with the 5.4 and FX-4 package. In mixed driving I am averaging 18 mpg and get 22 on a trip. It is all in how you choose to drive them.
I have a 87 Jeep Comanche 4wd inline 6 4.0 with 265,000 miles on it. I get 16 in town and 20 on the road. Near as I can figure I get about 12 in 4wd in the hills. Was thinking about the Cash for Clunkers. But the closest thing that I could find that qualified for was a small 4 cyl 4wd Chevy at 18 mpg. The v6 engines got about the same or LESS then my 265,000 mile 4.0. So I said screw it I'll keep my Jeep.
Unemployment down, record Black Friday sales, record auto sales...
Hmmmmm....the cyclical economic upswing sure came in at bad time for the GOP!
Abrover - and those corrections will be called out as the Republican's failure to create jobs. Hilarious!
Ren, your wrong. My husband and I bought a brand new GMC truck. We paid cash for it and we don't own a printing press. If you save and have paid off your older vehicle. You can do it!
"credit rating agency Experian Automotive reports today that the ratio of subprime auto loans made to new-vehicle buyers in the second quarter increased to 40.8 percent compared with 37.2 percent in the second quarter of 2010. As auto companies and the economy continue to strengthen, Experian said it is becoming easier for customers with less-than-perfect credit to get access to an auto loan."
hmm....I wonder how this will end up...don't worry the taxpayer will bail out the lenders again.
Schaumburg, Ill., Dec. 1, 2011 — Experian Automotive today announced that lenders are increasing loans to credit-challenged customers. According to its quarterly automotive credit analysis, 21.87 percent of all new vehicle loans went to customers in the nonprime, subprime and deep subprime categories. The largest percentage increases were in the two highest-risk segments — deep subprime, which jumped 17.3 percent, and subprime, which jumped 17.8 percent. Nonprime loan share jumped by 12.5 percent.
“The automotive finance industry is continuing a steady climb to good solid footing,” said Melinda Zabritski, director of automotive credit for Experian Automotive. “Consumers continue to do a better job of repaying loans, while at the same time, many of the most risky loans from 2007 and 2008 are now off the books. These factors combine to lower the total volume of dollars at risk and give lenders more confidence in loosening their overall lending standards.”
http://press.experian.com/United-States/Press-Release/subprime-automotive-loans-increase-in-q3-2011.aspx
Sounds like the housing bubble all over again ! No more bailouts period !
Not a peep in the article or on this site about GM buying back Chevy Volts owners fear may catch fire. The article points out new car/truck prices have risen above $30,000 and that make the dealers very happy. What happens to the $7,500 the government pays toward a Volt when the Volt is returned? Is it returned to the government? Is it applied to the purchase of another GM vehicle? What a racket. I may be able to buy a Volt today, return it tomorrow, and apply the $7,500 to the a car I really want. There isn't a chance the government created a way to track this. It's not their money. Strange how the article discusses price creep past $30,000 as a big issue while the Volt sells for $40,000.
This is historical but true. The majority of car buyers are not concerned about the total cost of a car they are only concerned what the month payment will be. Most car sales are financed by a lease or a loan term of over 5 or sometimes 10 years. Also you can structure a lease payment by what you are willing to pay per month based on your credit and ability to pay off the residual balance at the end of the lease. Cars purchased by governmental agencies are included in these totals as well as business entities that can write off the purchase price over the apporved IRS terms. Interest rates are low, new car models are out and businesses want to purchase before year end for tax purposes. So a surge in auto sales is really no big deal.
OK...you people do realize that for America to recover economically, people have to BUY things? And American-made goods in particular? So if Americans are buying American-made cars and lots of them, this is a good thing for our economy and keeps people employed.
I agree to disagree. Your first sentence is true, we do need to buy things to get the economy churning. But to just limit it to American made products is not going to help it at all. Most American car companies build their cars in Canada (GM, Chrysler) and have parts shipped from Mexico and even Europe. So less than 10% of the cars are actually from America. So what constitutes an American-made car? Hell, a Hyundai Sonata is more American than a Dodge Charger.
Actually the people who can in fact afford to pay cash easily almost always finance or lease. There are far better places to park your cash than in a car or truck. With finance rates under 3% and subsidized lease rates at .25% ( yes that is a decimal, subsidized rates are 1/4 of 1 percent ) it makes no sense to pay cash.
Been in the business for 40 years, the wealthy do NOT pay cash for cars and trucks.
BTW truck sales and business use car sales will jump in December because it may be the last chance to get 100% depreciation against taxable income in the year of purchase. For many people that is a 30% subsidy from the federal government ( us taxpayers ). WIll probably end the 31st of Dec, act fast ! Call your accountant and check it out !
With GM lagging all others in sales gains I wonder if GM's president still thinks most americans have forgotten all about their bail out and wiping out all their stockholders equity as he said last week.
The one-percent can afford to buy new cars. Underwhelmed. Rest of us having trouble paying mortgages and buying food staples. Bah Humbug.
30k or more for a new car. I remember in 1965 my parents paid around $2500 for a new one.
In 1960 the average cost of new car was $2600.00 and by 1969 was $3270.00
In 1970 the average cost of new car was $3900.00 and by 1979 was $5770.00
In 1980 the average cost of new car was $7210.00 and by 1989 was $15400.00
In 1990 the average cost of new car was $16000.00 and by 1999 was $21100.00.
I do not believe are wages have increased to balance out car price increases. Possibly this helps explain why so many are in debt.
Cars are much cheaper to produce today, but the customer expects a lot more. You start in 1960. The cars today are light years ahead of those cars. I know, I owned many of them. And I have fond memories of them. A few were great cars. Most weren't. Today you can buy a new Hyundai with fuel injection, ABS, air bags, power windows, power mirrors, air conditioning, and fancy radio for $15,000. It will start in any weather and take you where you want to go in safety and comfort. That cannot be said about your 1963 something. You may not remember tires with tubes, vacuum operated wipers, and 6 volt electric systems. The cars being offered now are the result of manufacturers trying to lure customers away from another brand by offering more. And then the customers came to expect it all the time.
Gasoline in the early 60's frequently sold for 22 or 23 cents per gallon. Do you remember the days of 4 gallons for a dollar?
More to your point......wages have increased since the 1960's. Possibly they have not kept pace with the price of new cars. But cars have changed overall, not simply in price, so a comparison may be invalid.
What is going on with car sales? 1. Cars last much longer. 200,000 miles is easy today if you change you oil once in a while. 2. There are about 20,000,000 people out of work. And there are not any jobs on the horizon. But if they could get jobs, and only 5% bought new cars, new car sales would jump by 1,000,000 units. That's a big deal. So we're back to the same old story of needing to manufacture stuff here.
I am perfectly aware I selected Hyundai as an example. What does GM, or Ford, or Chrysler make that goes anywhere near it in price? Nothing. Why?
The wages have NOT kept up with inflation. This benefits the government as it can stay in debit with low interests bonds and people can borrow into debt easily. Taxes are higher for higher income earners, the government makes more in taxes. I am retired and I can't get squat for any investment in CDs or Treasury notes. Since our currency is not linked to gold but only based on "faith in the government", inflation has taken off.
My dad purchased a diesel Mercedes-Benz car for $4500 NEW in the 60's. Now the E class starts at $51,000 without leather upholstery.
Sure the percent increase looks good..... After all your comparing to historic lows..... Why anyone would want to buy a GM or Chrysler is beyond me..... The unions killed those 2 and Obama just helped move it along, screwing the investors in them real good..... Now we are stuck with worthless stock in stead of cash to pay for a large part of the loans given to them.....
OHGuy: I think the stockholders of GM and Chrysler were really shafted. The government doesn't care if the small investor looses his money but they bail out car companies. Car companies are to be saved from their bad decisions to make cars that people don't want to buy? Is that why Government Motors still has nothing to compare to a Mercedes E class yet can make a SUV that starts for $61,000?
Actually, if you compare the price of a fully loaded Caprice in 1968 (with air conditioning, power windows, locks, cruise control, etc.) the price is about the same, adjusted for inflation, as a new Chevy Malibu.
And the Malibu has a zillion airbags, a decent stereo with CD player, onstar, radial tires, anti-lock brakes, and a host of other features not even available on a 1968 car.
If you factor in inflation, prices are about the same, today. But an "entry level" car today is far better than a fully loaded Cadilliac from "back in the day".
Power windows, locks, cruise control, air conditioning, power steering, brakes, stereo automatic transmission - most entry level cars come with most of these features today, plus a host of safety features.
So it is hard to compare prices of cars today with back then. You can't buy a stripped Chevy Biscayne with a six cylinder, two speed, no stove, no organ (heater and radio delete). They just don't make cars like that anymore. And that's probably a good thing, too.
Robert I was going to say the same thing. Yes wages have not kept up with inflation, but cars are a very poor example. Cost per value wise cars are much cheaper today than everything before. The biggest driver of inflation over the past 50 years is the price of homes and the price of health care. It doesn't take much of a decoupling to cause far reaching implications.
cornmeal........Chrysler was not a publicly owned corporation. You could not and cannot buy shares of stock. Chrysler was owned by a bunch of rich private investors ( Dan Quayle was one of them). There was really no good reason to bail out Chrysler at all. They gave privately owned Chrysler billions of loans in the Fall of 2008 and then those loans were wiped out in bankruptcy so never had to be repaid. More money was loaned to Chrysler to get them started up again ( actually I believe that money was in fact repaid, but not the first loans from 2008 ). US dollars helped restart Chrysler which has been taken over by Fiat and is now a foreign owned company. No public stockholders lost a penny in the Chrysler bankruptcy.
GM also got billions in the Fall of 2008 which they never paid back ( and are not required to ). They brag about paying back their loans to US, but the loans they talk about are those that were given later, in 2009 to fund the bankruptcy reorganization, not the ones given in 2008 during the Bush administration. A lot of the loans were paid back via stock in the new GM and the government has since sold off about half of that stock .
Ford saw the disaster coming and borrowed everything they could BEFORE the credit markets shut down. The good news is that they did not require a bailout from taxpayers, the bad news is that they still owe a lot of what they borrowed because their loans were not wiped out in bankruptcy like GM's and Chrysler's.
You have to compare apples to apples. In fact the cars have gone up far less than wage inflation, it is just that they have so much more content and options made standard that it is difficult to make a valid comparison. In 1960 power steering and power brakes were considered luxury options, heaters had just become standard, AM Radio was considered fancy if it had push buttons, aside from luxury cars, people did not by air conditioning and leather was unheard of in anything but luxury cars. Now everone expects heated and air conditioned leather seats, even in trucks, navigation systems, computers, backup cameras, 8 air bags, anti roll technology, anti-lock brakes, blind spot avoidance systems, radar controlled collision avoidance systems, tires that last 60,000 miles and cars that last 300,000 miles. Back in the 60's and through the 80's the steel was so poor that it rusted through in just a few years, now cars last decades, even in the moist salty climates. Todays car is "Not Your Father's Oldsmobile". In 1960 new cars were warranteed for 90 days ( Ford extended the warranty to 12/12 in 61) , now they are covered for 6 to 10 years !
This is bad news for Republicans, who want the whole economy to go into the toilet purely for kicking out Obama.
Talk about patriotism...NOT! More like treason, which Republicans are known for (e.g. outing Valerie Plame).
VOTE CONSERVATIVE 2012
What economy? I'll be the first to flush it...
This article makes it sound like the economy is doing stellar, when it really isn't.
We'll have to wait to see if these "record sales" continues. It'd be a bit more interesting if they broke these figures down by the following categories: Lease, Finance, Cash which would paint a much better picture.
Although there are folks who can purchase a $20-$30k vehicle in cash (in that 99% category), once that number goes above $40k, it's a fact that 60+% are Leased, with the next in line being Financed and lastly Cash.
Let gas prices get back to the $4+ a gallon mark come May 2012 and we'll see how well things are going.
VOTE CONSERVATIVE 2012
Paying More? We've been paying more since the American tax payer bailed out the auto industry just to give it the unions and stick it to the stock holders.
This is a travesty yet MSDNC pumps it up like some success story.
Has anyone ever seen a Chevy Volt on the road?
Pontiac, Hummer, Oldsmobile, Saturn, Plymouth...where are these companies now?
On the road? No. But I've seen three Chevy Volt's -- the same three Chevy Volts -- sitting on the lot at my local Chevrolet dealer for the past few months. No takers at $45 G's, apparently.
Pontiac, Hummer, Olds and Saturn were all "divisions" of GM. Unprofitable divisions that were shut down. This was really sad in the case of Saturn, which in the early 90's was being hailed as the future of GM. Some future!
Plymouth was a division of Chrysler that was closed down since Plymouths were basically re-badged Chrysler models with a slightly different trim and interior fabric.
And don't forget Mercury, which Ford shut down just a couple years ago.
This uptick in sales isn't a bad thing, but it probably doesn't represent any kind of major trend. Just a bump on a graph somewhere. Unemployment needs to drop back below at least 7% before auto sales start taking off. Just look at the price of a used car right now. Very, very high. In a good economy, used cars are cheap because there are more of them around and more people can opt for new (or trade in more often), depressing price and demand for used cars. In a bad economy, fewer new cars are sold, which reduces the number of new cars transitioning into the used car market (shrinking supply), pushing up prices, at the same time buyers are more often shopping used in order to save money (or because they need exotic sub-prime local financing because a national lender won't touch them). When used cars get cheap(er) again, then the automakers can celebrate.
Dr Stalin
Any relation to Joe?
About your comment; Pontiac, Hummer, Oldsmobile, Saturn, Plymouth...where are these companies now?
The answer is: They went the way of the dinosours, you know the same direction the conservative movement in America is headed. I know this might be hard for you to accept but the vast majority of Americans are not mean spirited, lying conservative jerks.
They drive it off the lot and lose 20% of value; yet, they rent rather than buy a house because it may lose 20% of it's value over the short period but no more over the long term. In 5 years their car has lost 60%-70% of value but that's ok. The dumbing of America is complete!
I pay cash for any vehicle I buy, but not from money I have in the bank. I take out a (small) 401k loan (not making any money on my 401k anyway!) and buy a 15kish car that gets 30+ miles per gallon, and pay myself the interest over a 2 year loan instead of to the bank. (30k for a car, no way!)
This has been the case for the last 4 cars I've purchased (me, my wife, and 2 college kids)
During these up and down stock market days, I have all of my 401k in low interest secured holdings. The market is not growing, it just goes up and down, the DOW hovering around 12k. When it drops 3-5%, I put 25% of my 401k into a mutual fund. If it drops again, I put in another 25%, etc. As it rises I move it in chunks back into secure holdings.
I've managed to make 15% on my 401k this year following this strategy after spending the last few years staring at the same balance in my 401k doing nothing.
Who will get stuck with paying off these loans when the buyers can no longer make payments ! I hope Obama didn't put the taxpayer as cosigner.
How could that be? Oh, of course: many parts are made in other countries- and the dollar has fallen against their currencies.
Our purchase price must rise to compensate for the additional cost of manufacturing- and when, one might ask, will the cost of making it here achieve equity with the cost of making it there?
Why, when we're a third world country- at least, with regards to our middle class.
'That's the way a banana republic works, after all- only those at the top prosper- while all others suffer.
I guess I've stayed too long at the dance. I remember when a foreign sports car cost $3,000 which seemed like an insane price compared to an American car. Now that I think of it.............these new cars at $30,000 plus a pop are very nearly twice what I payed for my first condo in 1971. (sigh)
Amazing how so many unemployed car buyers are buying and paying more for them.
"average price,30k" over rated,over valued,and over priced,like everything else. What you fail to mention msnbc is how many of these cars were sold in their "overseas market"??