Gas Prices making a dent ... finally!

What was the source of the article?

Thanks.

Brent

Associated Press, yesterday.

With Honda and Nissan leading the way!

With all that domestics still sold more vehicles than all of the various import brands combined. I addition Chevrolet earned the number one car brand spot over Toyota. GM still is number manufacture as well as first in total car sales and total truck sales. Ford in still the number two manufacture, as well as the number one in individual vehicle sales with the F150. The number one mid size and small SUV with the Explorer and the Escape. ;)

mike hunt

mike hunt

Only in this country. Anywhere else they don't stack up. The only thing that drives the big three's sales is huge, powerful, gas guzzling engines and sales to people who "just have to buy American." If you took those things away, why would you ever look past Toyota and Honda for a new vehicle?

I don't think you'll be able to take that "good feeling" of buying American away from people, especially the ignorant. But, over the long run, The Economist predicts that either GM or Ford will fold within the decade. Given the overhead that the big 3 run at, I wouldn't be surprised. These organizations are too ingrained into the gas guzzlers to adapt to change. Ford may learn to adapt with their earlier embrace of hybrid technology, but GM will almost certainly die a painful death before they even dent the fuel cell arena.

Apparently most buyers do not agree with you opinion, since GM is number one in the world as well

mike hunt

Too bad their bonds are too junky to be called junk bonds according to analysists.

Good guess but trucks still outsell cars in the US. Manufactures know what their customers want to buy and that is what they offer. GM and Ford offer small cars for those that want them but more buyers want the larger safer vehicles. Ford does offer a hybrid SUV but Ford buyer apparently are smart enough to know it is not worth $3,000 more than buying the same vehicle with a V6 and ALL of it fuel for three years for the same amount or less. With the V6 they not need to worry about replacing a battery pack some where down the road, for $4,000, in the hybrid.

Why do you think Toyota offers so many trucks and car based trucks? Buyers want trucks, Honda is even offering their Accord based van as a truck called the Ridgerunner. GM offers more high mileage vehicles than does Toyota and Ford offers many fuel efficient cars with decent performance, as well. That is why both GM and Ford far outsell Toyota in cars and trucks. Many buyers do not want to settle for an under powered truck or car with a 4 cy engine to get reasonable fuel mileage as do the 8 out of 10 buyers of the Camry.

mike hunt

"Mike Hunter" sez:

I'm well aware of your love fest going on with GM but the fact still remains that the biggest POS (Piece Of Shit) I've ever owned was a '97 Chevy Suburban made in Mexico import. Engine problems, transmission problems, brake problems, exhaust problems, suspension problems, air-conditioning problems, etc. I nick-named it the AEV for Accelerated Entropy Vehicle.

That's why we now have a Tundra and a Sequoia (both made in the USA) and are interested in the soon to come Yaris for the kids. I'll never own another GM product as long as I live.

You on the other hand get to buy whatever you want so knock yourself out with the "Professional Grade" stuff.

Good reliability and value to ya, VLJ

Well....OK. An entire paragraph of statements which can only be considered meaningless without further information.

Of course. The big 3 have been tripping all over each other since spring, offering one ridiculous discount after another. It's the only way they can generate healthy sales numbers. Furthermore, the vehicles they sell *have* to be replaced more often than Toyotas because they're garbage. Since they tend to sell to repeat customers who like being boned in the ass by shoddy manufacturers, they have a locked up market.

Number one in what? Sales numbers?

Correct. And, on any given day in American grocery stores, far more people buy chicken than lobster. Why? Because it's cheaper. American cars will always be sold in higher numbers. They're cheaper, and they're throwaways, like disposable plastic plates.

Apparently you know little of how bond investors get rich on the higher interest rates paid on unrated bonds LOL

mike hunt

I just rented a 2005 Impalla for 10 days. MO vety spacious, good ride, very good seats, very good visibility (chrysler 300 is terrible here) very good highway fuel mileage, but:

-Slightly sloppy handling.

-Outdated transmission. This car is geared very high to achieve high highway fuel mileage and is very reluctant to downshift on hills, making it painful to drive in hilly areas, unless on cruise. Surprisingly it also doesn't downshift itself when in cruise control and over speeding down hill. This transmission would have bee good in the 80s.

My current car is a '95 Chrysler Concord which I wouldn't trade straight for this older tech Impalla. Sorry GM, you really are selling out of date car technology.

You can't prove it by me. I don't own Ford stock but I know it is down today. I bought GM at 40.8 in 1960. GM has always paid good dividends, and still does today. GM has split twice in the interim, more than returning my original investment many times over.

My shares today are worth far more than the amount invested. I sold shares for more than my total original investment and the balance are still worth far more and still paying me thousands in dividends

mike hunt

Apparently you're unaware that GM has to take the burden of the higher interest rates associated with their "good for toilet paper" bonds. Apparently you're also unaware that GM, although generating sales that are still good, is losing profitability on a consistent basis. I think their earnings/share is negative, as Cheney would say, big time!

If I were any type of investor, Toyota would be the only game in town. Even Honda will not match their growth potential in the long run. I would short GM, again, BIG TIME! :)

Later

Naturally one is free to buy whatever they wish and based on sales, in a free market, they prefer GM to ALL others. However I agree ALL manufacture build some that are not up to snuff on occasion that is why they all offer a warranty, even RR. With around 17,000,000 new vehicles sold annually in the US, I Personally would never judge everything a manufacture builds, to be good or bad, based on the ONE with which I did or did not have problems. That would be foolish. The fact is the vehicles available from all manufacture today are great vehicles. Look at all of the available statistics, ALL manufactures have a failure rate between 2% and 2 1/2% over time. Given the proper prevetive maintenance, the chance of getting a good one from any manufacture are the same, between 97 1/2% and 98% no mater whose brand is on the hood.

mike hunt

What is your point? Every manufacture offers rebates. The average new vehicle buyer in the US, and that is what we are referring to new vehicle sales, buy another new vehicle in three to four years with 45K to 60K on the clock. ANY vehicle sold today will easily last to 200K, given the proper maintenance. But whatever you wish, that is what buyers do after all and they buy more GM models than Toyota models, period. Price is ALWAYS the determining factor, that is why Toyota sells more than Lexus. The Lexus must meet any imagined quality and longevity standard better than a Toyota yet more buyers buy a Toyota because it's less expensive than the Lexus

mike hunt

I guess you never had a 4cy Camry rental if you thought the Buick was a slug on the hills? I have news for you all 95s are outdated today. The cars today are technologically far better than those sold ten years ago or even five years ago.

mike hunt