Posts Tagged ‘auto sales’
May 13th, 2009 | 
Author: A just released report by the Commerce Department shows that retail sales unexpectedly dropped by 0.4% in April, following a revised drop of 1.3% in March and analysts contributed the drop to the biggest loss of household wealth on record, falling home values and rising unemployment.
Most economists had predicted that retail sales would rise by 0.2% after a 1% decrease a month earlier.
Bill Cheney, who is the chief economist at John Hancock Financial Services Inc. said in an interview that, “The second quarter is going to be tough. Consumers are losing their jobs, concerned about losing their jobs and losing wealth”.
Mike Niemira who is the chief economist at ICSC was a little bit less downbeat and said, “We’re still working our way through the slowdown. I think it will get better as the year progresses. The month of May will still be tough and I suspect by the summer that things will be a little broader in terms of the improvement”.
The decline in sales was led by falling demand at furniture, clothing, grocery and electronics’ stores, and even as fuel prices rose, receipts at service stations fell, indicating perhaps that Americans were driving less.
Clothing sales fell by 0.5% and sales at general-merchandise stores fell by 0.1%.
Auto sales unexpectedly gained by 0.2% after dropping by 2% in March, with automobiles selling at a 9.3 million annual pace in April, compared with a 9.9 million rate in March.
Chrysler, whose U.S. whose sales were down by 48% from the same month last year, started offering rebates of up to $6,000 on May 6 and the offers will continue until the end of the month.
The Labor Department reported last week that payrolls fell by 539,000 workers last month making it the smallest drop since October, but it took the unemployment rate to 8.9%, which is the highest level since 1983 and economists expect it to average 9.6% in 2010.
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Posted in auto sales, automakers, Chrysler, Commerce Department, consumer, consumer confidence, crisis, economists, financial crisis, home prices, house prices, job losses, jobless rate, labor department, layoffs, property values, recession, retail sales, retailers, Unemployment, unemployment rate, US economy | 
Tags: auto sales, automakers, Chrysler, Commerce Department, consumer, consumer confidence, crisis, economists, financial crisis, home prices, house prices, job losses, jobless rate, labor department, layoffs, property values, recession, retail sales, retailers, Unemployment, unemployment rate, US economy | 
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Following much debate, Congress has finally completed a cash-for-clunkers deal that will provide vouchers to as many as one million new-car buyers who trade in an old automobile that will be scrapped.
The bill contains no provision requiring the replacement cars to be made in the United States, since import-branded automakers and international groups claimed it would be a violation of the free trade agreements.
Two controversial issues right now, are whether or not the bill will in fact help the environment, and if it will significantly decrease dependence on imported fuels.
Several environmental groups have stated their belief that accelerating the production of new cars, and thereby replacing older models before their time, will actually cause more environmental damage than driving less fuel-efficient older cars would.
Other groups say that far more aggressive mileage figures for new models should have been demanded.
Something which has received little press coverage so far, is that it will be possible to use the vouchers for public transportation.
Under the agreement, a clunker must be getting less than 18 mpg in combined city and highway mileage in order to qualify, and new cars that get 22 mpg or better will qualify for vouchers.
A new car with at least 4 mpg better than the clunker will get you a $3,500 voucher, and if the new car gets 10 mpg higher, it’s good for a $4,500 voucher.
For light-duty pickups and SUVs, the same 18 mpg requirement stands for clunkers, but to receive a $3,500 voucher the new truck or SUV has to get at least 2 mpg more than the clunker, and for a $4,500 voucher, a 5 mpg improvement is required.
New heavy-duty trucks must get at least 15 mpg and have a 1 mpg improvement over the clunker for a $3,500 voucher, and a 2 mpg improvement will qualify it for a $4,500 voucher.
Work trucks and vans won’t have a gas mileage requirement since the majority of them aren’t rated by the EPA, but to qualify for the program the clunker has to be a pre-2002 model year and weigh between 8,500 and 10,000 pounds, and to receive the $3,500 voucher, the new work truck has to be a similar or smaller class of vehicle.
The program was modeled on a similar law in Germany which has been credited with boosting car sales there.
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Posted in administration, auto sales, Automobiles, car, clunker, congress, economy, environment, US economy, vouchers |
Tags: administration, auto sales, Automobiles, car, clunker, congress, economy, environment, US economy, vouchers |
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