DETROIT SHOW: When do auto sales hit bottom?
One of the most talked-about questions at the North American International Auto Show has been when U.S. sales – and the auto industry — will rebound or at the very least, stabilize. Several analysts, including Ford Motor Co.’s U.S. sales analyst George Pipas said the industry initially will see a rocky beginning to the year.
“We expect the first part of the year to start how we finished” in 2008, Pipas said on the sidelines of the North American International Auto show in Detroit. “It’s sort of like, fasten your seatbelts.”
But there’s hope for the second half of the year, Pipas said. By that time, the economy will see the impact of federal monetary and policy actions, he added. Although analysts expect 2009 sales to be lower than 2008’s dismal light-vehicle sales of 13.2 million units, sales will start to stabilize within the last half of the year. In 2007, U.S. light-vehicle sales totaled 16.2 million, still a 10 percent drop from 2000’s peak sales of 17.8 million light vehicles.
Don’t count on me. I have not bought a new car in 28 years. I buy used only, I let someone else pay the depreciation.
Not for a while. It will hit bottom a year or two after the government steps in and dictates what kind of car will be built. The price will probably be in the $50,000 to $60,000 with a small tax rebate. The price of used cars will also escalate due to higher used car demand.
In cuba all cars are old vintage 50s cars. In the US it will be 2009 cars and older. Maybe I should open an Auto repair shop.