Chrysler sales off 47%, Ford off 31%, Honda off 32%, Toyota off 34%, and GM off 41%.

[RedEarth]

Chrysler sales off 47%
by CalculatedRisk on 12/02/2008 03:36:00 PM
Press Release: Chrysler LLC Reports November 2008 U.S. Sales

Chrysler LLC today reported total November 2008 U.S. sales of 85,260 units, down 10% versus October 2008 (94,530 units), and down 47% from the same month last year.
This compares to Ford off 31%, Honda off 32%, Toyota off 34%, and GM off 41%.

http://calculatedrisk.blogspot.com/2008/12/chrysler-sales-off-47.html

[daninthemoon]

1. interesting that it seems to be all cars, not just American. looks like a

clear sign of a very scary world economy.

[madrchsod]

2. my daughter works for a major parts supplier....

her line supplies parts for 6 different manufactures across the world. several have pulled their orders and others are week by week. since there`s only two and change weeks left till christmas shut down they are hoping to keep people employed. after the first of the year is going to be the big test on whether the car and the supply industry can stay working. it`s going to be a very interesting 20 days in january.

[Bigmack]

3. And yet... the market is up 270 pts. WTF? nt

[Sebass1271]

5. consumers are hurting.. meaning US. people with big

BONDS AND STOCKS ARE FINE.. since we don't have $$ to spend economy is bad.. bailout should be for US. not big businesses

[ben_meyers]

4. Bail out the big three so they can

continue to churn out more vehicles that fewer people in the world can purchase right now. It's not that the cars aren't any good or not "green" enough. People have to be employed and reasonably assured that they will continue to be and have access to financing in order to buy anyones cars.

This whole idea of a bailout is being worked from the wrong direction.

[Idealism]

6. So by not bailout out the Big Three we are somehow promoting job creation while losing a few million

mixed message you send, sir

[RB TexLa]

9. Do you want to force people to go out and give their money to them for new cars?

What if we collectively decide to keep our money?

[Idealism]

10. Well fortunately for Detroit

You need transportation and your car may work now, but lord knows it won't run forever. I am not "forcing" anyone to buy anything, consumers will buy new cars because they need to get to work, but they will only do so when they don't lack confidence and are worried about their jobs. That is why it is a bridge loan, its not a free handout to Detroit (unlike the money that was sent to Wall street in many cases). It is supposed to tide them over until they return to profitability. So if we don't help them and 2 million people lose their jobs, how will that give people money to buy anything?

[lib2DaBone]

14. Amen. I keep asking myself how come the Media and Government doesn't get this?

[stopbush]

7. My VW is 8 years old, my Buick is 13 years old.

The VW has 86,000 miles on it, the Buick is approaching 150,000.

Both cars are paid for, and my fingers are crossed that they continue to run. But if one of them dies, we're screwed. IF I could get a car loan right now, I'd probably have an interest rate that would make me faint. And that's on top of the sticker price! As long as I can keep these two running for the cost of gas and oil (and an occasional repair), why add the monthly expense of a new car?

Yep, I'm an American who is long overdue for a new car, but why bother? I drive 25 miles to work (VW), by wife drives 8 miles. We rarely drive more than 40 miles from the house. If we need to make a long trip we simply rent a car for a couple of hundred bucks. I'd rather do that than have a $400-a-month car payment.

And I live in CA, fer Chrissake!

No, the typical car buyer "wheel" doesn't work for me. Sorry, Detroit.

[onager]

8. Doesn't work for me either.

My last car was a former Enterprise rental car. Does that bring to mind a tan Taurus or silver Camry? Nope. Try a fully loaded, Arrest-Me-Red, 2002 Mustang convertible with only 16,000 miles when I bought it.

That was a great car. I'm geezerish, so I'm sure people thought I was having a mid-life crisis. Screw them. I like Mustang convertibles--this is my third one. To be honest, I would have not chosen a red car, but the price, mileage and options were all what I wanted.

The only problem I had after a few months was a glitch with the 6-CD changer. Since it was still under factory warranty, I took it to the local Ford dealer that does all my routine maintenance. They installed a new stereo, didn't cost me a cent.

I hated selling it last year, but I had been working in Egypt for almost 2 years straight, and committed to a full 2-year assignment. I did not want the car just sitting in storage for 2 more years. I had a friend who occasionally started it up and drove it around the block for me during the first 2 years.

Per the Enterprise "no-haggle" policy, I bought it for about halfway between Low and High KBB. As always, I forcefully refused all the stupid add-ons and warranties. The salesman joked that I was killing him. I told him I knew that's where he made his profits, but he would no doubt make it up off the next couple of fools who came in. :evilgrin:

[Fumesucker]

11. I haven't had a car give me less than 250k in many, many years..

Your VW is just broken in by my standards.

After a financially disastrous new car purchase nearly twenty five years ago we went back to buying very nice cars that have high mileage but are well maintained. We haven't bought a car with less than 100k on it in more than fifteen years now.

If you get the Consumer Reports car guide and go through the maintenance records of prospective purchases you can pretty quickly figure out whether a given car is likely to give you expensive trouble or not.

[leftofthedial]

12. crappy cars no one will buy

If cars were FREE, I couldn't afford the insurance!

we need JOBS, not corporate bailouts.

[Geek_Girl]

13. wow some really good deals right now

I'm doing fairly well with my job and so is my husband. I'm wondering if I should take advantage of these deals. I bought an HDTV this week because I couldn't resist the bargains. I swore I wasn't going to buy one for quite a while but these bargains are seriously tempting me.