[A decade ago, incentives typically totaled about 8 or 9 percent of a car's sticker price.] Today, it's around 16 percent, ... Today we find that cars simply don't have the status they once did. What drives the demand today is the incentive. |
A lot of people got out of the stock market and had cash and they had to do something with it. |
About 38 percent said that fuel economy is somewhat or very important -- that is up 15 percentage points from a year ago. It's passed 'higher horsepower' for the first time. That's significant. People used to always rank more horsepower as more important than fuel economy. |
Dealers started losing salespeople too. |
Do I want to see a subdivision or a gun club? Honestly - I would want a gun club. |
Flood vehicles can be sold for their parts. There isn't a single vehicle that came out of Katrina that should be sold. They should all be scrapped. |
Floor traffic has dried up. And that’s not just for the Big Three, it’s for everybody -- with the exception of Toyota, ... It’s way too early to tell what that means. |
From a marketing standpoint, these programs are clearly losing their effectiveness. I pretty much expect everyone to back off. I really don't know what they're going to replace it with. |
Hidden incentives happen all the time. |
I can easily see Asian automakers grabbing another three or four percentage points next year. I can see them taking 50 percent of the market eventually without breaking a sweat. |
I don't know how this program will pan out, but it's certainly a ground breaking move. |
I don't think he's fulfilled any of the key promises or plans he laid out. Ford should have become the Honda of U.S. automakers. But [William] Ford just did not move fast enough. |
I'm not sure the American public recognizes this as a big deal. Most don't pay attention and are already of the opinion that Toyota is as big as GM. |
If it's priced right, even if the quality is somewhat less than other makes, they'd consider buying (Chinese cars) because Americans love a bargain. |
If it's two or three years, you're better off leasing, ... If it's longer than three years you're better off buying. |