Bob Schnorbus
Bob Schnorbus
boost concern game gm hard impact incentives kicking pulling pushing screaming time whether
I think incentives have been a concern for some time now as they impact margins. With GM pushing hard on incentives to boost their volume, it's pulling everyone kicking and screaming into the game whether they like it or not.
clearance earlier high incentives likely maybe move period rather simply sooner trial wait year
Simply put, if the '03 had high incentives earlier this year before the clearance started, then the '04 are likely to have it sooner rather than later. The automakers want to give the '04 a trial period to see how they move without incentives. But they won't wait long, maybe only a month.
test
March, in my view, will be interesting. It'll be the first real test of the new chairman.
consumers fuel importance stay weigh
Consumers are going to increasingly weigh the importance of fuel efficiency. But if they need, in their minds, an SUV, they are going to find a way to stay in that vehicle. They'll still look for big engines, towing capacity, cargo space.
consensus discussion easily general pull pulling strong
The general consensus (on 2004 sales) is 17 million. If manufacturers come on strong with incentives, it'll easily be 17 million. If they pull back -- and there's been a lot of discussion of them pulling back -- it could be 16.5.
seeing slowing sort
We're sort of seeing an orchestrated slowing of the economy. But what we're not seeing is a slamming on the brakes.
low million rate sales third vehicles week
We had been projecting an (annual) sales rate of 16 million vehicles in September. If I take out a third of sales for only a two week period, you still come out with an eye-popping 13.3 million sales rate; 13.3 million is about as low as sales ever get.