Paul Ballew
Paul Ballew
certainly current levels pleased run satisfied share
We're certainly not pleased with current share levels and we're not satisfied with it, but we have to run this play.
certainly demand forecasts four months remains underlying year
Underlying demand remains very strong. The first four months of the year certainly exceeds our forecasts and the forecasts of everyone else in the industry.
breaking certainly economy fuel regard
We are breaking all new ground, certainly with regard to fuel economy and safety.
certainly consumers denying economy fuel gas interest prices realize saw seeing shift understanding
We realize that gas prices are important to consumers and we're certainly not denying that there's an impact. We are seeing more interest in consumers understanding fuel economy of vehicles. But there's not the shift we saw in the 70's and 80's.
certainly continue despite mix month october saw seeing wrap
Certainly we did not see the surge we saw ...back in October of '01 or ...last July, ... But despite the ebbs and flows, we're going to wrap up this month pretty much as we thought it would play. And we're seeing mix continue to richen.
area fuel issue mean notoriety remains strategy top
It is a very, very important issue and, as we try to communicate all the time, it has been and remains at the top of our concerns, ... Just because we don't get the notoriety of having a Prius doesn't mean we don't have a comprehensive strategy in the area of fuel economy.
expect sales strengthen
We do need to see sales and we expect to see sales strengthen as we get into May and June.
staring
We do have some payback out there staring us in the face.
overall share tough
Overall share is going to be tough for us this year.
ahead beating month number objective production response sales
On the (Tahoe), we're beating expectations on a number of fronts. We're beating the production schedule, we're ahead of our sales objective for the month and the response we're getting from dealers is positive.
dominate market reduced remains
remains well positioned to dominate the market even at reduced volumes.
consumers driven march reading
I wouldn't say it was driven by the March results, but our reading about where consumers are at.
against appears caution energy general higher industry prices running slight slowing start step strong year
It appears the industry is running at a very strong rate, ... It's a very slight step down from the very blistering start we started the year with, but it's still a strong pace. There are legitimately headwinds, like higher energy prices and a general slowing of the economy. But we caution against overreacting to the headwinds.
coming describe february position
While we still have a lot to do, I would describe February and our position coming out of February as pretty good.