Being an owner of Ford vehicles, I was proud of them when they did not get into bed with the government and take the easy way out the way GM and Chrysler did. The big government types had to be expecting that Ford would be crushed by the new companies that would be reborn out of bankruptcy. Instead, the public has rallied around the carmaker and they are reporting a 17% gain on sales over last year. I am pleased that there are so many people out there that, even when offered free money, were not going to support those that were “to big to fail” and are going elsewhere with their dollars.
In the same spirit, Toyota and Honda were big winners in the whole cash for clunkers jackpot. It just goes to show that people will not accept less just for the sake of substance.
Now with this all said I think the recent car sales were a national sugar high and we will see a significant dip in sales this fall. We tilted the market with incentives that were not tied to any real activity or demand and now we will have to settle back into normal levels.
- FOP Vermillion