After watching The Cash for clunkers program make waves and increase sales for the likes of Hyundai and Ford. I took a step back and looked at pricing available to the American consumer.
Fords August sales rose 17.2% from a year ago. Chrysler sales fell 15%, and GM sales were down 20%.Also aided by the government program were Hyundai, the South Korean carmaker, which said its sales jumped 47% last month to a record-high. Honda said sales rose 10%, while ToyotaÍs rose 6 percent.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
The Price of an Auto needs to get a reality check.
Housing has slid 30 to 40 perscent in most cases across the United States, while car pricing has increased?
Does this make sense?
Car manufacturers have not had any increases in labor costs.... especially from ASIA! Why the big jump in price from on a sub compact imported from Korea to the USA? Up from $9990.00 Just 6 to 9 months ago, to an amazing $13990.00 today?
Car companys can not continue to ask such high dollars for thinner steel automobiles, especially from a country that pays their employees little to nothing.
The fact that Oil is cheap right now and that we as a nation are in one doosey of a recession does not allow those in S Korea, Japan or China the right to take advantage of the fact. It's the same as Saudi Arabia raising oil prices... Price jabbing, manipulation.. and a kick them when they are down attitude from countries that we as a nation have supported in the past with treasure and blood.
So what will happen as gasoline prices tick ever higher? Here's a smattering of Steiner's predictions:
At $6 a gallon, Americans will embrace diesel engines. At $8, many airlines will shut down, leaving Southwest Airlines Co. and JetBlue Airways Corp. as the dominant domestic carriers.
At $10, car ownership rates will plummet. At $12, exurbs will start becoming ghost towns. At $14, Wal-Mart will die; its business model is built on cheap oil.
At $18, Americans might get what Europeans have enjoyed for years: high-speed trains. And as the price creeps up to $20 a gallon, the U.S. may finally frame a comprehensive energy plan.
Far from hurling us into a new Dark Age, high oil prices will usher in a cleaner, safer future, Steiner argues. He imagines lost jobs returning to U.S. shores and pictures us breathing purer air and eating healthier, locally grown food. Though he gets a bit too utopian and speculative for my taste, he does offer evidence that technology already exists to effect such changes.
Steiner is good at explaining how things work and seeding the text with interesting facts: Did you know that garbage trucks get an average of 2.8 miles per gallon? And he's realistic about how hard it will be to end our love affair with cars and planes. "People will cling to their steering wheels and their airline seats until their fingers are pried off by sheer financial behest," he writes.
http://www.newsday.com/...
As a nation we need to stand up to this price gouging!
We the greatest market place on the face of the earth are now at the mercy of Asian nations that dictate the price of vehicles , Price gouge for extreme profit and use our own tax laws and incentives against us for more profit.
At least GM is looking at the opportunity to sell to the masses again.
Now, however, GM has announced it's unveiling its cheapest car ever. The inspiration, or competition, comes from India, where the Tata Nano -- an adorable slab of car with a base price of under $3000 -- is putting auto makers on the notice that the race to the bottom in car prices is on.
If you are in the market for a car, I suggest you research what is coming out in a Hybrid in 2010.
If you are looking to buy a foeign auto, they are well made, but figuring the cost to build a S Korean made Sub compact is Approx $4500.00 and a mid sized is approx. $6500.00.. do you believe that you should spend $30K
on that vehicle...
Isn't your bottom line just as important as the car company's?