October Sales Numbers Continue to Roll In

"If you adjust for population growth, this is probably the worst industry sales month in the post-WWII era," said Mark LaNeve, GM's vice president for sales and marketing. And with that quote here are some of the numbers from October: We already know about Volkswagen, but now we have found out that GM dropped 45 percent, Ford slipped 32 percent, Toyota sunk 23 percent decline Daimler AG and American Honda were down more than 24 percent, while Porsche, Isuzu, and Suzuki fell more than 45 percent. I'm quoting numbers directly from Automotive News.

Credit is tight, consumer confidence is low...The last thing on most folks' mind is a new car. I read an article over the weekend where they said the U.S. economy, more so than other economies, is linked to the way consumers feel. When we are giddy and upbeat the economy soars and when we're down in the dumps, so goes the economy.

An interesting tidbit included in the Automotive News story was a quote from Jim Tidwell Ford in Atlanta regarding the Flex, "We ordered a bunch to help Ford out, but the price point is too high,'' Blake Dobbs, new-car sales manager, said. "We only sold two in October.'' I had a posted recently about the Flex being a sales disappointment and a lot of grief being heaped on top of the marketing campaign. However, it shouldn't be overlooked that the Flex is not a bargain ride. The Ford dealer here in Redwood City has four Flexes lined up on El Camino every day. Every now and then one is on a test drive, but I have yet to see one of them disappear permanently. It's too bad because they are a sharp looking people hauler.