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Sizzling Car Sales Spur Shortages

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by -1-, Aug 14, 2014.

  1. -1-

    -1- Don

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    SIZZLING AUTO SALES SPUR SHORTAGES
    Hot models don’t stay on dealer lots for long
    Chris Woodyard


    @chriswoodyard USA TODAY This summer’s auto sales have been so sizzling that dealerships are running short of the hottest new models.


    Last month, 27 models spent an average of fewer than 30 days on dealers’ lots before being delivered to an eager buyer, about half the average that automakers consider optimal. The in-demand models span the spectrum from luxury SUVs to performance cars, Kelley Blue Book reports.


    Most wanted: Land Rover’s pricey LR4 and Range Rover SUVs.


    With gas prices moderating, boxy vehicles are back in vogue. There is an 11-day supply on lots of the new Lincoln MKC compact crossover — “a very new vehicle ... in a really hot segment,” says Ford sales analyst Erich Merkle.


    Chrysler, meanwhile, is short of Ram pickups, Jeep Grand Cherokees and Wranglers. General Motors says its premier performance car, the Chevrolet Corvette, and its biggest SUVs, including the new Cadillac Escalade, GMC Yukon and Chevrolet Tahoe, won’t stay on lots.


    “Every one we get, we’re selling,” says Inder Dosanjh, a GM dealer in Dublin, Calif. “No rebates, no special leases, not even $100 off the car.” Some barely touch pavement. Dosanjh says he has pre-sold all the Escalades that he has been able to snag.


    Some dealers say they tried to prepare for the crunch. “We’ve been selling like crazy, and we beefed up,” says Adam Lee, chairman of Lee Auto Malls in Maine, where sales at his two Chrysler dealerships have been strongest since the 2003.


    Typically, August is the best time of year for a car deal, according to a car-buying website True-Car, with average prices $169 below the next-lowest months.


    But for models in short supply, there likely will be few deals for buyers this month.


    Automakers are hesitant to step up production after being burned on oversupply when the recession hit. Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne told investors he is squeezing all he can out of existing plants, but he doesn’t plan to add factory capacity.


    That discipline can cost some current sales. “If we could get our hands on more inventory, we could sell more,” says Fred Diaz, senior vice president for Nissan’s sales in the U.S. His most in-demand vehicle: “Rogue (compact SUV) is on fire,” he says.


    With six hot models, Subaru’s Dominick Infante says, “Virtually all of our cars are short supply. Cars are selling as they arrive on the lots.”
    [​IMG]
    :)See what happens when gas prices fall. We've seen this before and it won't last.
     
  2. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    As Herman's Hermits said, "Second verse, same as the first."

    Americans aren't going to stop buying large vehicles. That's why I own Big Oil.
     
  3. frodoz737

    frodoz737 Top Wrench

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    ...and it keeps the the price flexible on other vehicles not so much in demand, like the Prius.
     
  4. Mike500

    Mike500 Senior Member

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    It's the NEW version of the housing boom....

    Risky Lending Drives Auto Loans to Highest Level in 8 Years - DailyFinance

    These people never learn.

    That's why they retire eeking it out on Social Security and run out of money in their 80's.

    I've got a "Stanley Johnson" type neighbor, who has a 20 year old son going to private college, bought a $30,000 Ford crew cab truck, a $3,000 riding lawn mower, a $1,000 trailer and brand new lawn care tools. He's cutting neighbor's yards for $35 a piece. And, all of his customers who I talk to think he's making a killing.

    Three to five years down the road, especially if the price of gas rises, there will be a GLUT of these vehicles repossessed or "turned in to the bank," as it was in 2009 with those who paid too much for the McMansions.
     
    #4 Mike500, Aug 14, 2014
    Last edited: Aug 14, 2014
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    you gotta love us americans, when the price goes up, maybe the gov will bail us out.:cool:
     
  6. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    ...I am disappointed too...I thought I read Pennsylvania already increased the speed limits on the Pa. Turnpike from 65 to 70...but here I am and no 70 MPH's in sight...come on Pa., Va. already increased all the speed limits...sheesh fuel conservation anybody??? I thought tricky Dick Nixon had it right at 55 MPH! OK how about 60 MPH?
     
    #6 wjtracy, Aug 14, 2014
    Last edited: Aug 14, 2014
  7. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    Fracking has mostly solved the problem of sale oil recovery. In situ recovery avoids having to 'mine' shale-oil to transport to an ore processing plant. Then after the oil is recovered, the spoil has to go somewhere. Fracking leaves the spent ore in place. Given the huge reserves including 'spent oil fields,' we're looking at huge, recoverable reserves. We're looking at 'cheap' oil for a time scale longer than our respective life-spans.

    This is an opportunity to raise the fuel tax and index it to the price of crude. This would finance the highway transportation bill for a long, long time. As for future car purchasers of large, gas hogs, lower gas prices are going to make that an easier buy. There are limits to persuasion to go fuel efficient when it is not helped by pricy gas. But there is a silver lining.

    Bob Wilson
     
  8. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    Actually, it hasn't. The term shale oil covers a couple different things. Fracking has freed up oil that is caught up in shale formations. The proper term for this oil is 'tight oil'. Shale oil - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Shale oil has also been used to refer to oil shale or kerogen. Oil shale - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia It is a solid that no amount of fracking will allow to be pumped. Like tar sand, it is an uncovential oil that requires processing before we get an usable crude.
     
    bwilson4web likes this.
  9. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    The easy "cheap" oil has already been pumped out of the ground. It takes a lot more money to find, pump & process deposits that are in inhospitable places. There are projects on the books now that may not be justified due to the low price of crude oil and weak demand.
     
  10. ny_rob

    ny_rob Senior Member

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    You just need a longer straw... "I...drink...your....milkshake...." :D
     
  11. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    The market does not want to pay for the longer straw.