msantos
02-02-2009, 04:39 PM
Car sales: From bad to worse (http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/02/news/companies/auto_sales_outlook/index.htm?cnn=yes)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Chrysler_Cars_on_Dealership_lot.jpgChris Isidore - CNNMoney.com - Feb. 2, 2009
Even the long time relationship between domestic car makers and large rental fleet operations is being threatened by the credit crunch. Worse yet, the path to recovery may be slower than what the industry needs. -- Ed.
Consumers may have had an easier time getting car loans last month, but don't look for that to fuel a rebound in battered auto sales when automakers report their January sales Tuesday.
Auto finance units GMAC and Chrysler Financial received $7.5 billion in federal loans between them since the waning days of December. That allowed them to make more attractive financing offers to a wider range of potential clients.
But forecasts of a modest pickup in sales to consumers are being more than offset by a sharp plunge in purchases by rental car companies, which in a typical year can buy close to 3 million vehicles a year.
That means that the outlook for auto sales in January and through the first half of 2009 is likely to be even weaker than the industry was forecasting just a month ago.
In fact, the big decline in rental car company purchases could lead to the worst month for auto sales since 1982, even worse than any of the months reported in… http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/02/news/companies/auto_sales_outlook/index.htm?cnn=yes
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Chrysler_Cars_on_Dealership_lot.jpgChris Isidore - CNNMoney.com - Feb. 2, 2009
Even the long time relationship between domestic car makers and large rental fleet operations is being threatened by the credit crunch. Worse yet, the path to recovery may be slower than what the industry needs. -- Ed.
Consumers may have had an easier time getting car loans last month, but don't look for that to fuel a rebound in battered auto sales when automakers report their January sales Tuesday.
Auto finance units GMAC and Chrysler Financial received $7.5 billion in federal loans between them since the waning days of December. That allowed them to make more attractive financing offers to a wider range of potential clients.
But forecasts of a modest pickup in sales to consumers are being more than offset by a sharp plunge in purchases by rental car companies, which in a typical year can buy close to 3 million vehicles a year.
That means that the outlook for auto sales in January and through the first half of 2009 is likely to be even weaker than the industry was forecasting just a month ago.
In fact, the big decline in rental car company purchases could lead to the worst month for auto sales since 1982, even worse than any of the months reported in… http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/02/news/companies/auto_sales_outlook/index.htm?cnn=yes