Last time automakers tried this was in 2009!
http://wolfstreet.com/2017/03/26/automakers-record-incentives-to-slow-decline-in-sales/
55 comments for “Auto Industry Resorts to Biggest Incentives Ever Just to Slow the Decline in Sales”
Bookdoc
Mar 26, 2017 at 8:08 pm
I was in car sales for over 20 years before I retired last July. Glad I got out. I saw credit being extended to people who had no business buying the vehicles they got. I had planned on retiring by the end of the year but cashed out early and now work part time at a conservative savings bank. Cars have gotten ridiculously expensive and now come loaded with many options that are now standard equipment and keep prices high. A lot of customers do NOT want to pay for that stuff and seldom use it. We did a LOT of leasing as well as that can be treacherous when the leases come rolling back in and are not worth close to the residual value as so many (in addition to rental car drawdowns) are coming back. Leasing kind of slowed for a few years but came back strong 2-3 years ago. I must admit I took full advantage of it as every car salesman worth their salt did. The piper will have to be paid. Those are the vehicles coming off lease now. I am secure with money in the bank and some very solid assets in addition to SS and a wife still working in a critical field. I have a feeling many others in my age group (I’m 67) are not close to the same situation and have little faith the SS is a going concern.
I, of course, still have friends in the car business and it is getting rough for them-glad I am out!
Realist - Everybody in America is soft, and hates conflict. The cure for this, both in politics and social life, is the same -- hardihood. Give them raw truth.
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