malach hamovess

Did New Car Sales Bottom in November?

Unemployment is still rising; real credit is still being doled out a lot more judiciously; and the ups-and-downs of gas prices still troubles lenders' projections of residual values of low-mileage trucks & suvs. Add the end of "aspirational buying" as a means of self-expression and the greater availability of auto mechanics who've been laid off by dealers, and you find that more owners will hold on to cars that still run fine, and won't feel the need to buy just to prove something to their neighbors (especially the guy across the street who was just laid off by Citibank).

A return to 16million cars per year is a way off.