Jobu37

Cash for Clunkers May Cost Up to $45,354 Per Vehicle

All of this is based on what Edmunds says and they have a proven track record of pushing there own agenda or preference. They are also media hounds that like to be thought of as the know-it-all of the auto industry.

If everybody believed everything they said there would only be one car company left in the U.S. And that would be Honda. I'm not sure that Honda has ever lost a "comparo" in any segment ever.

The idiots over there would probably find some way to pick to a Ridgeline over a F-350 or C3500 in a comparison amongst work trucks.

The fact is that this program got people that were sitting on the sidelines, for years in some cases, into dealerships. And in the process it got rid of a lot of smog producing gas guzzlers. At the same time it will result in more recycled steel that will turn keep the price of steel down a little longer to help the economy regain steam. The only downside is it will contribute to more govermental debt which will theoretically be offset by the future taxes generated by more economic activity.

As far as accomplishing what it set out to do it has done more than most government programs usually do.

How to Play the Real Story Behind Earnings

Waf sees the light!

These companies have succesfully cut the dead weight, which is what a recession is good for. Industry inventory levels are incredibly low. Commonsense would tell someone that at some point the supply channel is going to have to be filled back up. These companies are going to do that with less hourly workers subsequently becoming more profitable with modest top line growth from quarter to quarter. What all these so called experts are missing is the fact that reducing staffing levels is what allows increased profitibility even if topline growth is lethargic. And it will be hard, as it always is, for these companies to justify adding employees due to the incredible margins they will be getting out of selling more product with less people. In this scenario they will hold out unitl Q1 2010 when they start looking at manpower scheduling in order to get rid or overtime and at that point they will begin rehiring. Any CEO will try to holdout as long as he can to enjoy good margins and good stock appreciation. But at some point it becomes more expensive, due to overtime, to build more with less people. This is exaclty why unemployment is a lagging indicator.

A CEO with a team that watches manpower scheduling all the time is one who doesn't have to have massive layoffs when things get bad. These companies would have already adjusted their staffing levels along with a deteriorating economy. This is why unionized workforces assure companies of being cyclical companies. You can never get rid of the deadweight fast enough.