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Too many leftovers.

NPR
 

Lisa writes from Seattle:

We're lucky that we don't work for one of the Big Three, but for a Japanese brand that is actually manufactured in Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. Something many Americans don't realize when talking about the car industry, is that it's not simply Detroit. Honda, Toyota, Isuzu, and Subaru all have factories here in the US that employee hundreds of thousands of Americans- manufacturing parts, assembling cars, shipping cars to points all over the world, and the dealerships that employ people to sell and maintain those vehicles. My Japanese badged SUV was made in Indiana.
Sales in our particular dealership are down about half of what they were a year ago, and that is when the crises had already started. Our dealership is not alone- everyone in the area is in the same boat. Credit is hard to get now, so people that typically finance a car are holding onto their older vehicle. We've seen more cash deals in the last six months than in the last six years. People that are holding onto their older vehicles are tending not to get them serviced, especially with the holiday season coming up. The store is preternaturally quiet, and it's unsettling, like being in a classroom after the kids have all gone home.
I've told you that to tell you this: In 20 years, I've never seen the fridge this packed. In an industry fueled by take-out and delivery, more people are bringing their food from home. This picture was taken after the big party to introduce the new model. This party is rather large, attracting about 100 people that are serious about purchasing a new car. Typically, at the end of the night there are four or five people driving out in their new cars. Within a month, about half the people that attended the party are driving in their new car.
This year, about 50 people RSVP'd, and of those, about 30 actually showed. Of those, one new car was sold that night.
This picture shows the refrigerator after the party- after the guests left, and the employees got to eat, and anybody could take whatever they wanted home to their families. Every salesperson walked out with a full shopping bag, as did the managers and the lot attendants. The next day, people were eating party leftovers for breakfast and lunch, and most of this was gone by dinner.

categories: Letters

10:34 - November 17, 2008

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