Archive for the ‘Sales’ Category
Saturday, April 4th, 2009
Cheryl and Chris Jensen in the NY Times deliver a comprehensive overview of the various ideas being considered to convince consumers to get into the new vehicle market. Whatever happens, it's the best time ever to buy a new car, minivan or truck.
Posted in Advertising, Advice, Buying Tips, Financing, Incentives, Is There A Lesson Here?, Marketing, Program For Change, Sales, Save Money | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
In an effort to get ahead of the pack on the customer service front (and get its sales moving again), GM has announced an impressive set of non-price incentives for new car buyers. The best way to see what the US firm is offering is to consider the original statement ...
Posted in Advertising, Buying Tips, Dealerships, Incentives, Marketing, Product News, Sales, Save Money | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009
There's supposed to be something resembling free trade between Korea and the U.S. regarding cars, but the truth is that it's pretty much a one-way market (we buy theirs, but they block ours) and now the Obama administration and the Congress may do something about it. It's costs thousands of ...
Posted in Employment, Is There A Lesson Here?, Product News, Program For Change, Sales, Warnings | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
When the time comes to actually buy a car, it's often difficult to understand which features you should make sure are part of the package. This story helps you sort out which things are worth the extra money and which aren't.
Posted in Advice, Buying Tips, Marketing, Safety, Sales, Technology | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 4th, 2009
It's yet another variation on the classic supply and demand principal, but that doesn't mean it's still not great news for someone looking to buy a new vehicle.
Posted in Buying Tips, Financing, Incentives, Pricing, Sales, Save Money | No Comments »
Sunday, January 25th, 2009
To sell more cars, it seems that various dealers are quite willing to encourage customers to lie about their personal financial situation to qualify for credit. As this story makes plain, it might sound like a good idea for the woman looking for transportation, but it can turn bad quite ...
Posted in Advice, Buying Tips, Dealerships, Financing, Is There A Lesson Here?, Sad stories, Sales, Warnings | No Comments »
Thursday, January 15th, 2009
By Alex Law
Many people are talking about the need to "buy American" the next time they shop for a new car, and my informed opinion (25 years of covering the auto industry) is that purchasing a vehicle from Ford or GM is a sound economic decision for the consumer as ...
Posted in Advice, Buying Tips, Dealerships, Driving Matters, Employment, Is There A Lesson Here?, Our View, Product News, Sales, Warnings | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009
Once upon a time the Ford Taurus ruled the giant mid-size sedan market in America, and now the struggling company hopes to earn some of those sales back with a revised Taurus for 2010. No matter how good this car is, however, Ford will have a tough time convincing the ...
Posted in Buying Tips, Driving Matters, Is There A Lesson Here?, Marketing, Pricing, Product News, Sales | No Comments »
Saturday, January 3rd, 2009
Those ubiquitous stickers you see on all new cars actually have a name -- the Monroney, for the US senator from Oklahoma who created them, and they have done a considerable amount of good for consumers over the last 50 years. They still do.
Posted in Cute stories, Dealerships, Program For Change, Sales, Save Money | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 30th, 2008
As you can see from this story, most of the media tends to see the move to close thousands of auto dealers as a necessary step in the salvation of the Detroit car companies, and it may well be. But it's also bad news for the average consumer since that ...
Posted in Buying Tips, Is There A Lesson Here?, Pricing, Sad stories, Sales, Warnings | No Comments »
Friday, December 26th, 2008
The theory is that a program to encourage sales of cars created and built in North America by firms that pay their taxes in the U.S. will be of considerable use to the economy as well as a way to keep them solvent.
Posted in Buying Tips, Financing, Program For Change, Sales | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 24th, 2008
Starting with its biggest event of the year (the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in early January), the car industry will make every effort possible to promote the concept of cars with high fuel economy. So that will mean hybrids, the occasional electric vehicle, and more pedestrian technologies ...
Posted in Gas Issues, Green, Marketing, Product News, Sales, Save Money | No Comments »
Saturday, December 20th, 2008
Reasons for the slump in second-hand cars are pretty involved, but it all boils down to a feeling that car buyers of all kinds are simply taking a time-out to see what happens in the coming months.
Posted in Buying Tips, Financing, Gas Issues, Marketing, Sales | No Comments »
Monday, December 8th, 2008
When the poster child for fuel economy can't find enough buyers, you have to figure the slowdown in the auto market involves more than just vehicles that devour gas.
Posted in Gas Issues, Incentives, Marketing, Program For Change, Sales, Save Money | No Comments »
Saturday, November 22nd, 2008
There's a desire for a little fun in the decision, but there's also a sensible side as women look for ways to reduce their transportation costs.
Posted in Buying Tips, Driving Matters, Pricing, Program For Change, Sales | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
It's barely more than a slight uptick in consumer intent, but at least the people who start their car shopping by visiting virtual dealerships are looking around again.
Posted in Gas Issues, Incentives, Sales | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
The features that made larger vehicles more expensive and yet more attractive to buyers are quickly missed by people who downsize and downgrade to smaller vehicles. And then there's the very real question about safety.
Posted in Buying Tips, Gas Issues, Is There A Lesson Here?, Sales, Save Money, Warnings | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
By Alex Law
For Hyundai's fabulous Genesis premium sedan to succeed, it's going to have to overcome a societal attitude that's most vividly described in Chris Rock's latest concert movie -- Kill The Messenger.
Posted in Buying Tips, Is There A Lesson Here?, Marketing, Pricing, Sales, Save Money | No Comments »
Monday, November 3rd, 2008
The temptation to go back to big trucks and SUVs may be great if the price of gasoline stays down, but Ford swears its North American product line will still feature lots of small vehicles.
Posted in Gas Issues, Marketing, Program For Change, Sales | No Comments »
Saturday, November 1st, 2008
Car sales have dropped so much across the United States that even small, fuel-efficient cars aren't doing as well as their manufacturers want, so there are now different kinds of deals and incentives available.
Posted in Buying Tips, Dealerships, Gas Issues, Incentives, Marketing, Pricing, Product News, Sales, Save Money | No Comments »
Friday, October 24th, 2008
Even with their significant improvements in fuel economy over the regular models, the two hybrid SUVs have found limited acceptance in a market that seems to have turned its back on such big vehicles. The company is promising a hybrid version of its full-size Ram pickup in 2010.
Posted in Gas Issues, Is There A Lesson Here?, Pricing, Product News, Sales | No Comments »
Monday, October 13th, 2008
Ford-owned Volvo is putting off upgrading key models from its lineup in the face of rapidly declining popularity with buyers and may be reconsidering it decision to kill off the compact S40 model. Now that the company no longer has its safety lead, it's looking for a way to re-connect ...
Posted in Marketing, Product News, Safety, Sales | No Comments »
Friday, October 3rd, 2008
With sales dropping by almost a third in September, Japan's biggest car company is going to offer American buyers zero interest financing on 11 models until November 3, 2008. A few of them are big SUVs and trucks, but there are some sensible choices as well, such as Matrix, Corolla, ...
Posted in Buying Tips, Incentives, Is There A Lesson Here?, Pricing, Sales, Save Money | No Comments »
Thursday, October 2nd, 2008
Not only do all of the car companies have to sell more small cars, they all have to sell more small cars that make money, and that means higher sticker prices. Sales for their profitable big models (trucks and SUVs) have really collapsed, so North Americans are already paying more for ...
Posted in Marketing, Pricing, Program For Change, Sales | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008
The folks who make products for young children support a bunch of activities that promote installing a child seat correctly and other things and we are in favor of that, but we would like to point out that there's more to vehicle safety than a well-installed child seat. So parents ...
Posted in Children, Is There A Lesson Here?, Sales | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008
Every car company doing business here, including Toyota and cheap-and-cheerful Kia, has been caught with some wrong products at the wrong time. Now they're all trying to deal with a move to a fuller range of smaller cars with bigger price tags -- much bigger price tags. Early evidence suggests ...
Posted in Buying Tips, Is There A Lesson Here?, Pricing, Program For Change, Sales | No Comments »
Saturday, August 23rd, 2008
For one reason or another, adults don't all seem to remember that they have a child in the car, so dozens of die every year because they're left alone in the heat (and less heat's needed than you think). There are aftermarket technologies to deal with this, but there's also ...
Posted in Children, Sales, Technology | No Comments »
Friday, August 22nd, 2008
To show you how risky it is to venture into a dealership selling used cars, look over these tips supposedly given to car sales staff showing them how to handle well-informed shoppers.
Posted in Buying Tips, Dealerships, Is There A Lesson Here?, Marketing, Sales | No Comments »
Monday, August 11th, 2008
People could already be getting used to today's fuel prices and turning back to SUVs and crossovers and big cars, according to the folks at Edmunds.com, who regularly sift through the entrails of the new car market.
Posted in Buying Tips, Gas Issues, Green, Pricing, Sales | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 6th, 2008
They don't work everywhere, but the mini-motorcycles are easy to use, easy to park, good on gas, not too pricey and can be ridden by someone in a skirt. There are safety issues, of course, but scooters are more popular than ever.
Posted in Buying Tips, Cute stories, Gas Issues, Sales, Save Money | No Comments »
Sunday, August 3rd, 2008
Car dealers are so desperate to sell new cars they're even considering the services of a website that charges money to teach them how to be nice to women and then lists them as being female-friendly.
Posted in Buying Tips, Dealerships, Sales | No Comments »
Sunday, August 3rd, 2008
The car companies expect to make more money by getting rid of leasing and so do the service departments at the dealers. Is there any argument now with the idea that this latest move is very bad for consumers?
Posted in Buying Tips, Dealerships, Is There A Lesson Here?, Sales | No Comments »
Thursday, July 31st, 2008
A story in which Consumer Reports continues its long-standing tradition of giving questionable advice in a pious and condescending manner in an effort to earn more money.
Posted in Buying Tips, Dealerships, Incentives, Is There A Lesson Here?, Pricing, Sales | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 29th, 2008
The impression abroad in the land today is that you need to go to an Asian car maker for a car that delivers mileage in the 30+ plus range, which tends to drive prices for those models up as buyers panic. Smart buyers will take the time to consider the ...
Posted in Buying Tips, Green, Sales, Save Money | No Comments »
Thursday, July 24th, 2008
Here's a roundup of recent articles about what automakers are doing in response to rising gas prices:
Turbo-Charge It
Mercedes plans to offer a range of small displacement, turbo-charged engine offerings by 2010 as a short-term solution for better fuel economy, reports Automotive News Europe. Tough CAFE [Corporate Average Fuel Economy] standards ...
Posted in Gas Issues, Green, Sales | No Comments »
