Santa Claus Rally: Powerful December Seen For Cars
Data coming in from their 8,900 reporting dealers throughout the United States prompt J.D. Power to predict a strong new car December. “It appears that 2010 will end on a high note,” said Jeff Schuster, executive director of global forecasting at J.D. Power and Associates.
Don’t think that Americans have suddenly changed their minds and are collectively mobbing showrooms. While “significantly beating expectations,” and up 19 percent from a year before, total December SAAR is expected to be 12.4 million units, up only slightly from the 12.3 million SAAR in November. What is interesting is that J.D. Power sees retail SAAR to jump from 9.7 million units in November to a robust 10.8 million in December. Retail SAAR, which excludes fleet and government sales, is seen as a more precise indicator of consumer sentiment than total SAAR.
J.D. Power and Associates U.S. Sales and SAAR Comparisons
December 2010November 2010December 2009New-vehicle retail sales936,300 unitsFigures cited for December 2010 are forecasted based on the first 10 selling days of the month. The percentage change is adjusted based on the number of selling days (27 days vs. 28 days one year ago).
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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It used to be that December was full of advertisements for kids toys and perfume. Now you can't turn on a TV without some pseudo luxury carmaker touting its December to Remember. Thanks, Lexus.
I'm taking my mom to Cadillac Potamkin to lease a CTS 3.0L with Nav and moonroof for $475 a month. This I think is a good deal because the car only has 300 miles on it, and the 3.0 saves slightly more fuel than the 3.6. Not to mention it is RED (a premium color for $899) and has been marked down from $47,000 to $40,500. I called a bunch of other dealers in my area but they are all out of Red and claim I'd have to order the car.
If December 2010 is going to be strong (and all indications appear to confirm this, why was it bad for GM to build inventory for a big year end?