J.D. Power: December Nice, 2009 Naughty
J.D. Power thinks it has found some more Americans who want to kiss a new fender under the mistletoe. Based on reported transactions for the first 17 days of the month, collected from 8900 dealers, J.D. Power now projects a December SAAR of 11.2m units, Reuters reports. This would be up 9 percent from a truly dismal December a year earlier, which saw a sickening SAAR of 10.3m vehicles. In eggnog-powered exuberance, J.D. Power calls the sputtering back to life “a year-end rally.” And how’s the year going to end?
If the December numbers will come in as projected, full-year 2009 U.S. sales would total 10.4 million vehicles. That would be the lowest tally since 1982. Other analysts expect the full-year total closer to 10.3 million vehicles, which would be the lowest sales total since 1970. Take your pick: “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” or “Don’t You Want me?”
J.D. Power’s crystal ball says that 2010 U.S. sales will be around 11.5 million vehicles, a gradual improvement in demand that can collapse any minute if unemployment worsens, or if there is an uptick at the pump due to a minor Mid-East imbroglio.
Hard numbers will be released by automakers on January 3.
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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With all due respect, "Coward of the County" topped the charts in 1980, not 1982. Maybe "I Love Rock N' Roll?" Also, thank you for that news piece. Who says CNN isn't doing in-depth investigative journalism anymore?
Bomberpete: You are right. This is what I get if I rely on my fading memory. I looked it up this time and changed it to a more appropriate hit.
I was hoping that Jeane Moos would join the party... damn! :-(
Remember the infamous Edmunds pseudo-analysis of the Cash-For-Clunkers program? Guess what, they got their projections for November and December sales numbers all wrong. But hey, at the time their "analysis" fit the story ....