Free Republic

Loan Stretcher: Some Dealers Experiment With Eight-Year Auto Loan By Jim Ryan ARLINGTON, Texas, Oct. 5 — On a cool, clear morning, gigantic American and Texas flags fly over acres of new cars, trucks and sport-utility vehicles sprawled across a prairie where cattle and buffalo once roamed. On the fringes of this modern-day stock pen wedged between Dallas and Fort Worth, car salesmen hover, ready to pounce on the next browser who wanders through the gate. It will be another long day of waiting for these hungry hunters. Now the auto industry is rolling out a tempting new bait to...

Thu August 28, 2003 03:54 PM ET By Michael Ellis DETROIT (Reuters) - Record high gasoline prices and the blackout that darkened much of the eastern United States did little to dim U.S. new vehicle sales in August, which are expected to hit their strongest level of the year. Steve Lyons, the head of Ford Motor Co.'s F.N Ford division, said on Thursday that U.S. new car and light truck sales could hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 18.2 million to 18.7 million in August, far above July's strong rate of 17.2 million. "Certainly the deals are good and...

Sales of pickups and sport utility vehicles helped Detroit's Big Three automakers post slightly better-than-expected sales in May, but Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group still were down for the month. Tepid sales since the first of the year also prompted Ford and rival General Motors Corp. to announce profit-curtailing production cuts for the third quarter, and DaimlerChrysler warned of a likely second-quarter operating loss for Chrysler. Among foreign automakers, American Honda Motor Co., Hyundai Motor America, Nissan North America and Toyota Motor Sales USA all notched sales gains in May. Toyota had its best month in 46...

Lutz believes that "aspirational aspects overwhelm the functional differences" when car customers make their choices. When that happens, the "left-analytical brain has been defeated again," the "right brain" has prevailed and Lutz rejoices. But this does not mean people plunk down large sums merely for high-status brands. Chevrolet sells more vehicles costing more than $30,000 than do Mercedes, BMW, Lexus and Audi combined, but this is partly due to the popularity of light trucks, a category that includes sport utility vehicles. Today an "extremely high-end demographic" -- e.g., investment bankers and stockbrokers -- are buying GMC SUVs...