Lots of new Ram trucks rotting on dealer lots it seems

IMHO Ram sales might be a canary in the coal mine.

another canary is how many new RV's are sitting in RV dealer lots..

another canary may be if you live in a hi growth area, the amount of unsold houses is starting to accumulate..
my street is in a high growth area with about 20 houses on it.. and there are now 2 unsold never occupied and 1 relatively new house that has been rented out since it was finished.. so there you go...
economy is slowing down,not because Rams are unpopular but because of other reasons..
 
Highlander 1459 said:
IMHO Ram sales might be a canary in the coal mine.

another canary is how many new RV's are sitting in RV dealer lots..

another canary may be if you live in a hi growth area, the amount of unsold houses is starting to accumulate..
my street is in a high growth area with about 20 houses on it.. and there are now 2 unsold never occupied and 1 relatively new house that has been rented out since it was finished.. so there you go...
economy is slowing down,not because Rams are unpopular but because of other reasons..
Click to expand...

Elkhart, Indiana (RV capital of the world) was booming when trillions of cash was handed out like Halloween candy and people spending it to help stimulate the economy and make GDP look good.

Now things have changed and lots of things are slowing down.

Leading economic indicators are trending downward….

Old guy on TV says everything is sunshine and roses.
 
SC Maintenance said:
It appears the lots are now officially full. There cutting back to only one shift. Unfortunately most of it is behind a paywall - but the summary:

Stellantis said its Warren Truck Assembly Plant near Detroit will be down to one daily production shift for at least the next month, resulting in a temporary layoff of about 1,600 workers. The plant, which had been running on two shifts, builds the Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer SUVs and the Ram 1500 Classic pickup

https://www.autonews.com/manufacturing/stellantis-job-cuts-warren-truck-plant-lays-1600-temporarily
Click to expand...
They have since just closed that plant.
 
Dave Hess said:
Elkhart, Indiana (RV capital of the world) was booming when trillions of cash was handed out like Halloween candy and people spending it to help stimulate the economy and make GDP look good.

Now things have changed and lots of things are slowing down.

Leading economic indicators are trending downward….

Old guy on TV says everything is sunshine and roses.
Click to expand...

yeah,,, anybody that watches any sort of business media knows there are one group out there spreading manure piles and pig farms while another group out there is pitching honeysuckle and roses. If you have half a brain , you judge for yourself... like I observed, there are empty houses on my street and there are others in the area, and some builders are still building... but even I have noticed the amount of dump truck activity on the local street's seems reduced...
 
Last edited:
I bought a 2020 RAM 1500 Lmited at the very end of 2019 and it was about $50K after some $13K in discounts. It was stolen over spring break of 2023, and when shopping for a replacement I was stunned by the price of a replacement vehicle. There was no way I was going to spend $65K for the same truck I had just bought three years prior. The dealers weren’t discounting them as much (domestic full size trucks should always be discounted at least 20%) and so I passed. Full size trucks have become ridiculously overpriced. I found my RWD Limited to be good value at $50K considering how well eqiuipped it was, but at the new prices not so much.
 
Well according to the bureau of lies and statistics New car prices are only down -0.9% from a year ago. So apparently the dealers have yet to get the memo.


1721004533607.webp


1721004491632.webp
 
Highlander 1459 said:
IMHO Ram sales might be a canary in the coal mine.

another canary is how many new RV's are sitting in RV dealer lots..

another canary may be if you live in a hi growth area, the amount of unsold houses is starting to accumulate..
my street is in a high growth area with about 20 houses on it.. and there are now 2 unsold never occupied and 1 relatively new house that has been rented out since it was finished.. so there you go...
economy is slowing down,not because Rams are unpopular but because of other reasons..
Click to expand...
Yeah, the lower end RAM trucks probably have the most lower income buyers, since they are the cheapest. Cheap RV trailers too, probably most who want them have already got one and their typical buyers are pretty sure both the trucks and trailers are going to get cheaper soon.
 
wpod said:
Most vehicles are over priced garbage.
Click to expand...
I was just in Costa Rica, and no vehicle I was in had an automatic, 28 passenger busses, a new MB 15 pass, bus, newer hyundai minivans, new and old pickups, a few cars, all stick shifts. I think I saw only 4 full size pick ups in two weeks too, but we were mostly in the mountains. Everything but the cars were diesel too.
It was interesting to see what a free-er market (albeit, with generally lower incomes, higher fuel prices, and not much rust) chose fully expecting to run a vehicle 20+ years if the repairs were reasonable.
 
IndyIan said:
I was just in Costa Rica, and no vehicle I was in had an automatic, 28 passenger busses, a new MB 15 pass, bus, newer hyundai minivans, new and old pickups, a few cars, all stick shifts. I think I saw only 4 full size pick ups in two weeks too, but we were mostly in the mountains. Everything but the cars were diesel too.
It was interesting to see what a free-er market (albeit, with generally lower incomes, higher fuel prices, and not much rust) chose fully expecting to run a vehicle 20+ years if the repairs were reasonable.
Click to expand...
Costa Rica has a ridiculous tax / duty to import any car - new or used. Hence any car that arrives is expected to last a very, very long time - so as not to replicate the importation costs. So I presume they have determined manuals last longer. Likely do, especially considering likely low maintenance and lots of heat and hills.

Fun to look at used cars in Costa Rica (and other places).

https://crautos.com/index.cfm
 
PWMDMD said:
Aren't all of Stellantis' North American brands in trouble? I've seen quite a few indications most of their brands are some of the slowest selling brands on the market today. Dodge Hornet is currently the slowest selling vehicle in NA with 646 market day supply and I believe the Charger, Grand Wagoner, RAM 2500, and Chrysler 300 are all +300 market day supply.
Click to expand...
The company I work for got bought by a European company in 2014. I don’t have an MBA or even a crappy business degree, but by 2016 I could tell that the Europeans they put in charge simply don’t get how to be successful in the US market. 10 years on, the company has closed 7 plants, lost 2500 jobs and $3B in yearly revenue. They still haven’t learned that those business models & tactics don’t work here. I honestly won’t be surprised if we’re closed down or sold off before 2027. Sad, and had been easily preventable.

I’m going out on a fairly solid limb here but I’m going to assume that Fiat is the same.
 
Still shopping the half ton truck market. I'm seeing a TON of 3 year old Warlord 1500 classics showing up locally. And they're priced much lower than their Ford / GM counterpart. I'm going to really heavily look at the 5.7 versions!
 
SC Maintenance said:
Costa Rica has a ridiculous tax / duty to import any car - new or used. Hence any car that arrives is expected to last a very, very long time - so as not to replicate the importation costs. So I presume they have determined manuals last longer. Likely do, especially considering likely low maintenance and lots of heat and hills.

Fun to look at used cars in Costa Rica (and other places).

https://crautos.com/index.cfm
Click to expand...
It is an interesting country, some things are about the same price as US/Canada, and then things like utilities are $60/month total for water, sewer, and electricity for a small house.
Our one kayak tour owner had just bought a chinese brand 15 passenger van, that was pretty nice inside really, not quite as quiet and smooth as the MB one, but very close, and nice compared to the 24 passenger busses. He said it was $40k US which seems OK if it holds up.
 
SubieRubyRoo said:
The company I work for got bought by a European company in 2014. I don’t have an MBA or even a crappy business degree, but by 2016 I could tell that the Europeans they put in charge simply don’t get how to be successful in the US market. 10 years on, the company has closed 7 plants, lost 2500 jobs and $3B in yearly revenue. They still haven’t learned that those business models & tactics don’t work here. I honestly won’t be surprised if we’re closed down or sold off before 2027. Sad, and had been easily preventable.

I’m going out on a fairly solid limb here but I’m going to assume that Fiat is the same.
Click to expand...
It seems that Daimler , Fiat, and Fiat-Peugeot struggle to understand our market.
 
SC Maintenance said:
Well according to the bureau of lies and statistics New car prices are only down -0.9% from a year ago. So apparently the dealers have yet to get the memo.


View attachment 230420

View attachment 230419
Click to expand...
The problem is that even if the data is correct, the prices are up so much in the last few years that no growth in prices, or a small negative amount, will not be noticeable. But I share your skeptical view, you make a fair point.

I don’t think the problem is confined to Ram. We have an auto park near us and all the dealers are full relative to a few months or year or so ago.

Final anecdotal data point: a family member called me over the weekend wanting advice on whether to put a new motor in the Audi Q something they have (~$10k) or buy a new car. Problem is that even though both spouses are attorneys and earn a healthy living, they were shocked by the prices and are seriously considering repairing the car they have. I would guess they are at the upper end of the consumer spectrum and so while they are conservative financially, to me it was very telling. They didn’t like the prices and commented you get nothing for your money. Another fair observation.

This is why a lot of people are really suffering and it greatly irritates me when we are given this overly positive view of things by the major news outlets. I think a lot of folks are struggling, and car prices are
Just one aspect of it.
 
IndyIan said:
I was just in Costa Rica, and no vehicle I was in had an automatic, 28 passenger busses, a new MB 15 pass, bus, newer hyundai minivans, new and old pickups, a few cars, all stick shifts. I think I saw only 4 full size pick ups in two weeks too, but we were mostly in the mountains. Everything but the cars were diesel too.
It was interesting to see what a free-er market (albeit, with generally lower incomes, higher fuel prices, and not much rust) chose fully expecting to run a vehicle 20+ years if the repairs were reasonable.
Click to expand...
Many Chinese pickups on the roads in that part of the world as well.
 
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