North American auto production lowest since 1961

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From Motor Trend Blog:

"North American vehicle production will fall below 8 million units this year -- the lowest total since 1961. That means North American vehicle production will have almost halved in two years, a decline roughly equivalent to closing 35 assembly plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Recovery will be slow -- production is forecast to rise to 9.7 million units next year, and 11.9 million units in 2011."

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Market saturation... There are only so many people and only so many cars needed. People need time to wear out their vehicles and catch up with all the payments they have gotten into. Plus vehicles nowadays last a lot longer than in the past...
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Originally Posted By: StevieC
Market saturation... There are only so many people and only so many cars needed. People need time to wear out their vehicles and catch up with all the payments they have gotten into. Plus vehicles nowadays last a lot longer than in the past...
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There will be a run on new cars in a couple of years, because if they in anyway can afford it - people HATE driving older cars...

But they will be driving cars and not SUVs for the most part...
 
As I recall 1973 was the year most cars were ever sold ever..I believe the Chevy Impala was the #1 car sold back then..My Mom had a 73 Impala and it was a great car with no problems what so ever..

Government Motors sold real nice good cars back in the 70's..Its seemed to go down hill in the 80's when quality took major dump at G.M.
 
They predict a good run on vehicle production between 2012 and 2016. By then the pressure of needing to replace old vehicles will e great. Whoever is left to make vehicles in the US will rake in the dough. It'll be short-lived and end around 2016, because of the new government requirements that they expect will kick in around that time that will hamper sales and, again, give people incentive to hang on to their older vehicles.
 
The US population continues to grow almost unabated. More people = more demand for cars.

With new car production decreasing, the price for used cars increases. Once the glut of inventory from companies like Chrysler is sold off, expect to see prices rise as supply tightens and demand remains or increases.

Only thing that might derail this is the onset of inflation. What is holding back sales more than anything is the unavailability of credit. Dealership floor traffic is down 15-30% but sales are down 40-50%. That's due to buyers not being able to get loans. Inflation will raise interest rates, so we'll see what happens in the next 6-12 months.
 
Just today CNN reported that while GM is shrinking in the US, they are ramping up production in China... with an intent to sell at least some of these cars in the US. So, while North American production may be shrinking, it is expanding somewhere else. We are so stuck up on having a big auto industry at home... it was the same with steel industry and many other material and labor-intensive industries in the past. We got used to them shifting abroad. We will get used to cars from abroad as well. We just need to find something else that we can be good at...
 
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