Saturday, October 21, 2006

The Economy in '08...

Disgruntled Car Salesman is a bit more disgruntled than usual. This could be a harbinger for the '08 elections, too:

...I knew it would and have been talking about it for quite some time. ...How many times can you roll inequity ["upside-down equity in your car] before it’s one too many? How much [negative equity] did you finance into that new car loan for 96 months? 115%? 125%? 140%? How much depreciation can you handle in one year? 30%? 40%? Dare I say 50%? (That’s for those of you in Neons, Cavaliers and old body style Suburbans/Tahoes.)

...We were down roughly 40% last month form September, 2005. September is a huge month. This month doesn’t look too much better. This isn’t just my shop, this is everywhere.

(Chrysler is advertising "$12,000. off" list-price on some of its truck models. That's a BIG number.)

When the auto industry sneezes, Wisconsin has generally caught pneumonia, and the Upper Midwest in general takes it on the chops. Added to the auto-industry problem, Cat warned the other day, meaning that Deere and Case/IH may not be far behind.

This is a sign worth tracking.

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