American buyers continue to abandon the trusty car

[MichMan]

"Automakers largely reported that cars dragged on U.S. sales last month, in some cases despite booming SUV and truck sales. Meantime, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, which has been phasing cars out of its lineup, reaped the rewards in November.

The November sales results beat some analyst expectations, as most automakers reported smaller sales slips than expected. But U.S. consumers continue to flee sedans in droves, a trend guiding executive decision-making at the highest levels. Even Toyota's typically best-selling Camry sedan was off nearly 30 percent compared to a year ago.

"The market continues to abandon cars, with no end in sight," said Karl Brauer, executive publisher of Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book. "Automakers have slowed or stopped production, so inventory is down, and buyers are mostly looking at trucks and SUVs.

A few models have somewhat stabilized in recent months, but generally speaking cars — and brands that depend heavily on cars — don’t have a good story to tell. Every time we think we’ve hit the bottom in car market share another month passes with trucks and SUVs gaining while cars lose."

F-Series marked a record nine straight months topping the 70,000 truck mark, a consistent performance by a high-volume, high-margin product unmatched in the industry," said Ford sales chief Mark LaNeve in a statement.

Toyota's car sales were down enough to drag down booming SUV and truck sales. The automaker reported a 15-percent increase in SUV sales and a 10.6-percent increase in truck sales for its best-ever month of selling trucks — but that was overshadowed by car sales that were off 18 percent.

Nissan Group reported overall sales dropped 19 percent in November, with car sales down 34 percent, and truck sales off 13.1 percent.


https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2018/12/03/fca-november-sales-up-17-ford-down-7/2189951002/

[The Genealogist]

1. Reminds me of the Dubya years

Seems everyone wanted the biggest, most obnoxious gas guzzling vehicles they could find.

[flibbitygiblets]

2. And then the price of gas soared and the idiots never learn do they?

[Volaris]

13. Not even a little bit. They're compensating for the fact they think they have a small penis,

And Big Strong MEN drive Big, Heavy TRUCKS., because 'Murica, and a volt is for a cuck.

keep in mind, these are the same grown men who cry when the nurse comes into the exam room with a blood-draw needle.

[gtar100]

3. Maybe this is a dumb idea but I often think if they didn't price cars so damn high,

they might actually sell more and make more than enough. The fact that new cars lose so much value immediately after purchase means that most of that super high price is strictly gravy for the sellers and manufacturers. I hate shopping for cars because it is a major hit on my budget and I can't afford to be ripped off.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

6. Shopping for cars isn't have as bad as it once was.

These days you can get so much information on the internet about the specific cars (by which I mean all vehicles) you're interested in. Dealers don't pull the kind of crap they used to when it was so much harder to find out this stuff.

I will say I'm honestly surprised at how much money so many people spend on cars. I don't think $35,000 is even remotely affordable, but that's the current average price of a new car. WTF? But then I've always owned inexpensive cars, starting with my first two being VW bugs.

Oh, and certain vehicles simply don't lose that much value when you drive them off the lot. Hondas immediately come to mind. They hold their value so well that you may as well buy a brand new one as one that's less than three years old. Honestly, it's the crappy American cars the depreciate so rapidly.

[MichMan]

8. Resale is based on customer demand

With Trucks and Crossovers dominating current sales figures, I would expect that the vehicles that were previously known for good resale may not be any longer, and replaced with some of the most in demand models

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

19. I believe in buying something practical and not very expensive and then keeping it for a long time.

So resale value of whatever I currently own isn't an issue for me, because I'm not buying a replacement car very often.

Two months ago I bought a 2017 Honda Fit that had come off lease. I'd actually planned to buy brand new, but aside from the fact that the plant in Mexico that makes them for the U.S. market had a flood a while back and so there were simply no new ones to be had, I learned that 2017 was the last year Honda had put in a CD player. Apparently they don't understand that some of us still do CDs. When I go on long road trips I check out books on CD from the library. I was trading in a 2004 Honda Civic that I'd had since 2006, so needless to say there was almost no trade-in value, but I expected that. Not sure if I'll drive the Fit for 12 years, but unless something bad happens to the car and I'm forced to get a replacement, it will be five to seven years, possibly longer. I'm now 70, and it may be that around the time I'd want to get something newer, I'll be ready to give up driving.

Personally, I don't get why so many people insist on a truck or a huge SUV. Too often they're not all that practical. If you are hauling a lot of stuff around, a pick-up does make sense. But most of us don't have that need. And some SUVs have less cargo space than my old Civic had. I joked that its trunk could easily hold two, maybe three bodies. It was actually larger than the trunk on the Accord, not to mention lots of other cars.

My essential message is that you figure out exactly what kind of vehicle really suits your needs and your wallet. I have bought both new and used, and either one is perfectly fine. Just don't get suckered into buying something you can't afford, and never, never, NEVER be underwater on the car loan.

[csziggy]

20. Are you buying new cars? Why?

I buy used - these days three to four years old, low mileage, but still used. First off, I don't take that hit that new car buyers get as soon as they sign the paperwork accepting their car. Second, by the time I buy any problems with the model I am considering are known and generally public - so a little internet research will tell which are the best vehicles to buy.

Usually I car shop online. Since 2005 I have bought three used vehicles online - two through Cars.com and the third through Carvana.com. All three were priced great and have been very satisfactory.

[gratuitous]

4. Owning, maintaining, and keeping a car running can be expensive

And for those lazy young people who aren't earning six- and seven-figure salaries on Wall Street because they didn't choose to become investment bankers, public transit and ride-sharing companies are far more affordable in the short-term. Boost the minimum wage or institute a universal basic income, and cars might once again be an attractive personal item. But that might mean wealthy people don't get another tax cut, and how would that even be fair?

[mitch96]

5. Hopefully it will work to my advantage

Looking to get a new car by the end of the month.. End of year/End of month give me your best out the door price. I'll hit about 10 dealers and see what happens.. I'm in no hurry. If they wont deal I wont buy...
m

[Squinch]

12. Last car I bought (13 years ago) I did all that haggling on the net. I looked at the

models I was interested in and the packages I wanted. I emailed every dealer in the area and asked them if they could get me that car and how much would it be?

A bunch gave the, "You'll have to come in. We don't deal through email."

A few didn't answer.

A small number said, "OK, we don't have that exact thing, but we have this thing, and this is the price."

I test drove the ones from that last group and bought one the same day.

[mitch96]

21. Yup, dat's what I plan on doing

Got my script all done and gonna start sending emails two weeks before the end of the year.
I HATE dealing with dealers.. it's such bullshit and obvious they don't care what happens as long as they can wring every last penny out of the deal. I want an Amazon/ebay experience.
Heres the money, give me the car, have a nice day good by..
m

[Squinch]

7. And then we have this:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=11506877

The depths of American stupidity never cease to amaze me.

[Kaleva]

14. Switiching to cars won't save us from that. I believe the tipping point has already been reached.

[Squinch]

15. .

[trc]

9. How much of this is driven by ridiculous amounts of student loan debt I wonder?

Can't buy a new car if you can just barely pay rent and buy food. If we go back to student loan interest, credit card interest and home loan interest being deductible that would help a bit. Wait, aren't those lower and middle class tax cuts? Ah well, can't have that.

[Squinch]

11. It isn't that people aren't buying vehicles. It's just that they're buying giant stupid vehicles.

[MichMan]

18. Crossovers, the biggest selling segment, are built on car platforms....

….. just feature different styling and features and are not all giant vehicles

[msongs]

10. so where are the electric pickups? nt

[bluedigger]

23. Should be here in late 2020.

After almost a decade of operating in a certain level of stealth, Rivian Automotive is coming out in a big way today by unveiling its all-electric pickup truck: the Rivian R1T.

They are promising some unbelievable specs that would compete with any gas-powered pickup truck on the market.

Unlike other high-profile electric vehicle startups, Rivian mostly stayed in the shadows to develop its EV technology and prepare a plan to secure volume production of its vehicles.

The startup was founded by CEO RJ Scaringe, a MIT graduate, and it has been in stealth mode since its inception in 2009 up until last year when they took over a shuttered Mitsubishi factory in Normal, Illinois.

https://electrek.co/2018/11/26/rivian-r1t-all-electric-pickup-specs/

[Adsos Letter]

16. Nissan car sales down 34%

Have they finally straightened out the CVT issues?

[bdamomma]

17. there's going to be

a lot of people without a jobs.

Also I heard I think it was Randi Rhodes that GM, Tesla, Ford are going to make cars in China.
Due to the tariffs that tRump is enacting these companies are going to China. That's a big FU to American workers.

[JCMach1]

22. Unending pet peeve of annoying trucks and SUVs that

Make parking lots a danger backing up...

Of course I get the last laugh when I take my Prius and Volt to the gas station...