nyca

Catena?

docjackson1

you are obviously correct. be it turbos, hi-def tvs, homes, etc-it is all the same.

Bob in NY

I'm in the luxury goods business (high end) and business has been trending down a similar amount as Porsche sales (-50%) vs prior year. I've never seen such an abrupt slow down in business

Likemystoppie?

Oh just the typical car salesman bull****. One guy said something like "We can hold our head high- we're selling Porsche; not domestics"

At which point I kindly reminded him that MOST of the Porsche sales people in the wealthy areas will be replaced by REAL Sales Professional. And Oh, by the way- I knew of sales guys who could sling 50 units a month themselves for Ford, Honda or Toyota-

THAT's a freak'n accomplishment by ANY standard.


Then I said "some of you guys have been enjoying the fat of the land. And according to some of your numbers, you're not selling sh*t. - I sold MORE cars in the months of Oct and Nov over the previous year. AND I LIVE IN CLEVELAND! -not to mention a upside down economy."

lmao@ the idiots...............


Of COURSE it does. Hummer is heavily subsidized by GM; and it's a car for cattle.


Porsche clients are a 'weee bit' more intelligent w/ their money then the typical H2/H3 client. Wouldn't ya say?



My insight? Go buy a car. Take advantage of dealerships freaking out.

And if you see ADVERTISED huge discounts on ALL cars- it's a message; "we're on the brink of going out of business." - not every case; but consider this.

There will be about 30-40% FEWER Dealerships around the nation.

Tell'n you. It's not going to be a shoppers dream when the ones who survive OWN markets.

Go steal a car now.

Bob, that 'buyers' market is here now. And it'll be here until dealerships start going belly up all over the place.


Keep your eyes peeled after Feb. 1st..............by that time they'll have been audited for their floorplan. And credit lines will be pulled. *blammo!!*

MJones

Interesting TV today....
C-SPAN

kcl

I spoke with my sales guy at our local Mercedes dealer, and apparently they aren't doing so well either. I guess we just have to count our blessings for what we already have.

savyboy

Fully agreed, I just "stole" an allocation for a 09 C4S Feb build.

Chris is sharing great info (as always!), BUT... food for thought and some financial esoterica here, when (not if) the US dollar resumes its slide, you may well see prices forced up on imported goods: Margin compression at the dealer level (sale pricing) countered by higher MSRP (mfg price increase to compensate weak USD)= net higher cost to the customer.

When, exactly, and by how much will this possibility come into play? If I knew that I would be a billionaire. But it is likely to happen sooner than later.

Look for example at the Nissan GTR for '08, they did a mid year MSRP increase to compensate for the loss in the USD (weakening up until Aug).

Right now, there are superb deals to be had on 08's and, great deals on 09 floorplan, and good deals on orders. The question is, how great is the risk of a USD collapse and subsequent MSRP increase? A real balancing act from this point forward in my opinion.

This may well be the "sweet spot" to get the best deal. In any event, this is all very interesting to watch this historic readjustment taking place.

Likemystoppie?

We (our Benz store) ended up with 77 NEW units.

That was more then - all the competitors in our area- combined.

Including Columbus and Cinn.

But that's the reality. The strong will survive until the weaker ones start dying off.

Those days are coming. So until then, I'm holding my ground......and counting my blessings indeed!

ADias

I disagree. The dollar will strengthen and the euro will weaken. Besides PAG is currency hedged based on a much lower dollar. And in addition... if retail prices were to go up, guess what? sales would plummet further.

Likemystoppie?

Uhhm ya. I think PAG would see a **** storm from the NA dealer's if they even SUGGESTED increasing the prices.

ADias

I see you know your business. Good guy!

nyca

The current dollar strength is simply a measure of liquidation of assets in the markets, with the corresponding conversion to dollars to cover dollar denominated losses on US mortgage backed and credit related securities. Once that is all flushed out, the reality of trillions of new dollars being pumped from the Federal government into every "bailout" you can imagine, will tank the dollar later in 2009.

There is a very opportune time to buy a car like this as 2009 rolls out - sales crashing, deflation, credit contraction, temporary strong dollar, etc. Hold onto your cash and keep your eyes open.

brendo

depressing....oy. i still want a PDK but getting a decent price for my '07 Carerra S will be tougher than getting a good price on a new one IMO.

abe

"The current dollar strength...." What do you think all the european countries are doing? Just like us they are pumping their euros....it may be a wash in terms of who will be stronger..dollar vs euro. My point, we are going down...but so are they. And they are less flexible than we are with a much higher unemployment problem and entitlement programs. "The time to buy is now..." Well now, tomorrow, next year....If you have cash, I wouldn't rush. Just because there might less dealerships doesn't imply you are going to get screwed...the reason there will be less dealerships is because they are the ones screwed and you will have a buying opportunity in the next few years as they struggle and restructure. THIS IS NOT GOING TO END SOON...l
Americans don't have patience and they think all will be better tomorrow. Well, the last slowdown lasted from about 91-98 (at least in CA) as defense contractors were slashed by the Clinton administration and property went down the tubes because of no jobs. Most people think this time is even worse...its bigger, deeper, and nationwide and with a new administration who might like tax and spend....guess who they are going to tax. It wont stop at the $250k a year income...it will be all of us. That means less money for Porsche which means more discounts and ?bankrupcies.
Its going to get ugly....and if I were omnipotent I frankly don't know how I would fix this mess. I think you have to start by freeing up the credit crunch, but not give out loans to those who can't afford to pay. The next mess which I have no idea how its going to end is...who is going to pay for the trilllllliions of dollars of debt...and what if the companies the government is aiding go under? How about all these states who want bail outs while the spending politicians of those states like CA stay in office to spend more? How about the next wave of crisis with credit card debts...thats coming soon, and the next realstate crisis as some loans will be do for refi...but no home equity?
As a famous comedian once said "Olie, what a fine mess you go us into this time" (Laurel/Hardy)
Well, after all this talk...time to take my Prozac
abe

abe

..because most will need a BIG umbrella.
abe