Posted on 06/08/2009 7:44:37 AM PDT by earlJam
Fewer but bigger dealerships expected to boost car prices
By Megan Woolhouse and Erin Ailworth
Globe Staff / June 8, 2009
Remaining dealerships will be able to charge more for cars, analysts say, because fewer dealerships make it harder for buyers to spark bidding wars. And as auto companies scale back factory production, heavy discounts and dealer incentives will dry up.
Tom Wilkinson, a GM spokesman, said once the "current glut" of car brands disappears, prices for GM cars will increase anywhere from $2,000 to $6,000 for a new vehicle.
Chrysler expects to see a price increase on new cars in the range of $1,000 to $2,000 over the next year or two, said Kathy Graham, a company spokeswoman.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
gotta pay off those damn federal loans....
that is usually what a decrease in the level of competition does to prices.
The problem is fewer and smaller jobs...
Maybe that's the plan, but at least it will spell the end of the UAW as anything other than a welfare queen.
idiots. people are already complaining about new car prices, and they think RAISING prices is gonna help?
And the customers will dry up too!
LOL, the Boston Globe seems to understand capitalism when it suits their needs.
Right, get rid of competition to raise prices and thus raise sales tax receipts.
OR
Cause people to keep their cars longer and thus not buy new ones, thus fewer sales and downhill continues.
Bet not. You can’t raise prices if consumers refuse to buy your cars, and I’d guess half of America will refuse to buy a car from a government-owned car company.
As if no one saw this coming...
They can raise their prices all they want, but consumers always have choices - keep the old car, buy a used one, or buy another brand. If business is bad, they still have the floor plan payments to make, and they need to sell cars to do that.
Change you can believe in.
What a stupid strategy .... walk down the street to the Toyota, Nissan, Kia, Hyundai, or Honda dealer and deal away.
Idiots.
Do they think Americans will pay MORE for a car they don't want, when there are tens of thousands of good used cars to buy instead?
Yeah, raise prices in an economic downturn. Hey, the NY Times always tells us to “raise taxes to bring properity,” why shouldn’t the dealers raise prices?
Then they’ll have to legislate that buyers are limited to GM/Chrysler. Because if they don’t, most thinking people wouldn’t buy that garbage on a bad bet.
I’d buy a Hyundai before I’d buy a GM or Chrysler. And Hyundai’s prices aren’t going up.
Large dealerships mean higher overhead and with less competition these two points will drive the prices up and the customer service down.
I would be surprised to see “loaner for life” programs to remain as well as other customer perks.
“Remaining dealerships will be able to charge more for cars, analysts say, because fewer dealerships make it harder for buyers to spark bidding wars”
Delusional. They think Govt Motors and Cr@pler will sell vehicles for more because they gut the supply chain? They’re ignoring the demand side of the supply/demand curve as well as the effects of competition from non-govt run car manufacturers. Apparently, they think they have a monopoly and are dealing with an inelastic supply/demand situation.
Pure stupidity.
... or Ford.
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