Car sales soar after state license fee cut Schwarzenegger makes good on promise

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | January 16, 2004 | Chronicle Staff

[calcowgirl]

Californians have been buying new cars at a breakneck pace since Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger repealed an increase in the state's vehicle license fee.

New-vehicle retail sales across the state have jumped 19 percent and luxury sales have risen 30 percent, auto industry trade association J.D. Power and Associates said Thursday.

[Victor]

Love it....go Arnie, stick it right up the Commies' collective Arse.

Show 'em how it's done.

[Pikamax]

I hope its mostly SUVs

[heleny]

Outside California, total new-vehicle sales dropped 2 percent, and luxury vehicle sales were off 1 percent in the last six weeks of 2003, compared with the six weeks from Oct. 1 through Nov. 16.

The information would be easier to understand if they compared the numbers with the same time period in the previous year to account for seasonal changes.

From what I gather from this news article:

• From Sept to Oct, CA sales declined 23% while other states declined 12%.
• Some time later, after the fees were returned to previous levels, CA sales grew 19%.
• From the penultimate 6 weeks to the last 6 weeks of the year, other states saw a 2% decline.

Assuming the CA figures came from the same time period, from September to the end of the 2003, CA lost 8% while other states lost 14%.

I guess these numbers count as a "resurgence."

For luxury cars, I remember reading something also sourced from JD Powers that CA sales declined 40% in the 5-6 weeks after the fee tripled. Now that sales have rebounded 30%, we've only lost 22%. This article didn't compare the other states' luxury car sales or other years' seasonal effects.

[antiRepublicrat]

A perfect example of how tax cuts spur economic growth. The CA libs can stick that one in their collective communist butts to chew on it for a while.

Sorry, after listening to those three airhead lib protestors on Hannity yesterday I'm kind of out of patience with them.

[The Great RJ]

Again proves the Law of Demand--if prices are lower people will buy more.

[Fred Hayek]

These liberals could never run a business. They would think that if a store cut the price of their inventory by 20%, they would get 20% less sales receipts, instead of selling more volume. Then again there are some who do - Viacom, etc.

[jonno]

bump

[Only1choice____Freedom]

Car sales soar after state license fee cut Schwarzenegger makes good on promise

Just a coincidence these two have nothing to do with each other. These people would have bought cars anyway. Think of all the revenue that Cal. would have if he hadn't cut the fee. Tax cuts never work. We should tax 150% and that would bring in record revenue and Cal. would be saved. sarcasm /off