Jeep Dealer’s $50,000 Sticker Shock Captures Auto Sales Stress

Finance.yahoo.com ^ | October 2, 2019 | Gabrielle Coppola, Keith Naughton and David Welch

[Red Badger]

Robert Loehr’s dealership is hanging in just fine, much like Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s sales did last quarter. But just as investors doubt the U.S. car market can sustain near-record results for much longer, the Georgia retailer is apprehensive about a key issue: sticker shock.

“Prices are crazy on cars nowadays -- all of them,” said Loehr, who sells Jeeps, Rams and other Fiat Chrysler models from a showroom northwest of Atlanta and has been in the business for 35 years. “They’re crazy to me, and I do it every single day, all day long.”

New Jeep Gladiators -- the truck version of the rugged Wrangler model -- can easily fetch $50,000 and are emblematic of a trend toward eye-popping prices carmakers are commanding for the pickups and sport utility vehicles making up an ever-greater share of their sales. Even as manufacturers and lenders increasingly stretch out auto loan terms to more than seven years and subsidize interest rates with incentives, average monthly payments keep climbing.

Affordability could become more of a risk if the mounting concern that the American economy is headed for recession ends up panning out. Those fears drove the benchmark S&P 500 down more than 2% on Wednesday, to the lowest since August. General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. shares slumped by even more.

The U.S. car market has probably reached the end of a great run, according to Brian Irwin, who leads the automotive and industrial practice for consulting firm Accenture. “It’s a step down from where we thought we would be a few months ago,” Irwin said in a phone interview. “I expect to see stronger incentives coming out.”

For more on U.S. auto sales, click here for Bloomberg’s TOPLive blog

[cuban leaf]

I actually owned two Dodge D50’s. The first was actaully the mitsubishi. I turned it into a convertible. It was a lot of fun.

The second had a braking problem. The rears would lock up at the drop of a hat on wet roads. Guaranteed spinout. I had to be very careful when braking. Loved ‘em both, though. I believe they were the first engine to have the balancing shafts. They were very smooth for four cylinder engines for their day.

[max americana]

Thanks dude. Jeep stuff keep it coming..

[meatloaf]

I agree!