The 2010 Car Shortage Could Drive Vehicle Prices Up

By the end of 2010 there could be a shortage of new cars, trucks, suv’s and vans of dealer’s lots.

GM announced today that it will close most if not all of its manufacturing plants for at least 9 weeks starting May 11. General Motors has no other choice.

Traditionally This is the Beginning of the Car Buying Season

For the automotive business this is traditionally the start of the car buying season. Of course in the last eight months nothing has been traditional in the car business. A lot of GM new car dealers stand a great chance of turning  into used car dealers because of the factory closing. Now don’t get me wrong here, I’m not saying they will lose their franchise, the pipeline of new cars, trucks, Suv’s and vans will just start to evaporate. With any type of decent sales volume in the next 90 days GM dealers will be at a disadvantage. This is not good for any automotive dealer regardless of the franchise and will affect the consumer as well. Any commodity that becomes scarce forces prices up and usually irrationally.

Let me Explain.

A good economy thrives on a  fair and balanced competitive playing field. Once that equation becomes skewed it affects everyone involved. In the case of GM it will hurt them and their market share the most. The primary reason is loss of confidence by the consumer.

• Consumer Confidence : Plant closings are one thing. Filing for bankruptcy is another.
  
• Shrinking Inventories: No manufacturing means the new car pipeline is turned off.
• Thin Selection: As the most popular models sell first the luxury of selection evaporates for the customer
• Migration of Customer Loyalty: The path of least resistance for the consumer is to visit one of GM’s competitors.

GM vs. The Competition

A loyal GM customer first two choices of competitors would be Chrysler or Ford and I put these two in alphabetical order. With the grim reaper on the door step of Chrysler the logical choice of the Big Three is Ford.

Ford vs. The Competition

I have a lot confidence that both GM and Chrysler will survive these current challenges, but not untarnished. In the interim Ford is the only manufacturer that is humming right along albeit with a few road bumps here and there. Ford is able to focus more on innovation and quality while it’s competitors are focusing all of their energy into surviving. Considering that GM is putting up their classic car collection for auction through Barrett-Jackson they are losing valuable time. maybe years, in new product innovation to Ford.

Visit www.ford.com/about-ford/company-information-Purchasing Options

Listed here you will discover every purchase option and finance option Ford is offering here in Bartlesville, Oklahoma or anywhere in the world. Ford has a plan for just about every demographic from College Students to Military Appreciation and the all inclusive Ford Advantage Plan that is a payment protection plan for up to one year.

The one constant that Ford will have in the foreseeable future is great selection of product. With this balanced advantage Ford will be more competitive in new and used inventory pricing models and selection.

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