Trucks Are The Stuff At 2014 Detroit Auto Show

Car companies are upbeat as the North American International Auto Show begins in Detroit, Michigan today.  How anybody can stay upbeat in that bitter cold is beyond me.  It has probably got to do with the fact that the bean counters at the car companies have told the big whigs that the companies will be making money hand over fist this year in global sales.  And a lot of that has to do with trucks.Here are some highlights from the audio story.

The best truck award wen to the the Chevrolet Silverado. That makes a first for GM because GM also won for the best car.  GM has never before taken both awards in the same year.

The reason the sales outlook looks so good for U.S. car companies is, get this, the recession.  Yes, car buying sucked during the height of the recession so previous years numbers were way down. But the other part of that story is that people wanted cars, they just did not think it was a good time to buy cars even if they had the money.  "What if I or my spouse lose our job, how will we make the note?" is a question a lot of potential car buyers asked.  Now consumers are feeling a bit more secure and they are more willing to commit to a three to five year car note.  It is for this reason that sales are predicted to increase.

A lot of the car buying that is going on right now is going on because people who typically would not qualify for a car loan are now qualifying.  Subprime is moving into the auto loan industry.  I personally predict that if you wait a year or two a lot of the hot 2014 trucks are going to be for sale as used cars for way lower prices than a 2012 or 2011 decked out truck is today.  Why, because when this bubble bursts there is going to be a slew of reposessions.

The audio is 7 minutes and 27 seconds long.  It includes the full truck story and a second, more general story about new cars at the auto show.  It is worth a listen.

Trucks_Take_The_Lead_At_2014_Detroit_Auto_Show by Cj Bantam on Mixcloud