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Pastimes : The Justa and Lars Honors Bob Brinker Investment Club Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Justa Werkenstiff who wrote (74)	7/5/2000 8:11:17 PM
From: Justa Werkenstiff	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10065

Higher Gas Prices Fail to Slow Sales of Largest Sport Utilities By Greg Gardner Detroit, July 5 (Bloomberg) -- Higher gasoline prices had little affect on U.S. sales of the largest sport-utility vehicles in June, as consumers buoyed by low unemployment and optimism that gas prices will fall overlooked the costs. Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp. and DaimlerChrysler AG sold more of their largest sport-utility models than in the year- earlier month. Those sales came as U.S. retail prices in parts of the Midwest exceeded $2.10 a gallon for unleaded regular, raising the question of whether consumers would shift to smaller, more fuel-efficient cars from large trucks. The answer for now is no. ``The percentage increase in oil prices really overstates the situation because they were coming off unusually low bases,'' said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Bank One Corp. in Chicago. ``Consumer expectations are that prices will come down again.'' Ford sales of its Excursion, the largest sport utility ever sold in the U.S., rose 2.5 percent to 4,406 from May as retail prices for a gallon of unleaded self-serve gas climbed above $2.10 in Chicago, Detroit and Milwaukee. A year-to-year comparison isn't possible because Excursion wasn't on sale in June 1999. Sales of Ford's next-largest sport utility, the Expedition, climbed 11 percent, while its Lincoln Navigator rose more than 19 percent. General Motors sold 3.2 percent more of its redesigned Chevrolet Suburban and GMC Yukon XL than a year earlier, while Chevrolet Tahoe sales rose about 12 percent. The only large sport utility that lacked sales growth was the Dodge Durango, which needed a $1,000 cash rebate to keep June sales even with a year earlier at 15,486. ``The potential turning point is somewhere out there after prices go above $2 a gallon and stay there,'' said Alan Baum, an analyst with IRN Inc. in Southfield, Michigan. ``We haven't gone far enough and long enough to get there.'' Gasoline prices fell last week for the first time in eight weeks, the U.S. Department of Energy reported. The average U.S. pump price of regular, self-service gasoline fell 2.3 cents to $1.658 a gallon -- still 49 percent higher than a year earlier. That added to consumer confidence already buoyed by a jobless rate near a 30-year low, analysts said.