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Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mishedlo who wrote (31512)	6/6/2005 8:03:51 AM
From: TH	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116555

mish, This is no surprise. Ford SUV numbers have been off as much as 43% this year. The decline in truck sales is costing my company a great deal of earnings, as one of our largest programs is a Ford truck line. Every week our releases (releases are weekly authority to ship against a blanket purchase order) are being revised down. Week after week we just get more down. It is a slow bleed and soon many will not have enough blood to keep the heart pumping. Suppliers with a heavy concentration in the SUV and truck lines are going to be the first to disappear. GM personnel still think the new truck platform that launches in the fall is going to save 05 sales. I will admit that the new trucks and SUV's in this platform are an improvement, but they still drink gas. The new styling has not really improved the gas mileage <ng> As for channel stuffing, Ford and GM have no choice. Some trucks and SUV's are built at multiple plants and they MUST move a certain number (a very high number) just to break even. I have been shopping for a new company car and several times the salesperson at Ford dealership has tried to interest me in a SUV. GT TH P.S. Am I the only one that thinks all this 6th inning, 8 inning talk by the Fed is just contrived gamesmanship? I guess I expect the "smartest and brightest" economists in the world to actually have a game plan. Part of that plan (in my distorted vision) is the ability to fool the financial community. I guess I must be overestimating their ability, but I still think we are all being played.