After being soundly criticized earlier for taking corporate jets to Washington D.C., the CEO’s of the Big Three have decided to road trip it this time.
Of course, whether their newfound disgust their own extravagance will be enough to save them is whole another matter. Congress, after all, just loves its show trials and for some reason car guys are among their favorite whipping boys.
In the meantime, however, the auto industry continues to collapse which will probably make for some pretty quiet car trips along the way. Detroit to D.C. is a long way to travel when you’re begging for money.
Either way, it looks like they will be needing the handout now more than ever. Auto sales plunged again in November.
But at least they are not alone. Sales of imported cars have also fallen off a cliff.
Here’s the news auto sales:
From Bloomberg by Bill Koenig and Alan Ohnsman entitled: GM, Ford, Toyota Say U.S. Sales Tumbled on Recession
“General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and Chrysler LLC said November U.S. sales tumbled more than 30 percent as the recession and Detroit automakers’ aid pleas kept buyers away from showrooms.
Toyota’s 34 percent plunge was the most for Asia’s biggest automaker since at least 1987, while Chrysler’s total fell almost in half to its lowest in 14 years of Bloomberg data. GM dropped 41 percent, and Ford declined 31 percent.
The results showed the strain of the deepening economic slowdown and the announcement last month by GM, the largest U.S. automaker, that it might not have enough cash to last through the year. GM, Ford and Chrysler were presenting plans to Congress today for $25 billion in federal loans.
“When you think of the psyche of the American consumer right now, it’s bad,” said Rebecca Lindland, an analyst with IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts. “And until we start seeing some help from the economy we are going to keep seeing months like this.”
November’s totals may have pushed the U.S. industry to its 13th straight monthly drop, the longest slide in 17 years.
Ford expects the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate for the month to be lower than October’s 10.6 million, the company’s marketing chief, Jim Farley, said on a conference call. Analysts and economists surveyed by Bloomberg had projected a November rate of 11 million.
Annual U.S. sales this decade had averaged 16.8 million before this year”
OUCH……
Come to think of it, maybe they should have taken the bus….or caught a ride on a freight train.
