<rant>
Are you a big-3 American automobile manufacturer? Are you suddenly faced with a huge inventory of gas-guzzling SUVs that no-one wants to buy anymore? (Which is a curious phenomenon, now that gas is less expensive than it has been for years and shows no bottom – maybe people are finally getting serious about the environmental aspect?) Are you asking your federal government for a $24 billion to save your skins? Here’s the answer to your woes!
I wonder if they’re doing credit checks on the people who take advantage of this offer, or if it’s another sub-prime crisis in the making. “Sorry about losing the house, honey, but look at this great new truck I got!” Three months later: “Sorry about losing the truck, honey, but look at this massive federal deficit our children got!”
It took about 40 years for people to forget the lessons of the Great Depression and start using credit cards and other, progressively more inventive, ways to spend more money than they had. That’s what fueled the roaring ’80s until the crash in ’87. Then people did the same thing, except with tech stocks in the ’90s, until the bubble burst. And now the present sub-prime fiasco. It has always been a case of too many people buying something which is going to decline in value with someone else’s money. Which is exactly what Ford is offering you now.
</rant>
56
December 7, 2008 at 4:27 am
I took our Ford Focus wagon in for regular service last week, and was astounded that the dealer lot was entirely full of trucks and SUVs, with a few large cars, and only the Focus sedan (no more wagons for those of who move things, or play the drums) for anyone who wanted a fuel-efficient vehicle. If we needed a new car, Ford doesn’t even offer us anything that would realistically replace the one we bought _from them_ 7 years ago. Sad.
December 12, 2008 at 11:52 am
Looks like the Big 3 are going to be toast and it’s their own fault (and the US labour unions that hold them hostage).
Good riddance, I say. Survival of the fittest. They’ve been making sub-par, gas guzzling vehicles for years and now they want a hand out to compete with global companies who have figured out how to do it better and cheaper?
April 11, 2012 at 2:26 pm
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