GM goes down 53%. Chrysler plummets 44%. Ford falls 48%. Toyota sees a 40% decline. And Honda and Nissan are the month’s “winners” in terms of drops, at 38% and 37% (dis)respectively. Although Hyundai/Kia bucked the trend and showed a small gain for February.
Overall though, production numbers for the quarter continues to dwindle. The giants of the auto industry just saw their worst month since December 1981 – remember that time? When Michael Jackson was black? When Ronald Reagan was just getting over his assassination attempt? When a little show by the name of “Family Ties’ was about to debut on NBC?
Yeah, long time ago. The thing is, is anyone really surprised at this point?
To me, this news wasn’t really a surprise, as Edmunds had prognosticated that the auto industry would have near record levels of loss, but even that prediction was not as low as the actual numbers.
Really though, we are in a global recession and credit is tough to come by these days. Americans are filing taxes faster than ever this year because of one thing: they need money in a bad way. So why in the world would it be shocking news that the automakers of the world are having the worst months in almost three decades?
While economists and government officials around the world continue to figure out various ways of robbing Peter to pay Paul, inventories continue to pile up, jobs continue to be lost, and the vicious circle continues. The news really isn’t about all of the percentage drops the Big Kahunas are posting, it’s more about the continual doom and gloom that the media continues to feed us, and the resulting brain damage.
Despite all of the warning signs that the homeless wear around their necks on city streets, the end is NOT near. This downward spiral is heading toward a black hole, and until the entire global economy rights itself in many more forms, automakers will need to brace for what will seem like an eternally long, cold winter.
It’s not as if anything I am telling you is mind-blowing either. My point is that all of this negativity is about as sickening as seeing yet another picture of Lindsay Lohan and her boyfriend Samantha Ronson. Just let it go already and wake me up when something actually different happens.
Aren’t I the ray of sunshine?