CarMax officials want Congress to include used-car buyers as part of the "cash for clunkers" legislation. Lawmakers want to offer vouchers to consumers trading in gas guzzlers for more fuel-efficient vehicles. Some versions of the bill include used-car buyers, but not all.
Headlines declared the auto industry achieved a showroom mini-victory in March by markedly improving sales over a dismal February. But the improved numbers were something like lipstick on a pig as March's boost nonetheless concealed some ugly realities. One of the most foreboding trends to continue despite the March uptick: the still-accelerating plunge of the full-size pickup truck market. If segment sales do not stabilize this year, revenue-ravaged automakers may have to take drastic measures.
The telematics session at the 2008 NAFA Institute & Expo was standing-room only because of intense interest in this technology. An updated session is being presented by GE Capital experts at the 2009 NAFA I&E on April 27th in New Orleans (www.nafaIandE.org).
New GM CEO, Fritz Henderson, said the automaker will close more plants and cut jobs as part of another survival plan due by the end of May. Fourteen plants will be closed by 2012, and 47,000 jobs will be axed worldwide. GM is also courting buyers for Hummer and Saab.
Just when you thought the worst was over for automakers, the EPA just made life more complicated. New rules proposed by the EPA would require Congress to regulate green house gases, including carbon dioxide, as harmful to the public. In the cross hairs of the federal government will be motor vehicles, coal-fired power plants, and any other human endeavor that emits carbon dioxide. Congressional Democrats and the Administration are pushing for a cap-and-trade system to regulate emissions.