Ford had a 2.4% increase in sales for the month of June; 1.9% of that in the last two weeks as a direct result of the CARS program. The highest increase in monthly sales since 2003.
GM dealers had to stall sales because they ran out of inventory.
Gee - I wonder if the all the good of putting all those auto workers back to work to produce cars might offset the stimulus of the CARS program with payroll taxes - not to mention sales taxes, profits on the cars etc?
Home sales are up for the 3rd month in a row - gee, fancy that, a stimulus plan that's actually stimulating the economy.
well, this is certainly a rosy outlook...let us look at it a bit closer.
1. Ford, was the only US Automaker that did *NOT* accept a bailout.
2. putting all those "auto workers back to work" is not happening. You are a complete liar. (or incompetent and uninformed). the only ones going "back" to work, are workers that were furloughed during the bankruptcy who have re-entered the workforce once factory operations continued at places that had been shut during bankruptcy proceedings. Most auto industry jobs that have been cut are never coming back
GM, at the moment, has 54,000 factory workers...it plans on ending this year with *40,000*...that would be 14,000 less, wouldn't it?
and it will get worse...GM's stated in June that it "would close 15 factories employing 22,000 workers by the end of 2012."
GM "ran out of inventory" because certain factories have been shut while in bankruptcy
3. As for the rosy predictions by GM, that "Results of this special attrition program will help GM lower its employment cost and close the competitive gap with Japanese automakers that have U.S. factories" stated by Diana Tremblay, vice president of labor relations, you might want to consider this:
Of the top 10 cars sold during the cash for clunkers program so far,
you may notice: 5 are Japanese, 1 is South Korean, 4 are American.
of the American brands, Ford, the only company that did not take the bailout money has two of the top 10 brands.
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The Top Ten Cash for Clunkers Trade-Ins:
1. 1998 Ford Explorer
2. 1997 Ford Explorer
3. 1996 Ford Explorer
4. 1999 Ford Explorer
5. Jeep Grand Cherokee
6. Jeep Cherokee
7. 1995 Ford Explorer
8. 1994 Ford Explorer
9. 1997 Ford Windstar
10. 1999 Dodge Caravan
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So, not only that, but the Top 10 brands being traded in and *JUNKED* are *AMERICAN* cars...
and 6 of the Top 10 cars being *BOUGHT* are *FOREIGN* cars...so far, for the first half (80,000 cars) of the 157,000 that have been sold, and strangely, the DOT will not release the information...
what a great idea....
on top of that, the american taxpayer, is paying other americans, to effectively trade in their old american cars, for a majority of new foreign cars, to keep american and foreign workers employed...
and all those "sales taxes and profits", are being provided, by taking money from other americans, adding more debt, and giving it, by extension to state governments and domestic and foreign auto companies
and while GM is busy slashing jobs here over he next 3 years, they are planning on building the largest GM factory... *IN CHINA*
Yes, this makes perfect sense...every american gives $10 (3 billion total), a couple hundred thousand people who would have waited a year or two to buy that new car, now get a 3500-4500 discount thanks to everybody else, and the american auto industry, which have been sucking down tens of billions for months, get to be happy, and prolong their death by another few years, allowing more time for them to milk the taxpayers.
4. Before you get all hysterical about the home sales being up for the "third month in a row", you might want to get your figures straight.
*Pending* home sales are up for the *5th* month in a row, not the *3rd*
*HOWEVER* prices are still *PLUMMETING*. these are speculators coming in.
on top of that, *OVERALL* sales are still down 75%.
of course it was cute how you did not mention these facts:
A. Personal Income fell worse than it has in four years, the drop was 1.3%, which was worse than forecasts.
B. Consumer bankruptcy filings rose 8.7%, highest total since October 2005
C. the recession has been easing for months, but a recovery is nowhere in sight and inflation will appear before a recovery does.
you might want to examine the truth before you put on the party hats.