Cruel September for Autos

Now that the "Cash for Clunkers" is a forgone conclusion. What have we learned? First, as I stated in previous posts, the "Cash for Clunkers" program simply brought demand forward for the purchase of new cars. Second, it amounts to a "one-hit-wonder." It definitely helped the third-quarter GDP numbers at the expense of the forth quarter and the first half of 2010.

Let's look at the evidence for September 2009 from September 2008: GM's sales fell 45%, Chrysler's sales fell 42%, Honda's sales fell 20%, and Toyota's sales fell 13%. The only auto maker whose sales fell in the single digits was Ford, whose sales fell 5%.

Double-debt recession, anyone?