Discussions

 
It had me thinking late last year. Hertz was one of the companies that simply stopped buying and or canceled orders from One North American Car company. No travelers no cars being rented cars not wearing out etc. Then there was the huge drop in truck sales that HURT Gm and Ford big time( less so Chrysler). The oil /construction industries needs for replacements just dried up. Yes the demand will come again but in what form?? This headline from LA caught my eye today!  
 
Ford rolls out all-electric van  
 
The Transit Connect Electric is the first of four battery-powered vehicles that Ford plans to bring to market by 2012.  
 
 
Later the writer points out this next line  
Ford sells about 100,000 trucks to U.S. fleet customers each year, including AT&T, Best Buy, United Parcel Service and the United States Postal Service.  
 
Now that I am no longer involved in Automotive it would be nice to get opinions on my concerns from those that are.  
 
The main question is where is the “used car/truck market heading” when the supply of new shrank for a quite a period of time?  
 
Also and I think just as important - we all know when hertz and other companies sold those cars etc when used up they went into the used market what happens when those same vehicles are either too high tech or priced for a real resale market?  
I have no problem buying a used Malibu at say 50 percent of retail after x years. Its a known qty. Then a used all electric van where the retail was double the “normal powered “ version gets turfed. To buy that hi tech van @ 50 percent of a overpriced selling point where all the extra costs are were tax rebated or credited back to the shop who bought it is a different issue.  
 
I am concerned as a guy that can only afford used cars and many of us like to buy those 2 to 3 year old cars will not just see a uptick in used pricing because of the economic dump we just had but the fleets that buy a good chunk of these cars/trucks that normally end up in the resale market are now going to buy ( with taxpayers support) green/tree hugger vehicles that may never for one reason or the other get there( used market) or if they do unless you are another fleet type company with these tax credits will not buy? Is this something that only time will solve??  
 
Ps I may be wrong but I always though Fleet returns like rental Companies etc were a huge part of the used vehicle markets. I may stand corrected on that at the get go. If I am wrong well the whole letter above is a waste of time lol  
 
 
 
 
 
 
Edited by Doug, 2010-03-04 21:02:17