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the employee pricing just moved all of the stagnant inventory off the lots and kept people working, otherwise they would have had to shut down quite a few assembly plants and lay people off.
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I am very actively involved with the retail auto business and have many GM dealer clients. They all agree that the incentives, the rebates, the special financing,etc. have to stop! The big three aren't selling cars, they are selling "the deal". Last summer was a perfect example of how the factories truly feel about the industry..they were in complete panic mode. Your local Chevy dealer wasn't selling cars he was delivering them after GM sold them on TV. All that was accomplished with the "employee deals" was a quick pull ahead of future sales. By October most of my dealer clients were sitting around and looking out the window. America needs to sell Value, Integrity & Quality and do it without a bunch of smoke and mirrors. For the US auto industry to recover they need to resolve the union cost issues and take the "rebate" needle out of their arm! Until then, the cycle of ups and downs will just continue....
wilma