CarSeekBlog

U.S. News and World Report has an interesting story by Rick Newman called “How Buying a Car is Going to Change.” Newman points out, rightly, that given the situation at Chrysler and GM and the fall-out experienced by their competitors, it’s a buyer’s market — but one with a likely end-of-year expiration date.

Automakers are cutting production, which will bring inventories down and send prices back up. Also, reducing the number of dealerships will reduce the level of competitiveness that has traditionally driven deal making in the industry. New federal policies regarding mileage and emissions are also apt to be felt as sticker shock because someone has to pay for the required technologies to make those things happen.

The article cross references two other interesting pieces, “5 Reasons to Buy an American Car” and “6 Cars That Signal the Future of Driving.” (Both also by Newman.)

Collectively these three pieces offer a nice mini re-education for the American car buyer. Pretty much all the “conventional wisdom” is changing as the industry remakes itself out of necessity and by government mandate. Highly recommended reading for all car shoppers.

Filed under: Buying Trends by Shorty