The Lines Are Blurring
I’m really going to need a therapist after this turnaround. Like everyone, I’m looking for that silver lining in every new market report or economic news, but nothing good seems to stick these days.
I’m really going to need a therapist after this turnaround. Like everyone, I’m looking for that silver lining in every new market report or economic news, but nothing good seems to stick these days.
I asked the question several times while walking the show floor at the National Automobile Dealers Association’s convention in New Orleans. But it was obvious no one was ready to put their finger on when this economic crisis will turn the corner.
Do FICO scores mean anything anymore? Kyle Madsen, business manager at Del Amo Motorsports in Redondo Beach, Calif., asks that question every time he has to rehash a deal for a customer with a 680 FICO score.
It’s funny how things work. There were so many detractors of the automotive bailout loan, yet no one has said much about how quickly Chrysler LLC and General Motors put American taxpayers’ money to work.
So it’s official. We’re in a recession and have been since December 2007, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).
With all the bad news floating around, crawling into a hole really doesn’t sound like a bad idea these days. However, that’s not what businesses do. And it’s clear by some of the more positive news out there that industries aren’t ready to throw in the towel.
I bet most of you never thought you’d see the day — the day when we’d be promoting the availability of credit rather than that new hot car or truck. Well, that day has come.
I was asked at the magazine’s September F&I Conference and Expo when I thought this mess we’re in would turn around. My response was, “Ask me again this time next year.”
OK, so I need to ditch the tie and suit. At least that’s what Deanne Kornacki told me after one of the workshops at our Powersports F&I Conference in September.
Boy did Edmunds.com’s latest exposé, “Confessions of an Auto Finance Manager,” ruffle some feathers.
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