Wall Street Journal (October 1)
The peak car theory that millennials no longer want cars cars “may seem plausible given recent history: tepid new-car sales, fewer miles driven per capita and shrinking gasoline use. In reality, it’s poppycock.” This temporary phenomenon merely “reflected a lack of jobs and money.” Today, that’s changing. “The forecasts of peak car look to be about as accurate as those of peak oil.”
USA Today (November 23)
“Thanksgiving used to be one of the few holidays retail workers could count on,” but in recent years more retailers have opened their doors to get a jump on sales. “No one needs to be able to buy a big-screen TV on Thanksgiving.” Consumers can wait until Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) when the Christmas sales traditionally commence. Americans should “spend Thanksgiving Day at home — not shopping — so retail workers can be at home, too.”
Tags: Black Friday, Christmas, Consumers, Holidays, Retail, Sales, Shopping, Thanksgiving, Workers
Financial Times (October 25)
“A painful and protracted hangover from the financial crisis has slashed demand for cars in Europe, forcing mainstream manufacturers to close factories, lay off workers and fill their financial statements with red ink.” Despite these measures, however, the industry is still struggling with overcapacity, compelling many global automakers to subsidize European losses with sales elsewhere. Providing a glimmer of optimism for Europe, however, Ford “called the bottom of the disastrous market slump on Thursday, the first carmaker confident enough to turn tentative hopes into official profit guidance and draw a financial line under six years of falling sales.”
Tags: Automakers, Carmakers, Demand, Europe, Factories, Financial Crisis, Ford, Guidance, Losses, Manufacturers, Optimism, Overcapacity, Sales, Workers
Wall Street Journal (March 8)
“McDonald’s lackluster February sales report is a fresh sign that the real economy — where people eat fast food and earn an average of just under $24 an hour — is still sluggish, despite today’s upbeat jobs report and the soaring Dow.”
Tags: Dow, Economy, Jobs, McDonald's, Sales
Wall Street Journal (November 9)
Amidst concern over the ongoing diplomatic dispute between Japan and China, “a dose of realism is in order about what the China market does and doesn’t mean to Japanese automakers…. To the extent a Chinese boycott is further depressing Japanese auto sales, of course it will hurt the carmakers’ bottom lines in a significant way. But it turns out China is simply an important market, not a uniquely important market.”
Tags: Automakers, China, Diplomatic dispute, Japan, Market, Sales
