GM, Ford and Chrysler all missed sales estimates. GM just announced a 1.3% gain in January vehicle sales vs a 4.4% estimate. Retail deliveries were DOWN 2% in January while fleet sales were up 16%. That’s a worrying result.
Ford was down 6.3% in January while Fiat Chrysler was down 13%. All were expected to show modest gains in January.
This is just one month’s result in a volatile gauge, to be sure, but December’s fall in the savings rate to 2.4%, the lowest since 2007 and close to the lowest on record, raises concerns about the sustainability of consumer spending.
The American economy is just smoke and mirrors. They were bragging about record consumer spending for Christmas and then the day after Christmas they were crying about over 90 billion dollars in returns.
There are three important things since Americans love their debt so much. (1) Is that after your credit cards are maxed out you are dropped out of the consumer class because you can`t buy anything else. (2) You can`t borrow yourself out of debt. (3) When you buy using your credit card you pay at least 30% more for whatever you are buying.
WHAT?? I JUST READ ON ASIA TIMES THAT CONSUMER CONFIDENCE WAS AT ALL TIME HIGH AGAIN. OH GEE! MAYBE THEIR CREDIT CARD HAS TOPPED OUT OR RATHER TAPPED OUT.