Tom Libby Quotes (21 Quotes)

You've got dealers hesitant to order 05's until they move the 04's the 05's are being squeezed out,

I think incentives are very much an integral part of the industry. It's a very sophisticated pricing tool. The Asians are clearly much more into the incentives game this year.

It's somewhat surprising that they would come forward with a big incentive program at this time. Their pricing program seems to be getting some traction, and they're getting some momentum from their new models.

Toyota tends to have more products in each segment. Honda goes much slower -- for example, it's not in pickups at all. But they watch and when they execute a product, they do it almost flawlessly so they immediately have a leader in the segment.

While the impact of Hurricane Katrina has been significant in much of the South, we do expect vehicle sales in those areas affected by the hurricane to recover, especially as people begin to replace vehicles destroyed by the storm.

Now about 52 percent of the industry is trucks.

There is definitely a movement downward, ... Everyone has been talking about the decline in big SUVs, but no one has really talked about this similar movement away from large luxury cars.

Brands want to be in this segment because if the brand can sell a compact car to a young customer, the nameplate can then potentially keep that customer for life.

It seems like there's a lot of good initial buzz on this product.

It keeps Honda and Toyota sort of looking at Nissan. The fact that Nissan is refreshing their product periodically keeps Honda and Toyota on their toes. It keeps that market very competitive. I think it's a positive for Nissan and a positive for the whole segment. The benefit is the consumer has a lot of great choices.

Right now the domestic brands do not have the reputation that would allow them to go without incentives. Chrysler tried it three years ago. Then two weeks later they got right back on the incentives because without them they couldn't market anything. The brand strength of Honda, the history of reliable, durable products, is great enough to pull in prospects without customer cash.

The Lincoln brand itself is suffering greatly right now, and in order for any car from Lincoln to be a hit or a home run, it's going to have to be a superstar.

For there to be a major shift in the industry, prices have to go well above 3 a gallon and remain there consistently. If you do the math it's still going to take many, many years to recoup your extra price through gas savings.

There's already a lot of gaming going on, with carmakers subsidizing their small cars so they can sell them to offset the impact on fuel economy of their large trucks, ... If this new system helps cut down on the number of loopholes, it will be a plus.

We believe at 3 a gallon there's not enough bite in a person's pocketbook to make a big difference,

Ford has had a gap for a long time between its Focus and its Five Hundred. Now ... it's apparently hit the sweet spot. It also helps that the Fusion has gotten extremely positive reviews in the automotive press.

Both Toyota and Honda have about the shortest turnaround times between model changes than anyone else in the industry. They replace a model now every five years or so.

They don't seem to be able to make money there.

The deal will fade, but the vehicle will be with you for years. Get something that you'll enjoy, that holds its value, because you'll have to live with it down the road.

American Honda is benefiting from positive reviews and word of mouth about its new Civic, as well as continued incremental sales of its Ridgeline midsize pickup. General Motors is also showing signs of life, as it out performed the industry for the first time in many months.

Toyota, Honda and BMW continue to do well at the retail level. GM and Ford need to stop their retail share deterioration, and GM hopes their March madness campaign will help do that.