who here thinks the future of the economy will have a adverse effect on camaro purchases

 

I do. Its going to effect every single car and car manufacturer in the world.

 

It's going to effect each and every person who is going to finance, but those who have cash to pay for the car are in a really good position.

 

Even people that have the cash to buy the new Camaro does not mean they should make the purchase. No one knows how bad this will get or if they ultimately will be affected.

 

I think everyone is jumping the gun here. We will not know how this bail out or the financial markets will do. Only time will tell. I can possibly save up enough money to pay for the Camaro by cash, but it’s no way I cashing out that much money on a vehicle especially in these times.

 

Nor do we have any clue as to WHAT IT'S GONNA COST !

Big difference worrying about paying/financing 28k and 38k... Hopefully they'll have their .... together by Friday for the IDL or at worst, Monday when ordering begins. I can't believe that I will be able to go order one on Monday without having any costs; that just shouldn't happen in today's world. Do I rule it out? No.

 

Not to rant here, but what's w/ all the gloom and doom posts in this section lately? If you want talk about the economy, post it in the lounge. It doesn't take a degree in finance to know that EVERYTHING bought or sold is affected in times of economic downturns. Lets try to keep this section for Camaro news.

 

This is Camaro news, though. As it is, this is a "Main street" car--a vehicle that is geared toward one of the more vulnerable groups of the public as a whole.

If leases aren't an option...

And if car loans require 10-20% down...

And seeing how the Camaro isn't a kind of car that gets replaced out of necessity (i.e. not a minivan/family sedan)...

...Then that leaves the well-qualified, the cash-payers, and nobody else to snap up these beautiful cars.

A second concern looming on the horizon is--will GM even be around to uphold the warranties on these cars in 3 years?

This is a very critical time, and I sure hope someone is planning for the potential outcomes of these questions.

 

Economy blows

 

Economy doesn't have a bearing on Camaro sales.

Camaro's best year (1979) we had double digit inflation and double digit unemployment as well as a 2nd fuel shortage. The worst fuel crisis we ever had (late 73 to mid '74) happened during the 1974 model year... one of the years Pontiac's Trans Am doubled it's sales over the previous year.

 

This time it is different I think. We are on the verge of a depression in my opinion. The bad part is that this downturn is feeding on itself. Everyone is being affected in one way or another. The Camaro is a sports/muscle car. It is not a practical car for most families. I hope and pray that Camaro makes it through this. If the credit markets don't open up, I think how well the Camaro sells will be the least of GM's worries.

 

Or will they even be around to produce the cars?

 

I'm a cash buyer with a price guaranteed at MSRP, but I don't think this economy is going to support MSRP or above on this car for long. I'm going to cancel my deposit and wait until employee pricing is available on it to purchase mine. HUD should be available by then anyway.

I had already cancelled my deposit on the convertible and switched down to the coupe after they announced the additional 7 month delay on the convertible.

 

And you had less competition for the same dollar, people were more willing to buy an American car than they are now. Completly diffrent circumstances and situation to compare the 2. Plus most of the muscle cars were gone by this time so the options were pretty limited for an affordable performance car(for the time period)You have 3-4 times the amount of vehicles to choose from now compared to then and each one of them will eat into sales.

 

The 70's and now are two very different times. Sales will probably be strong the first year and lower but still decent afterwards.