Oct 21
Gazette tells us “Cross-Border” Shopping Drying Up!
This morning the Montreal Gazette published an article on the current state of cross-border vehicle shopping. - what a difference a year makes - 2008-10-21gazette.pdf
Just recently, as July, a 20% savings on a Toyota Sienna has disappeared. But there still appears to be some savings at the high end, .. Jaguars, BMW and Mercedes.
Our advice, hunker down! The recession is just about to hit. Keep your powder dry!
Now that the loonie has achieved “Parity” for the Canadian Car boys, prices will continue to drop in the U.S. and we expect that those Canadian Car Manufacturers that did not lower prices substantially will start raising them quickly!
Just like Gasoline, when the price of a barrel of oil goes up the next minute the price goes up, when oil goes down, the high price of gas at the pump is maintained and we are subjected to quotes from the industry like ” it takes 90 days to filter it’s way down to the pump” ( heard on the CTV news last week!)
Well I guess the Green Party, NDP, Joe Volpe*, some Lefty Liberals, and all the manufacturers in Ontario and Quebec now have what they want…. a false sense of security… “The Canadian Way!” …
If you can’t compete with them, lower your dollar to encourage over-priced non-productive manufacturing jobs and lower every Canadian’s standard of living.
This will start a serious round of inflation, the manufacturing sector will not benefit to any degree ( the jobs lost over the last 5-6 years maybe gone for good) and the jobs we created with parity will suffer.
*Joe Volpe is the Liberal Shadow Cabinet hack that is responsible for the Automobile industry. After one year he is yet to acknowledge our emails or telephone calls. He appears to be an anti-”Canadian Consumer”.
And he was the first Liberal to come out in the media, the day after the election, and suggest that Mr. Dion must resign. Like a big rat jumping off a sinking ship.
October 21st, 2008 at 10:38 am
Cross-border price issues work in both directions. If and when renewed sales by Canadian car dealers to U.S. buyers become a possiblity then one of two things will happen. Either penalties and other restrictions will again be imposed on Canadian dealers, or Canadian dollar pricing will go up. Faced with only those two options, which should CWB, or our elected officials, endorse? A third and better option — something called “free trade” allowing currencies to find a proper market equilibrium — might exist. That is why I believe that by keeping the market informed CWB plays an important role.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Our economic fundamentals are very strong. Right now, the world is seeing the greenback a safe haven. Once, things get back to normal, this will be a long one (at least 12-18 months), those sound fundamentals will come back. Remember, we got everything, oil, mining and metals, forests, water, energy, wheat, corn, etc. Our commodities will continue to be in high demand…you want them, you need to pay for them in CAD$. In just a matter of time when those demands show the slightest movement upwards.
October 23rd, 2008 at 11:09 pm
I wonder what will happen if we have a simple North American Dollar just like the Euro. Will this make things better for Canadian or for the American or maybe both? I would like to hear your opinion.
October 24th, 2008 at 10:26 am
At this point it appears everyone is fleeing high interest rate currencies to the low interest rate U.S Dollar.
Given the crisis in the U.S. and the deficit, everyone is moving to the “perceived” safety of the U.S dollar and away from commodities and uncertainty. Even gold is being snubbed.
Hard to understand.
October 26th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
One should always remember that in the end economics always comes down to simple supply and demand
Economics is all as simple as that
October 31st, 2008 at 11:11 am
so this begs the question probably asked (maybe even by me) a few months ago. What happens when the savings dry up or rather now that they have? Should automakers change their prices every month?