Gleaming new Mercedes cars roll one by one out of a huge container ship here and onto a pier. Ordinarily the cars would be loaded on trucks within hours, destined for dealerships around the country. But these are not ordinary times.
For now, the port itself is the destination. Unwelcome by dealers and buyers, thousands of cars worth tens of millions of dollars are being warehoused on increasingly crowded port property.
And for the first time, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, and Nissan have each asked to lease space from the port for these orphan vehicles. They are turning dozens of acres of the nation’s second-largest container port into a parking lot, creating a vivid picture of a paralyzed auto business and an economy in peril.
“This is one way to look at the economy,” Art Wong, a spokesman for the port, said of the cars. “And it scares you to death.”
The picture at the top of the article says it all; see what you think.
You can drive by the Chrysler plant and the Ford plant on Van Dyke in Sterling Heights (Detroit) and see a similar scene. Acres and acres of cars. Very depressing. Inventory everywhere, houses and cars, and nobody is buying. Meanwhile, I sit here and watch Designed To Sell on H>V;and see a house in Alexandria, VA, that they want to get $500K for that you could buy for $150K in Michigan. And you want Jennifer Granholm in Washington!!??
Uh, how old is that episode of ‘Design to Sell’? I enjoy the show, but note that they are mostly from pre-2006!
Sorry, it is a 2008 eposide, and, guess what? They are going on the market for $675K!! But it was probably shot pre-August-2008, and the value is now a measly $300K. It still wouldn’t sell for $150K in Michigan. The Dow just closed below 8000. I hope all the Obama folks are happy. Serious money is fleeing the markets. I just hope and pray there is enough old-fashioned greed that will entice bottom-feeders back to the market. Oh, my 401K. Ouch!
I had a drink last night with a gentleman from Tampa who just sold his $900,000+ house there for $450,000. Tough times.
Why do we stock up foreign made cars in our port-yards? they are not being sold here – not yet at least. And I might add who is going to buy them?? Can’t we send some or all of them back to their home ports?? Just wondering-