Dealers' message to the factories: Let's get small.
Small and mid-sized cars, crossovers and small SUVs are what dealers want to see on car haulers pulling up at their stores. Fifty-eight percent of dealers responding to an Automotive News' e-mail survey said they want more small cars, while 35.8 percent want more mid-sized cars.
What they don't want: Big SUVs, pickups and minivans. Of those surveyed, 60.9 percent said they want fewer big SUVs. An additional 29.3 percent said they have enough pickups.
That's a bad sign for automakers that have relied heavily on high-profit SUVs and pickups -- particularly the Big 3.
General Motors is launching redesigned versions of its full-sized SUVs and pickups. Toyota Motor Corp., meanwhile, is putting the finishing touches on a new assembly plant in San Antonio that will build a redesigned, larger Tundra pickup later this year.
Wrote one dealer, who declined to be identified: "We need to move the excess trucks, but otherwise we need to ride out the storm until people quit expecting rebates all the time."
You may e-mail Dale Jewett at [email protected]
