Archive for the ‘Buying’ Category

Attention, shoppers: new cars are more affordable today than they've been in over five years. According to Comerica Bank's Auto Affordability Index, it now takes the average family 21.9 weeks of income to pay off an average-priced vehicle. Sadly, that's not because household income has risen, but because the average cost of a light vehicle has dropped to $25,500. Comerica's data comes from the third quarter of 2009, which of course included Cash-for-Clunkers; however, while analysts say that C4C did impact prices, auto affordability had been improving long before the federal program kicked in. Customers are now paying less for vehicles than...

General Motors' new "60-Day Satisfaction Guarantee" (pitched by new CEO Ed Whitacre in the TV spot above) has sparked a good bit of comment, both positive and negative. Those in support of the policy argue that GM has finally taken notice of customer-oriented programs offered by its competitors (e.g. Hyundai Assurance), which have proven popular with the general public and often stimulated sales without hurting the bottom line.

On the other hand, detractors argue that the gist of Hyundai's Assurance program is that the company will take back cars if the buyer loses his or her job. GM's plan, on the other hand, allows customers to return...

Media metrics powerhouse Nielsen Research spends a great deal of time analyzing TV ratings and buying habits, but the company has also kept its eye on the federal government's Cash-for-Clunkers initiative. New data reveals some interesting insights about the program and its effect on the public.

As we all know, Cash-for-Clunkers has generated a lot of chatter on the web, and Nielsen shows a spike in negative buzz following the launch of the program. Prior to the start date, more of the chatter was positive: about 10.5% of the total, compared to 7.9% negative commentary. An additional 10.7% consisted of writers discussing the vehicle they...