Foreign Brands Pass Detriot’s Big 3
Everybody saw it coming, and now it has finally happened; US consumers are buying more foreign brand cars than domestic. The Detroit News reports in detail on statistics compiled by R.L. Polk and Co., which counts new car registrations and excludes sales to rental car agencies and other fleet customers (which typically push domestic manufacturers numbers up).
Do the import companies have a better understanding of what the modern car buyer wants? Trucks and SUVs still make up a substantial part of the Big 3’s inventory, but while in this climate of quickly rising gas prices the foreign companies are focusing on small, affordable and fuel efficient cars. Can the domestic brands catch up, or have they already lost too much ground?