Bob Schnorbus Last Quotations

I wouldn't yet rule out the chance we could be as good as last year. It depends on how things turn around now that the uncertainties of the war have played out and how aggressive the automakers continue to be through rest of the year.

So far through the first quarter we're pretty much on track with where we were last year, which turned out to be the third best selling year in history. However, it's still difficult to know if the big incentives that were implemented last year and pushed some monthly sales to near record levels will return and have a significant impact on the remainder of the year.

GM's market share ... should also show some improvement by month end, but it is unclear whether new models and aggressive pricing will be enough to pull their market share up to last year's average.

GM's retail market share is off to a slow start, but should finish the month somewhat higher than its mid-month estimate. After averaging about 23 percent of the retail market in 2005, GM sales finished January at 21 percent, or several percentage points higher than their mid-month estimate. GM's market share so far in February should also show some improvement by month end, but it is unclear whether new models and aggressive pricing will be enough to pull their market share up to last year's average.

The current incentive levels are not quite as high as they were at the end of last year. In the sense they have been higher, they probably could go up going forward. The price pressure are obviously going to remain very intense. But that said, they're not going to rise dramatically. They're already very good.

At least some of the problem is the artificially high sales last year, which is making this year's sales look a lot lower than they should.