Business is good; at least it is for automakers here in the U.S. Recent news on Toyota tells of the reinstatement of plans to finish their new plant in Blue Springs, Mississippi. During the slowdown back at the end of 2008, Toyota was forced to stop development of the plant because of falling automobile demand. So if they have decided to finish production, what does that mean?
That’s right, demand for cars is increasing. In fact, sales are up more than 17% the first five months of 2010. Ford sales are up more than 30% year to date. Because demand and sales are rising, automakers are hiring more people, including temporary workers, while limiting or eliminating scheduled plant shutdowns to help meet demand. That means more workers, more labor hours, and more wages all resulting in more consumer spending in the future.
All of this is great, but what we see as even better than all this “UP, UP, UP” is the underlying catalyst driving it all – Hope for the Future! I believe it’s easiest to see this starting from the bottom. More people are buying cars. Whether they are individuals purchasing their first car, families buying an additional car, or just people trading in the old clunker for something a bit fancier, optimism and hope are driving the purchases.
As we all know, a car is not a purchase most people take lightly. If we are seeing all these new car sales, we know that people are a little more assured of their jobs. They believe their income stream will be there to pay this new payment, along with all the other ones they have been paying.
From there we see the optimism of the auto industry. They see the rising demand and the falling inventories at the dealership. They too must now make new investments for the future, from plant investments and new hires to increased overtime pay for higher production. These are investments that are also not made lightly, but the automakers see the future as warranting such spending.
As the economic floundering continues to settle down, we will all begin to see more and more upbeat news. We will stop paying as much attention to the “Times are bad” stories. We will begin to speak with each other about how good things are going, and the self-fulfilling prophecy that is the economy, will be good.
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