Falling apart

Automakers say the U.S. car fleet is disintegrating, and with the average car in use more than 10 years old, many buyers can't defer purchases much longer.

In recent weeks, buyers' top three reasons for acquiring a new vehicle are: "'My lease is up,' 'My car is broken' or 'I have a new child,'" said Jesse Toprak, vice president of TrueCar.com, citing the dealer transaction data his firm collects.

"The tune has changed," he said. "Consumers have stopped saying, 'I'm going to wait until the economy settles' and started saying, 'I can't wait any longer, I'm going to buy anyhow.'"

Toyota distributor Toby Hynes thinks the number of vehicles per licensed driver will rebound.

"I don't believe the American consumer is done buying cars and trucks," said Hynes, Houston-based president of Gulf States Toyota, one of Toyota's two remaining U.S. distributors. "People drive a long way to work and a long way to see friends or relatives. They may drive less, but they still need cars and trucks."

Manufacturers also are rolling out lots of new products and cool new technology, driving demand. Toyota is launching three redesigns (the Camry, Tacoma and Yaris) and two new models (the Prius V and Scion iQ) by year end. Toyota also will expand its Entune multimedia system from three models to 10 by early 2012.

Ford, GM, VW, Honda and others also have major new and redesigned models.

And the Japanese are restocking, and running their Japanese plants at an accelerated pace to make up for lost production.

At Toyota Motor Sales, the days supply of vehicles on Oct. 1 rose to 39 days, from 34 a month earlier. At American Honda the figure was 33 days, up only slightly from 32 last month. But Honda said output of most models is almost back to normal.

read more....