GM’s channel stuffing surges to all-time high

At 623,666 cars, GM’s dealer inventory is an all time absolute record, and represents about 3.5 times the total GM vehicles sold in November! Why make more product than is likely to be sold? Because building the car is what matters to various gubbermint statistics (PMI, CMI, etc.) What GM is really trying to manufacture is the appearance of an economic recovery to aid Dear Leader’s reelect effort. FYI – this is basically how China’s whole economy works, the model so many “smart people” want to bring here.

This post was last modified on January 26, 2021

Bonfire of the Absurdities: After 35 year career writing software for IBM mainframes, am now self-employed contractor thinking of joining a union and striking for higher wages. Cured morbid fear of heights when I learned to look at them as lengths standing on end. Uncompromising in refusal to accept browser cookies. Amateur investor who has accumulated a small fortune in the market after starting out years ago with a large one. For recreation, I run, hike, kayak and play tennis but will not consider synchronized swimming under any circumstances.

View Comments (19)

  • This is nothing more than a padding for 0bama reelection. It will not work as the supply for GovMotors will get only longer during the first three months of 2012. As usual the smartest president with the most genius in the history of the universe has peaked 9 months too early. That supply has to go somewhere.

    I wonder what the democrat dealers (remember 0bama forced the republican dealerships out of business) will get from Uncle Sug for keeping 50% more inventory than they want?

  • Days supply is the real number we need to look at. The article links to GM's November sales press release. In that release they say that the company has an 86 day supply (105 days supply of full size pick ups). The industry standard is to maintain a 60 day supply. This time of year when every manufacturer is trying get rid of past model stock and concentrate on building 2012 inventories (freshly produced), carrying a higher than normal day supply often happens especially when there is a lot of factory pressure put on dealers to buy 2012 product. As one who used to wholesale cars to dealers, I can tell you that A LOT of pressure is being put on dealers to buy cars. I imagine there are floorplan incentives in place to assist with this.

    Push systems don't work and this is a classic push system. Unsustainable.

    • Yep, eventually, they have to work through the problem of having overpriced, unsellable merchandise. The only way they can do that is by dropping their drawers.

      I know I'll never buy another new Chrysler or GM product as long as I live. Plenty of car makers made it just fine without going on the dole. I'll buy their products.

    • Y, making stuff no one needs (like hi-speed rail) to pad the GDP figures...

      "Fourthly, that the regime’s officially published GDP of 9 percent is also fabricated. According to Lang’s data, China’s GDP has decreased 10 percent. He said that the bloated figures come from the dramatic increase in infrastructure construction, including real estate development, railways, and highways each year (accounting for up to 70 percent of GDP in 2010)."

      • You are exactly right, China would not be lowering interest rates if their economy's false facade were not crumbling.

  • The fact that people are reject GM in the free (sort of) market means the gov't/UAW are going to need to punish those who are making autos people actually want to buy. Tax credits, & other BS will end up being used to "nudge" people into buying GM.

    • Not me. I'll buy another F-250 or a Toyota Tundra before I even think about a Government Motors product. If it cost me an extra $5000, so be it.

      • Hear, hear, Whiskeyriver. My next purchase will be an F250 SuperDuty (to replace my 13 year-old F-150) even though I am friends with the owner of a GM dealership and I could probably get a sweetheart of a deal

        • When I was shopping for my 2002 Ford F-350, a friend who was the sales manager at the local Chevy dealer invited me to come by and see what kind of deal he could swing for me. I smiled. Then I couldn't help a bit of a chuckle. "Aren't all of your trucks Chevys?" Subject dropped.

      • *hugs her 2010 Tundra that was built in Texas with non-union labor*
        yes, I have really long arms :)

  • These automobiles are being built by union robots - both mechanical and human - in some of the largest union shops in the - ahem - free world, right? Sales of these items would serve who?

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