Tom Libby Quotes

"Toyota tends to have more products in each segment. Honda goes much slower -- for example, it's not in pickups at all. But they watch and when they execute a product, they do it almost flawlessly so they immediately have a leader in the segment."

"but the price of gas also has a huge impact on the mix of cars and trucks that are sold."

"Competitive forces are definitely forcing manufacturers to reduce their product design cycles between changes."

"Right now the domestic brands do not have the reputation that would allow them to go without incentives. Chrysler tried it three years ago. Then two weeks later they got right back on the incentives because without them they couldn't market anything. The brand strength of Honda, the history of reliable, durable products, is great enough to pull in prospects without customer cash."

"But I find this a major move because it says they need something besides value pricing."

"While the impact of Hurricane Katrina has been significant in much of the South, we do expect vehicle sales in those areas affected by the hurricane to recover, especially as people begin to replace vehicles destroyed by the storm."