I want to begin by mentioning a trend that has disappeared – the TV evening news anchor seldom says, “And in the news tonight…”
No, now you hear the upbeat music with an excited voice-over that says, “Here is what’s trending at the moment…”
After reading several articles reviewing the year and forecasting 2015, here are some trends I found interesting. They may not be news, but I believe they are positive.
In the annual auto loan forecast prepared by TransUnion, one trend was a continued rise (now 19 consecutive quarters) in auto loan debt to $18,244 at the end of 2015. That’s up from $14,954 in Q1 of 2011. But it also pointed out one more positive that didn’t get much mention in the article – the national portfolio on average is trending younger. That’s a positive as well as a reminder of who is going to be hitting your online inventory in the months to come. Keep it looking sharp!
The Labor Department this week announced the largest decline in the Consumer Price Index since December 2008. This I found even more encouraging: average weekly earnings after being adjusted for inflation recorded their biggest gain in six years this November.
Why do I like these trends? For the immediate future, especially if we can get those nightly TV news shows to focus on the positive, I feel like we are going to see a more positive shopper than we have in years. It can all change on a dime, but for someone who believes when you get lemons you make lemonade, these qualify as a trend you don’t want to see end!
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John Paul Strong
John Paul Strong combines his two decades of automotive marketing experience with a team of more than 150 professionals as owner and CEO of Strong Automotive.
