Car sales skyrocketing in Greece
05-14-15, 12:23 AM
#16
Lead Lap
it is never that simple... actually Greece started doing better in past 2 years, hence the rise in sales after huge crash few years back. Sales are nowehere close to what they have been in 2006 though. They had 7 years of decline before 2013.
Also, Greek GDP and employement numbers are worse than almost all of EU eastern europe countries.
And fun fact, right now best selling car is Toyota Yaris, best selling brand is Toyota for Q1 2015, 2nd is VW and 3rd is Nissan.
So this is definitely not Germany situation where you have BMW, Audi and MB models in top 10 every month. Best selling top 10 vehicles are small cheap cars - Yaris, Micra, Polo, Corsa, I20 and 208, in that order.
Also, Greek GDP and employement numbers are worse than almost all of EU eastern europe countries.
And fun fact, right now best selling car is Toyota Yaris, best selling brand is Toyota for Q1 2015, 2nd is VW and 3rd is Nissan.
So this is definitely not Germany situation where you have BMW, Audi and MB models in top 10 every month. Best selling top 10 vehicles are small cheap cars - Yaris, Micra, Polo, Corsa, I20 and 208, in that order.
The question is however, why do Greeks buy cars while Rome is burning and their new socialist government is kicking the economic can down the road (paying debts with borrowed money). This probably has as much to do with a psychological meltdown as with the financial meltdown. Trust the Socialists to completely destroy the economy and leave the road wide open to the Rightwing in Greece to tell them Greeks sitting crying at empty filling stations: "We've told you so".
Last edited by nipponbird; 05-14-15 at 01:16 AM.
05-14-15, 04:30 AM
#17
until recent tepid 'reforms' 1/3 of the Greek population 'worked' for the government, mostly in 'make work' worthless 'jobs', of course with great salaries and benefits and pensions. when reforms were implemented and some govt jobs went away, of course the party in power was kicked out and the socialists now run things, as they promised to stop the 'austerity measures' - meaning they want to allow greece to continue to operate as a fiscal drunk, spending OPM (other people's money) namely, the rest of the EU.
we have a 120 year old saying - "indebted like greece"
First time Greece announced bankruptcy by state was 1893 :-)
05-14-15, 04:34 AM
#18
As I said before, car sales in Greece bottomed out in 2012 after 7 year slump... at some point they had to start growing when economy started doing better.
A lot of these sales are to the rental fleets that buy cars in March/April/May periods as tourism is huge sector in Greece and is also recovering.
05-14-15, 05:34 AM
#19
Lexus Fanatic
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they have an older saying that goes something like "i spend someone else's money, therefore i am." 
and another quote: "those who forget history are condemned to repeat it."
First time Greece announced bankruptcy by state was 1893 :-)
05-14-15, 05:37 AM
#20
Lexus Fanatic
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... Since [December], bank desposits have shrunk by nearly 15pc of their total value. Another €7bn left the country in April alone.
05-14-15, 07:48 AM
#22
Lexus Fanatic
Originally Posted by bitkahuna
when germany lead the charge to drive a hard bargain to push greece to change its spending ways, there's the usual cries of how 'austerity' stifles economic growth. seriously? how about lazy people, high taxes (for those that are honest), corruption, and fiscal madness stifles economic growth?
excise (cut off) greece immediately.
meanwhile, back to this article, the Greeks know the party's over and they could soon be completely broke, so might as well get a new car!
05-14-15, 10:26 AM
#23
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until recent tepid 'reforms' 1/3 of the Greek population 'worked' for the government, mostly in 'make work' worthless 'jobs', of course with great salaries and benefits and pensions. when reforms were implemented and some govt jobs went away, of course the party in power was kicked out and the socialists now run things, as they promised to stop the 'austerity measures' - meaning they want to allow greece to continue to operate as a fiscal drunk, spending OPM (other people's money) namely, the rest of the EU.
greece lied to get in the eu, and once in, used new borrowing powers to spend like drunks with no hope of paying it back. finally the rest of europe said 'wait a minute' but they didn't know just how big a hole greece was digging (with shovels and excavators paid for by 'real' economies, like germany and the uk).
when germany lead the charge to drive a hard bargain to push greece to change its spending ways, there's the usual cries of how 'austerity' stifles economic growth. seriously? how about lazy people, high taxes (for those that are honest), corruption, and fiscal madness stifles economic growth?
eu should excise (cut off) greece immediately. meanwhile, back to this article, the greeks know the party's over and they could soon be completely broke, so might as well get a new car!
greece lied to get in the eu, and once in, used new borrowing powers to spend like drunks with no hope of paying it back. finally the rest of europe said 'wait a minute' but they didn't know just how big a hole greece was digging (with shovels and excavators paid for by 'real' economies, like germany and the uk).
when germany lead the charge to drive a hard bargain to push greece to change its spending ways, there's the usual cries of how 'austerity' stifles economic growth. seriously? how about lazy people, high taxes (for those that are honest), corruption, and fiscal madness stifles economic growth?
eu should excise (cut off) greece immediately. meanwhile, back to this article, the greeks know the party's over and they could soon be completely broke, so might as well get a new car!
05-14-15, 10:53 AM
#25
Lead Lap
Government agency ODDY's warehouse in Athens with cars that must go up for auction. A bit old, but a bargain or two if you need something to brag with at your Greek wedding.
05-14-15, 11:35 AM
#26
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Banana
Than you have the nordics which also do very well
and now there is a an emerging green banana, which is like the blue banana but with more of a central and eastern focus,
Finally you have southern Europe, southern Europe is not as wealthy and doesn't have much industry. It relies on tourism and agriculture. This is the problem child of europe. The green and blue banana have been affected by the crisis but the recovered much faster and now they are experiencing growth.
05-14-15, 11:52 AM
#27
Now these new guys came in fighting, hence everything changed since few months back. Lots of hard words without ability to back it up...
Quite few banks could fail, hence people pulling the deposits out.
The Greek economy shrank by 0.2% in the first three months of this year, following a 0.4% contraction in the last three months of 2014.
Greece had returned to growth last year, offering hopes that the worst of its crisis was behind it.
Instead, the political uncertainty that has gripped the country for months has hit demand.
Greece had returned to growth last year, offering hopes that the worst of its crisis was behind it.
Instead, the political uncertainty that has gripped the country for months has hit demand.
05-14-15, 01:52 PM
#28
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no it can work in their favor... if inflation skyrockets as often happens when economies collapse, those monthly payments could become minuscule since they wouldn't change.
05-14-15, 01:58 PM
#29
Lexus Fanatic
I agree if inflation pushes up prices or interest rates, but I was referring mostly to job losses. That's a major cause of auto repos, although there are some special types of insurance policies that guard against debt and repos from job-loss. I don't know if programs like that are available in Greece, though.
