Used Car News

A columnist in our local alternative newspaper asked why Tiger Woods had to apologize in public for his personal indiscretions. Tiger the Man need only to make amends with his family, that's true. But Tiger the Brand had to make a public confession. This isn't about sex or golf. It's about Wheaties and Nike.

Creating a brand that reflects the aspirations of a segment of the public is a proven formula for making a fortune. It contains also the seeds of its own destruction. Just ask Akio Toyoda. His company's brand came to mean more for some people than any other auto manufacturer. It was what these people thought a company should be - good for consumers, good for the environment, just good in general.

There's a tarnish on both brands and it won't come off. Tiger and Toyota will both recover somewhat. They'll both make money again, although probably less than they could have. "Thus passes the glory of the world."

The recovery is starting to look a little sluggish. Consumer confidence plunged last week, mostly on employment fears. And there was employment news to feel fearful about. More discouraging data - new home sales and existing home sales fell last month. Many observers said these drops in confidence and sales were unexpected and that the economy continues improving. But many said economic fundamentals were strong in the summer of 2008. We had strong growth in the fourth quarter of 2009, but a lot of that was propped up by spending incentives and stimulus money. A panel of really smart people doubt growth will continue without government assistance. But others worry too much government assistance will create inflation. Inflation plus unemployment equals the 1970s. Consumer prices rose in January, especially prices of food and gasoline. Bad news for this business. And as we learned in the past few years, when the poor stretch their dollars beyond the limit, it springs back on the rest of us. I don't know about you, but I'm adding up these numbers and I'm starting to get a little worried.

Beware of enthusiasm and of love; each is temporary and quick to sway - From the film "I'm Not There."

A year and a half ago, if you were a smart person you drove a Toyota, used a Mac and voted for Obama. Each reflected the fact that you were better than other people. That's not taking anything away from any of these brands (and that's what political candidates are -- brands). Rather, people projected their own aspirations onto these organizations. New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman went to so far as to say the best hope for America was if Toyota took over GM.

Now those same people have turned on Toyota. They've discovered it's not a company more virtuous than its competitors. They've discovered it's just another company that makes cars and tries to make money doing it. Wait until they find out Toyota also makes trucks!

Toyota's troubles demonstrate why I never invest in clothing retailers. They are subject to the fickle nature of consumers. The same people who cheered GM's collapse like Germans dancing on the Berlin Wall are now going after Toyota.

Companies are neither good nor evil. They are by their nature amoral. That's true for GM, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Apple, Microsoft, Google and the rest, regardless of what their vision statements may say. But today people view companies as an extension of their own inherent goodness. The smug always will turn on you in time.

We live in troubling times. The latest survey of consumer confidence from the Conference Board finds people in a dour mood. One commenter in the Financial Times calls it a "rogue point" and another blames it on the weather. Everybody seems to ignore this recent release about a massive surge in layoffs.

Anybody looking to the government for a solution seems better off looking elsewhere. Those people have their own problems.

You try to raise taxes and people revolt. You try to reduce government and people really revolt. I don't know if there's a solution, but the failings of a proposed fiscal commission are obvious.

I guess my confidence is eroding, as well.