New is old

[<eddiestakes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

No, this ain't a Mahoney post indended to make one think...but maybe it 
should be. John is great about pointing out how many old things are new 
again and going thru the Houston Chronicle business section there were two 
stories of interest.

One is that DamlierChrysler said Thursday it will give two years worth of 
FREE GAS to customers who buy a 2005 or 2006 vehicle before January 3rd. 
This follws announcements that Ford and GM are again offering deep 
discounts. Mother Mopar will also kick in two years of free scheduled 
maintainece and increase the warranty on mechanical parts to five years or 
60,000 miles.

It was the free gas thing that stuck out I guess. This might have been a 
great move when gas was in the $3.00 a gallon range; but in Houston one can 
find gas under $2.00 a gallon, and I just returned from Corpus Christi, and 
found gas as low (a oxymoron) as $1.87 a gallon on the outskirts of CC.

Free gas as a incentive to buy a new car, been there done that, 1953 comes 
to mind:
http://www.planethoustonamx.com/parts%20&%20Literature/53_Nash_winners.jpg
"the new owners of a Nash in front of the dealership in 1953. P. K. Williams 
was a Preston Tucker like figure, and I would have loved to meet him in his 
day. A real showman and hog for press. From the Austin American Statesman 
newspaper that accompanied the original photo, the yellowed paper has the 
original newspaper clipping with this photo (the original 1953 newspaper 
article does not come with photo) but here is what it says: Friday, July 3, 
1953 The Austin American Statesman, Austin, Texas: BONUS RIDING-Mr. and Mrs. 
Lon Alsup are shown taking delivery of a new 1953 Nash which is accompanied 
with an order for a year's supply of gasoline. This is a special offer made 
by P. K. Williams Nash Company as part of the observance of the firm's ninth 
anniversary in Austin. Left to right are Alsup, Mrs. Alsup, and P. K. 
Williams, owner of this automobile firm."


And then there comes Renault. Carlos Ghosn just took up the CEO position at 
struggling Renault. Sound familiar? I can recall many many articles fromt he 
1970s thru AMCs last days by the press that shoved that damned moniker in 
front of AMC when describing the company. "Struggling AMC" this and that. 
Arrgh. Even paired with Nissan/formerly Datsun (a company oft mentioned that 
might have been a suitable partner of AMC) Renault has a number of problems 
like weak sales and no new products coming out. Sound familar again? Even 
though Renault controls 44% of Nissan it is not what it appears to be, and 
Renault has, guess what, no US presence since AMC days.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20051118/RTICKERMAIN18/TPBusiness/International

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000085&sid=ax7nKVqwkGmM&refer=europe

Speaking of Renault, out of curiosity, (trick question) what year did talks 
in earnest happen between American Motors and Renault? Free used kid shoe 
bonus to who gets it right.

Eddie Stakes'
Planet Houston AMX
713.464.8825
eddiestakes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.planethoustonamx.com