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Where Automakers Stash Unsold Cars

Posted by samzenpus on from the put-one-in-my-closet dept.

The steep decline in worldwide car sales has caused automakers to stash over-produced cars in some interesting places. From right outside the factory, to holding lots at ports and even test tracks, the over-production problem is starting to catch up with manufacturers.

17 comments

  1. Ha-Ha! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Your fuel inefficient cars are not being sold! /Nelson

    1. Re:Ha-Ha! by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 1

      You do know that the automobiles shown in the picture are Nissans, right?

      --
      My blog
  2. When I saw the image... by Laser_iCE · · Score: 1

    I first thought of a one of the many Crysis barrel explosion clips, and decided to post this one purely because of the sound track.

  3. Hmm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ok fine, you can park one to two cars on my driveway free of monetary charge. I will even make sure that the engine runs fine everyday, again free of monetary charge.

  4. This is not good by thered2001 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If the photo is truly of stored cars, hope you don't buy one of the ones parked on the grass! Storage like that is certain to cause corrosion to under-body parts and moisture in the transmission & engine. Even worse is the mention of storage at ports...salt spay is even worse on cars.

    --

    If your only tool is a hammer, every problem becomes a nail.

    1. Re:This is not good by thered2001 · · Score: 1

      LOL...of course I meant "salt spray". (I blame my over-dependence on the Mac's spell-checking.)

      --

      If your only tool is a hammer, every problem becomes a nail.

    2. Re:This is not good by toddestan · · Score: 1

      Not to mention mice and other critters if the cars manage to sit there long enough.

    3. Re:This is not good by thered2001 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Oh, yes! I once had friend who had a field mouse do unspeakable acts to an intake system of a stored car. Not to mention squirrels and their hiding habits! Cars should not be stored outside long-term. These cars might end no better than the flood-damaged cars from Katrina and the Mississippi floods of years past.

      --

      If your only tool is a hammer, every problem becomes a nail.

    4. Re:This is not good by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      I was thinking "This is not good" ment the global economy is in serious deep shit!!! And it is. This story will be one of many canaries to die in the mine.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
  5. Proves nothing by gatkinso · · Score: 1

    Port of Baltimore would have cars packed like that in huge parking lots during the boom years.

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    I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
    1. Re:Proves nothing by mark72005 · · Score: 1

      Local to me, the parking lot of a large amusement park has always been used by the neighboring Ford plant to store vehicles in the park's offseason.

  6. no handbrake!! by rapiddescent · · Score: 1

    do you think the car at 7'oclock on the big corner was parked without applying the handbrake? it looks like it has rolled backwards down the hill.

  7. Yay for taxes! by narcberry · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So instead of lowering prices to balance demand, they stockpile their goods, layoff their workforce, and petition for a bailout. What do you do when a business only serves their management? Pay them more money of course, God bless America!

    --
    Modding me -1 troll doesn't make me wrong.
    1. Re:Yay for taxes! by ltkije · · Score: 1

      Interesting! a) 3 of the 16 pictures are of cars made by American companies, if you count the Jaguars (Ford) and separately count two pics of pickup trucks, b) the racetrack image is from a Nissan plant in the UK, and 3) Slashdot readers once again race to conclusions. Unless, of course, the parent poster thinks American bailout policy should follow the lead of American manufacturing policy.

    2. Re:Yay for taxes! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He does have a point about companies stockpiling their goods and laying off their workforce instead of just lowering their prices to sell their production. If I had a company, I'd rather have no profits at the end of the year (once everything is paid off and everybody got their paycheck) than being in the red with a huge stock of unsold inventory.

      This "we must grow or we'll die" business mentality is wrong on so many levels.

  8. Car Event Horizon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This reminds me of Frogstar B. (or Brontitall, if you will.) And the "Shoe Event Horizon"

    http://www.csua.berkeley.edu/~dxu/econ/shoe.html

  9. Give them away for free by Dude23 · · Score: 1

    They would be better off giving them away for free or at least for very cheap to poor people. At least the dealers might make a bit off the maintenance and repairs and at least the cars would not sit there rotting. What a total waste.