Topic: New Car Incentive(s) in next week's Ontario Budget?

[21Rouge]

As you may know Mr. Dwight Duncan gives his important Spring Budget next Thursday March 26th. Given the great stress on the manufacturing component of the Ontario economy and in particular on the auto industry many are anticipating some sort of stimulus to this critical sector. What do you think?

[tpl]

I sincerely hope he will do nothing.  Anything he does will just temporarily distort the auto market at one end or another and if he succeeded in getting people to buy cars this spring it would be at the expense of cars being sold next spring.

[rrocket]

Dwight Duncan is a retard.  He was a local MP here.  He knew nothing and nothing.  Once his party got in, he became Ennergy czar.  After that, Finance.  What did he do before?  He sat on a board for an alcoholic recovery center...and was a councellor for the City of Windsor.  That's his resume of experience for being in charge of Finance.....

[The Mighty Duck]

I sincerely hope he will do nothing.  Anything he does will just temporarily distort the auto market at one end or another and if he succeeded in getting people to buy cars this spring it would be at the expense of cars being sold next spring.

Encouraging sales now would (in theory) stimulate the economy.  If that came at the expense of new car sales during an upturn, that would still be beneficial.  The losses from continued recession between then and now would outweigh the cost of the market distortion.  On balance, that's a net gain for the economy.

In theory. 

[21Rouge]

If that came at the expense of new car sales during an upturn, that would still be beneficial. 

+1

[21Rouge]

Dwight Duncan is a retard.

 He knew nothing and nothing. 

So do these characteristics make it more or less likely we will see car incentives? 

[toolatecrew]

I don't know that this gets done provincially. It almost has to be done federally.

The US is introducing a program to give 5K US for an 8 year old or older car towards a NEW US made car that gets 27mpg or over SUV 24MPG or over. Its only 4K max for Canadian made cars and they have to get 30mpg.

That's a direct jab at the canadian manufacturing industry. There has to be some similar program. It almost has to be some kind of clunker program so they can cloak it in being green friendly. It probaly needs to be directed to all Canadian made cars not just big 3. I say it will happpen but needs to be federally funded. It has to be available to all Canadians to be effective and or fair.

[21Rouge]

Well today's the day and I havent heard much pre budget talk re any car incentives.

[Careener]

I keep hearing they want to harmonize the pst and gst. Does that mean we'll now have to pay both taxes on used car purchases?

[toolatecrew]

I keep hearing they want to harmonize the pst and gst. Does that mean we'll now have to pay both taxes on used car purchases?

Some provinces already have HST :-)

[dougjp]

I keep hearing they want to harmonize the pst and gst. Does that mean we'll now have to pay both taxes on used car purchases?

Wow, never thought of that one, good question Careener. None of the pre-budget articles I've read have enough detail, except to say there will be tax on a corner vendor hot dog and feminine hygiene products. Guess you could say, shows you what's important to the mainstream press.... 

[toolatecrew]

Incentives won't help the situation.

The industry has massive over capacity. They have plans to further cut capacity by another 20% this year . Even then they will still produce more cars than needed most likley.

Lets say these incentives cause a massive surge in buying. Sales up 15%. Big deal right? Wrong. That increase won't come close to clearing out the overstock. The industry can easily handel this surge in demand while still cutting their capacity. So sure they sell more cars but they still close the same amount of plants (and dealers) the same number of people end up out of work and out of work people don't buy new cars incentive or no.

Frankly incentives from the Government are the same type of band aid the Big 3 have failed with in the past. They would build x number of cars and then when they ended up with excess stock use incentives to clear it. The auto market will find its own natural sales level. You can't bridge the gap between capacity and demand with incentives. Its way too big.

Incentives don't make people who would don't have jobs or can't get financiing buy cars. Increase access to finaiancing and put people to work and the damand for cars will rise.

[21Rouge]

And I quote from the March 27 Toronto Star: http://www.thestar.com/article/609051

Some of Ontario's struggling automakers expressed disappointment and surprise yesterday that the provincial budget did not contain a scrappage program or sales tax holiday to jump-start a sagging market.....

So those that voted for "nothing" in the poll were indeed correct.

[toolatecrew]

A better scrappage plan is needed (but not necessarily as a sales incentive the current program is inadequate). However it doesn't surprise me that this program or incentives were not in a provincial budget. If its don it needs to be national and federally supported.

Ontario is not the center of the universe contrary to the opinion in Ontario ;-)

[21Rouge]

Ontario is not the center of the universe contrary to the opinion in Ontario ;-)

But it is the centre of car production and car consumption in Canada. That's why some thought the Ontario Liberals might do something re autos in yesterday's budget.

[dougjp]

Ontario is not the center of the universe contrary to the opinion in Ontario ;-)

   Quite the contrary. Lately, and especially after our Provincial budget, many of us think we will be the backwater of the universe.  Sort of like the Arkansas or Mississippi of the US. You will have to prop us up now.

[sailor723]

Ontario is not the center of the universe contrary to the opinion in Ontario ;-)

   Quite the contrary. Lately, and especially after our Provincial budget, many of us think we will be the backwater of the universe.  Sort of like the Arkansas or Mississippi of the US. You will have to prop us up now.

Wasn't Newfoundland sending equalization payments to Ontario last year?

[safristi]

I keep hearing they want to harmonize the pst and gst. Does that mean we'll now have to pay both taxes on used car purchases?

Wow, there will be tax on a corner vendor hot dog and feminine hygiene products. Guess you could say, shows you what's important to the mainstream press.... 

  I'm layin' off "hot dogs" outside BALL PARKS................