Laboring Over August Auto Sales Without Range Anxiety

Did auto sales plunge last month or was it just a wickedly unfavorable comparison to last August's cash-for-clunkers sales bonanza? We discuss that and the surprising gains posted by luxury auto makers. But are auto sales artificially propping up the U.S. economy numbers? One thing that didn't need propping up was Mathew's Fantasy Showroom.

Labor Day is just about here and AAA is forecasting a 10% increase in people getting their weekends on the road for 2010. That might be helped by slightly lower gasolines prices. However another forecast, for Hurricane Earl to slam into the beaches along the East Coast, could limit the number of people who head out on the highway over the holiday weekend.

Storm anxiety is one thing, range anxiety -- where you worry about running out of juice in your all-electric vehicle -- could be the next thing. That's what GM is thinking by attempting to trademark the phrase "range anxiety" for possible use in marketing its coming Chevrolet Volt that will be use a small gasoline engine to charge it's batteries on the road.

GM's Cadillac is hoping crash anxiety -- and actual crashes -- might eventually be reduced through integrated technologies that would lead to more near-misses.

People who may have owned a Fiat in the distant past when the brand was still sold in the U.S. might have some anxiety about the brand's return. Chrysler dealers are getting a chance to open 165 Fiat showrooms starting around the end of the year when the tiny Fiat 500 is introduced to American drivers.

Finally, we swerve away from auto topics for a moment to discuss Apple's newest iPods and Apple TV. We both got a little feisty about iTunes as well, even if you can download the podcast from there (and Zune).

GetThisShowOnTheRoad Sept 2, 2010.mp3