Bloomberg
Cars
SUVs Get Parked in the Sea, Revealing Scope of U.S. Auto Market Glut
By Chester Dawson
April 30, 2020, 8:14 PM EDT Updated on May 1, 2020, 1:55 PM EDT
Roughly 2,000 Nissans spend almost a week floating offshore
A shipper says packed lots are unlike anything he’s ever seen
The length of almost two football fields, the cargo ship Jupiter Spirit arrived in Los Angeles’ harbor on April 24 after an almost three-week journey from Japan, ready to unload its cargo of about 2,000 Nissan Armada SUVs, Rogue crossovers and Infiniti sedans in a quick, half-day operation.
But when the ship, operated by Nissan Motor Co.’s freight arm, got about a mile offshore, its captain was ordered to drop anchor. And there the ship remained for almost a week -- a floating symbol of an unprecedented logjam as nearby storage lots covering hundreds of acres overflowed with vehicles that Americans suddenly have little desire to purchase.
There are gluts of all shapes and kinds forming in the U.S. nowadays, a testament to the scope of the economic pain the coronavirus is inflicting. Slaughterhouses are killing and tossing out thousands of pigs a day, dairy farmers are pouring away milk, oil sellers were paying buyers to take barrels off their hands last week, and now, brand-new cars are being left adrift at sea for days.
For the auto industry, the crisis has left cars gathering dust on dealer lots, dealerships shuttered, auction prices slipping and tens of thousands of workers laid off or furloughed. April U.S. sales plummeted 54% for Toyota Motor Corp., 47% for Subaru Corp. and 39% for Hyundai Motor Co.
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But last month’s sales collapse produced a chain-reaction backlog, causing some ships to divert to other ports, others to wait days to discharge cargo and, ultimately, others to cancel voyages before they even got underway. The Port of Hueneme, a major import facility in Ventura County, California, had to find space in the surrounding area for about 6,000 surplus cars, in addition to the 4,000 on its site. Auto-logistics firms secured lots at a nearby cold-storage facility and an adjacent U.S. Navy base after scouring sites at local colleges emptied by the coronavirus
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The length of almost two football fields, the cargo ship Jupiter Spirit arrived in Los Angeles’ harbor on April 24 after an almost three-week journey from Japan, ready to unload its cargo of about 2,000 Nissan Armada SUVs, Rogue crossovers and Infiniti sedans in a quick, half-day operation.
www.bloomberg.com
And again. Until you know how many asymptomatic folks or people that were sick and did not have access to tests you just can't have an accurate mortality rate. When all is said and done and we know who has antibodies and who "actually" died from the virus the numbers will be similar to the flu. While there is / was a huge influx of seriously ill patients, the flu never had the media driven fear machine. If we have 50x more people that had it and didn't know it against whatever number the government cares to toss out this week, the mortality rate will be much lower. Very much compared to the flu. And yes we are back to doctors saying this was overblown.
HI
@Hound Dog 911
Please point out where in your professional experience working for fire and emergency services you have seen the number of people dying doubling every 3 days?
Seriously, please do point that out. Because I honestly can not think of any other issue we have dealt with which has a an exponential death rate that has escaped beyond control.
Yes, I get it that many folks do not want to believe what is going on.
Chris Martenson covers this topic well, and points to some really good work which covered the 6 stages of awarenes
1) Denial
2) Anger
3) Bargaining
4) Fear or anxiety
5) Depression
6) Acceptance
Lots of good information on that, and it is possible to have aspects from any of those stages as they are not mutually exclusive.
Also if you don't want to follow the numbers reported on COVID-19 deaths you can just look at the total deaths.
In terms of number of flu deaths - that number is generated by the CDC from an equation, and not actual stats.
note: This does not mean it is an end to humanity of course, but it is serious even if 1/1000 die.
www.foxnews.com
