Automobile inventories currently total approximately 3.8 million units, or a 60-day supply. This figure appears manageable due to the existing strong sales pace. How ever, with production capacity continuing to rise, a slowdown in sales could quickly result in rising inventory levels. Ward's Automotive A build-up of inventories would not be a positive development for either the Michigan or U.S. economies, as higher inventory levels would force the automobile industry to confront several unappetizing options. It could allow inventories to remain high, increase the size of its incentives, or implement production cutbacks.
None is an appealing alternative to continuing high sales.
A rising inventory trend of long-duration would be a potential sign of economic retrenchment, at least for the automobile industry and all those who depend upon it for their livelihood. The workshop s agenda was developed in consultation with a group of industry and academic experts and took a fact-based approach, leveraging both anal ytical research and the experiences of payments experts. Participants then considered whether specific technical, legal and business practices stood in the way of the migration to electronic payments. The workshop discussions suggested that the most critical challenge facing the advancement of electronic payments has more to do with environmental uncertainty than with specific technology or legal obstacles. That said, it is important to note that different participants took away different lessons from the workshop.