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Consequences - USA - Is New Orleans' Loss, Detroit's Gain?
NEW YORK,NY,USA -Forbes, by Dan Lienert -7 Sept 2005: -- Some of the most unsettling images from the wake of Hurricane Katrina have been of cars submerged by floodwaters. Photos of underwater police cars symbolize the government's inability, thus far, to keep up with nature... Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi are small economic powers, together representing 3% of the U.S. gross domestic product. The potential benefit to the automotive industry of car dealers in those states would be comparatively small, and would only come after extensive reconstruction... But Katrina could have a silver lining: It could ween American automakers off the big SUVs and trucks they love to build, and make the companies more in tune with a market that wants smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles. Kelley Blue Book reports that 59% of vehicle shoppers now say gas prices have either changed their minds or strongly influenced their purchase decisions, and that 42% of shoppers indicate they would seriously consider more fuel-efficient vehicles if the national-average gas price were to increase to $2.86 per gallon--and this data was collected before Katrina pushed gas prices in some parts of the country to $4 or higher per gallon. The main effect of Katrina, therefore, will be to speed up changes in purchasing demographics that had already started...
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