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Top quotes from Reuters Autos Summit

Tue Sep 16, 2008 1:59pm EDT

Reporter's Notebook

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DETROIT (Reuters) - The following are some of the top quotes from the second day of the Reuters Autos Summit in Detroit.

JIM LENTZ, PRESIDENT, TOYOTA MOTOR SALES USA

"There are a lot of different indicators that are pointing there is pent-up demand building and we believe that when the market does pick up as we go into this next decade, we will see markets at or above 17 million again."

"The loss of wealth from declining home values is having the biggest negative impact on our consumers."

DAVID ZUCHOWSKI, VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL SALES HYUNDAI

"People are starting to recognize Hyundai as more than a builder of small inexpensive vehicles with a long warranty ... that's rapidly changing as we speak."

"Our goal was to break 500,000 (vehicles sold) this year, it looks like the industry is not going to let us do that."

"We can be a little bit predatory over the next couple of years as the domestics suffer. We believe we have an opportunity to pick up market share."

"The lease market right now is a particularly wonderful opportunity because a lot of people are abandoning it."

RON GETTELFINGER, PRESIDENT, UNITED AUTO WORKERS

"Other industrial countries value their industry. The United States is one that places no value on its industry. We've never stepped in and done anything about currency intervention, we've allowed our industry to scale down. We've watched 4 million manufacturing jobs disappear in our country since 2001, and we're not on a level playing field. Other countries recognize the value of a strong industrial base."

"It bothers me when people refer to this as a bailout. It's simply not a bailout, It's a loan guarantee. It will help shore up the industry at a time of need."

"I know, based on the number of members that we have registered, based on our polling ourselves, input that we get, we're going to come in with a very, very high margin behind our endorsed candidate (Barack Obama). We're ready to go."

(For summit blog: summitnotebook.reuters.com/)

(Reporting by Nick Zieminski)

 
 
 
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