Will Premieres Equal Profit?

Automakers are hoping that new and redesigned vehicle models will do more than create buzz in the coming year – they want the premieres to create sales.

More than fifty new or redesigned vehicle models will be introduced this year, the most in at least the past five years. Enthusiasm from automakers will build in 2013, when there will be 74 introductions, according to J.D. Power and Associates.

Global Automotive Division Vice President John Humphrey expects these developments to correlate directly with new vehicle sales. “We’ll have new, exciting products that will generate excitement to get people into dealer showrooms,” he said.

Humphrey did temper his remarks with the warning that other economic factors play a role in the outcome. Those include the unemployment rate, global debt issues and geopolitical tensions.

What do you think? Will the new models bring Americans back to the showroom floor, or will the recession hold sales back?