ERICH MERKLE, ECONOMIC ANALYST, AUTO INDUSTRY ANALYST, PRESIDENT AUTOCONOMY LLC
Erich Merkle has been working in the auto industry as an economic analyst and automobile sales forecast expert for more than 10 years. He has authored numerous articles on car trends and the economy and often conducts economic and auto industry presentations around the country. He is regularly quoted in the news media including: The Detroit News, The Detroit Free Press, The Wall Street Journal, Automotive News, The New York Times, and numerous trade journals and newspapers. Erich is also frequently interviewed and asked to comment on various auto industry news issues by television and radio news channels including: CNBC, Fox Business News, Bloomberg TV/Radio, West Michigan media, NPR, WWJ, and the BBC.
Predicting Car Trends Based on Economic Analysis and Historical Expertise
Erich Merkle predicts car trends based on his own economic analysis and automotive historical expertise. Many of his car trend projections and automobile sales forecast assessments have proven to be highly accurate over the years. As both an auto industry and economic analyst, he takes into account an appropriate mix of both quantitative and qualitative variables and understands their impact on the economic and automotive landscapes. This approach has made his presentations both informative and insightful to industry executives, investors, and analysts. Erich was one of the few analysts to correctly call the economic downturn at the beginning of 2007, by properly assessing and understanding the impact of the housing correction and its correlation to the broader macro economy. He was on record early last year warning that deflation (not inflation), coupled with a slowdown in global economic growth, would likely become the primary concern of central banks by the end of 2008. Erich is an avid student of economic and automotive history. It is this pragmatic approach to history and data analysis that has made many of Erich's automobile sales forecast assessments so accurate over the years.
Erich graduated from the Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) program at Wayne State University in 1990. He earned his undergraduate degree in Business (B.B.A.) from Eastern Michigan University in 1989. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Analysts, and was the two time winner of the Society's 2004 and 2007 vehicle production forecast contests in which SAA Automotive Outlook Conference attendees are judged on the basis of their North American light vehicle production forecast accuracy submitted a year earlier. Erich resides in Grand Rapids, MI with his wife and two daughters.
THE AUTOCONOMY LETTER Auto Industry News for Auto Industry People
Erich created Autoconomy.com and the Autoconomy Letter to fill the need for a value driven, accurate source of information and opinion; to provide auto industry news, economic data, trends, and product introduction info to dealers, automakers, suppliers, and investors. The Autoconomy Letter provides this information at a very reasonable price point, by combining lower overhead, maximum media exposure, and no printing costs. Subscription to the newsletter, published weekly, will also include occasional ‘email blasts’ when important news comes up. Thus, subscribers get the information they need, when they need it.
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