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American Morning

Auto Safety Feature Costs Rising

Aired June 04, 2003 - 09:22   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk money right now. The bottom line here, how much is auto safety worth to you? The price may be going up, we're told.
Andy Serwer is off today.

Gerri Willis is not. She is minding our business for Andy and others.

GERRI WILLIS, "SMARTMONEY": Good to see you.

HEMMER: What's the deal, safety features, huh?

WILLIS: The big new thing, side impact air bags. This is going to save 10,000 lives every year. Ten thousand people die every year in crashes from the side of the car. And these come down from the roof, actually, and save you from a nasty, nasty accident. But here's the deal. They cost the auto makers a hundred bucks apiece to put in place and the auto makers charge you $350 to $600. You've got to love that margin.

HEMMER: That's no surprise.

WILLIS: And they're going to make these standard on most makes and models.

HEMMER: Yes, so that's the air bag. What about stability and control? Are they making steps in that area?

WILLIS: Yes, these are devices that sense when a driver looses control. The brakes kind of take over and keep you from having an accident. Again, the numbers here, they cost $500 to $1,000 to put in place. This is all going to go to your bottom line and you're going to have to pay more for your car.

HEMMER: And is there any indication whether or not consumers right now are willing to penny up?

WILLIS: Well, that's a great question. You know, a big question is are consumers willing to spend? We're seeing some good response at retail outlets across the country. But, you know, people have bought cars with great lease deals across the country, as you've seen, and I think people are kind of getting tired of ponying up a lot of money.

HEMMER: Yes. Now, listen, the markets, quickly, are going to open up here in a couple of minutes.

WILLIS: That's right.

HEMMER: What are you seeing?

WILLIS: Opening a little lower, just marginally lower. We were keeping an eye on Martha Stewart. Nothing there yet. But, you know, she closed down 15 bucks yesterday. Not good.

HEMMER: Taking some hits.

But Alan Greenspan did say something yesterday in Berlin that we could all understand, actually.

WILLIS: That's right.

HEMMER: A statement that was easy to dissect.

WILLIS: That's right. Let's cut rates.

HEMMER: Yes, we'll see.

Thank you, Gerri, very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired June 4, 2003 - 09:22   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk money right now. The bottom line here, how much is auto safety worth to you? The price may be going up, we're told.
Andy Serwer is off today.

Gerri Willis is not. She is minding our business for Andy and others.

GERRI WILLIS, "SMARTMONEY": Good to see you.

HEMMER: What's the deal, safety features, huh?

WILLIS: The big new thing, side impact air bags. This is going to save 10,000 lives every year. Ten thousand people die every year in crashes from the side of the car. And these come down from the roof, actually, and save you from a nasty, nasty accident. But here's the deal. They cost the auto makers a hundred bucks apiece to put in place and the auto makers charge you $350 to $600. You've got to love that margin.

HEMMER: That's no surprise.

WILLIS: And they're going to make these standard on most makes and models.

HEMMER: Yes, so that's the air bag. What about stability and control? Are they making steps in that area?

WILLIS: Yes, these are devices that sense when a driver looses control. The brakes kind of take over and keep you from having an accident. Again, the numbers here, they cost $500 to $1,000 to put in place. This is all going to go to your bottom line and you're going to have to pay more for your car.

HEMMER: And is there any indication whether or not consumers right now are willing to penny up?

WILLIS: Well, that's a great question. You know, a big question is are consumers willing to spend? We're seeing some good response at retail outlets across the country. But, you know, people have bought cars with great lease deals across the country, as you've seen, and I think people are kind of getting tired of ponying up a lot of money.

HEMMER: Yes. Now, listen, the markets, quickly, are going to open up here in a couple of minutes.

WILLIS: That's right.

HEMMER: What are you seeing?

WILLIS: Opening a little lower, just marginally lower. We were keeping an eye on Martha Stewart. Nothing there yet. But, you know, she closed down 15 bucks yesterday. Not good.

HEMMER: Taking some hits.

But Alan Greenspan did say something yesterday in Berlin that we could all understand, actually.

WILLIS: That's right.

HEMMER: A statement that was easy to dissect.

WILLIS: That's right. Let's cut rates.

HEMMER: Yes, we'll see.

Thank you, Gerri, very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com