Big Drive Auto Scenario:
Big Drive Auto is a multistate dealer of several manufacturers’ cars and trucks. The dealer sells the vehicles, services the vehicles, sells parts for repair, and conducts a significant business in motor oil, coolant, and replacement tires. Management is always scanning the macroeconomic environment for signals that may help Big Drive Auto better plan their business. Big Drive has been keeping data on the volume of sales in its various lines of business over the last 10 years. In some cases, such as auto and truck sales, Big Drive tracks the numbers of units sold. In other cases, Big Drive tracks constant dollar sales. The following tables report Big Drive’s sales in all of its multistate locations since 1998.
Table 1:
Vehicle Unit Sales (thousands)
|
1998
|
1999
|
2000
|
2001
|
2002
|
2003
|
2004
|
2005
|
2006
|
2007
|
|
139
|
160
|
145
|
133
|
154
|
167
|
165
|
161
|
160
|
163
|
Table 2:
Motor Oil, Coolant, and Tires (thousands of constant dollars)
|
1998
|
1999
|
2000
|
2001
|
2002
|
2003
|
2004
|
2005
|
2006
|
2007
|
|
2,096
|
2,064
|
2,150
|
1,978
|
1,935
|
1,980
|
1,956
|
2,000
|
2,020
|
2,050
|
Table 3:
Service Revenue (thousands of constant dollars)
|
1998
|
1999
|
2000
|
2001
|
2002
|
2003
|
2004
|
2005
|
2006
|
2007
|
|
5,915
|
6,111
|
6,300
|
6,490
|
6,716
|
6,897
|
7,118
|
7,317
|
7,500
|
7,650
|
In addition to sales data, Big Drive Auto collects data on the prices the company charges customers. Following are the data since 1998:
Table 4
Index of Sales Prices for Vehicles: Year 2000=100
|
1998
|
1999
|
2000
|
2001
|
2002
|
2003
|
2004
|
2005
|
2006
|
2007
|
|
98.0
|
99.2
|
100
|
99.0
|
97.0
|
96.8
|
98.0
|
97.2
|
98.5
|
99.0
|
Table 5
Index of Sales Prices for Motor Oil, Coolant, and Tires: Year 2000=100
|
1998
|
1999
|
2000
|
2001
|
2002
|
2003
|
2004
|
2005
|
2006
|
2007
|
|
100.5
|
100
|
100.1
|
102.0
|
102.9
|
106.0
|
111.2
|
116.9
|
118.5
|
119.0
|
Table 6
Index of Sales Prices for Auto and Truck Services: Year 2000=100
|
1998
|
1999
|
2000
|
2001
|
2002
|
2003
|
2004
|
2005
|
2006
|
2007
|
|
97.5
|
98.8
|
100
|
100.4
|
102.0
|
104.1
|
105.8
|
107.7
|
109.2
|
110.4
|
The source for the United States government macroeconomic data that correspond to company data can be found in the industry detail of the GDP accounts as reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. They give data for both GDP quantity indexes by industry, as well as the price indexes by industry used to convert the nominal data into the quantity data. Industry detail tables with data going back to 1998 may be found at https://www.bea.gov/Industry/Index.htm. Click on the link for Interactive Tables of the Gross Domestic Product by Industry. The tables may be found in the Gross Output by Industry section. The Bureau of Economic Analysis Web page may change locations periodically. If this is the case, you may locate the information using a search engine and typing the phrase GDP by Industry.