DID YOU KNOW THE AUTO INDUSTRY CELEBRATES PRESIDENT’S DAY FOR 15 DAYS AND WHY?

A young person once asked me what President’s Day was all about. I explained that it started off as a celebration of George Washington’s birthday. Washington was the first President of The United States of America and served from 1789 until 1797. He was offered a salary of $25,000 per year, which he refused. He was married to Martha and is generally known as “the father of our country”. George was born on February 22, 1732 according to the calendar commonly used since the 18th century. However, the old style calendar used during that era claims George was born on February 11th. . The Federal Government officially made George Washington’s birthday a federal holiday, officially setting his birthday and the holiday as the 22nd of February.

Having a holiday that doesn’t fall on a Monday really messes up the long weekends preferred by American government workers. So in 1968 Congress passed HR 15951 making Washington’s birthday the third Monday of February.

Now along comes Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States. Known as Honest Abe, President Lincoln is best known as the president who freed the slaves, and for being assassinated while attending a play. One of the nations most beloved presidents, he had the misfortune of being born on February 12th. Celebrating another president’s birthday in the same month as father of our country is just too hard on commerce, and his birthday never became a federal holiday, although it is a legal holiday in several states. So now, although the office of personnel management only recognizes Washington’s Birthday, we generally celebrate the third Monday in February in honor of the birth of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and every other President.

In 1928 President Herbert Hoover’s campaign slogan was, “a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage”, referring to the prosperity citizens would enjoy under his administration. I guess the auto industry picked up on this, because we now celebrate Presidents day for 14 days (15 in a leap year like this year) with rebates and incentives. You will hear more about Presidents Day over the next two weeks in ads for cars to last you until Election Day.

GM is offering 0% financing for 60 months plus $1,000 in rebates on its most popular models. If you don’t want the financing you can take increased rebates. On top of this there are other incentives on some left over models along with Auto Show rebates in honor of the Baltimore Auto Show that just ended. President’s Day is the proclaimed beginning of the selling season for the auto industry, and GM is expecting a sales boom.

Vehicles like the Motor Trend Car of the Year, Cadillac CTS; the North American Car of the Year, Chevy Malibu; the Chevy Silverado, the longest lasting truck on the road; GM’s popular crossover vehicles, and the GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave are being relied on heavily by GM to kick the 08 selling season in full gear. GM was the only major manufacturer to have a year over year sales gain in January, and they expect the gains to continue.

Now as for the young person who asked me about President’s day, I think I understand his confusion. For information on GM vehicles, visit us at www.gmgiant.com.