Consumers will talk about your brand whether you're involved or not, so you may as well be involved.

From a brand standpoint, it's become another way to reach consumers.

Consumers should also get a quotation that discloses all the costs involved with the loan.

Five to 10 years ago we were a second tier brand. Now consumers say: 'I have a phone, or a TV, and it's fine. A few years ago it wasn't the right time to set our flat panel TVs as premium products, because they weren't,

Businesses are simply not able to pass any additional costs through to final consumers. They were bargain hunters in good times, and now they're really bargain hunters . This says there is room for the Fed to do whatever it needs to do to maintain growth.

We're thrilled that consumers voted with their pocketbook and made Chevrolet the number-one U.S. brand in 2005. But we're not going to spend time celebrating this accomplishment.