Depressing, sort of.

This is depressing. This week I was planning a trip, and the only Ford available at the particular airport I was flying into was a Taurus through Hertz rental. Since it cost about double what it should have been, I rented a Chrysler Something-or-other. I'd hoped to find someone with the new Mustang GT, because I wanted to try it out. I couldn't even find a Taurus or one of the new 500 (which is actually a pretty sweet ride).

Today, I got this in my email inbox from Light and Medium Truckmagazine:
GM, Ford Sales Drop; Toyota up 9.5%

General Motors Corp. said last Thursday its January U.S. auto sales dropped 16.6%, and Ford Motor Co. saw its sales drop 19%, with both citing lower sales to rental-car companies, The Associated Press reported.

But Toyota Motor Corp.'s sales rose 9.5% to again surpass Ford's monthly sales, while DaimlerChrysler AG's sales rose 3.2% compared with January 2006, also topping Ford's sales for the month, AP said. American Honda Motor Co.'s sales rose 2.5%.

GM's light truck sales were down 11.5% to 140,458, AP said. Toyota's truck sales rose 5% and Ford sold 110,035 light trucks, down 9.8%, AP said. L&MT

The real irony in all this? The purpose of my trip was to visit a new Toyota distribution facility.