GM sharpens focus on small cars; Bringing overseas models to the U.S. key to success

[gaffo]

GM may not have too much to worry about Toyota.

It seems my poor buying experience remains S.O.P. in Toyotaland.

http://www.yarisworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19044

....................


I like these two posts:

"I brought my 5spd LB into the dealer for the 20,000 mile service over the weekend. (the dealership, and its salesmen are thankfully great and the service dept is wonderfull) Car is in tip top shape no issues whatsoever Anyway, more to the point of this thread I got to talking to one of the salesguys there as is my custom when I bring the car in for service and told him it was a great car and about the mileage and all and asked if they really only had one yaris on the lot as i had seen in walking around. Evidentally yea the only had 1 new one on the lot (metallic gray auto lb) he said that for the past 5 six months they can't keep them on the lot, if they do get one in thats not already claimed the longest he has seen one sit is 3 days, usually they are gone the same day though. They simply can't get their hands on enough of them and it seems to be a nationwide thing. I guess it puts them in a pretty tough spot, i mean they don't want you going down the street and buying a FIT so they go for they try and plug the next closest thing the Corolla or maybee even the camry. They had plenty of camryies on the lot, and matrixes and whatever the minivan is. Also it looked like a Tacoma burial ground on the back of the dealer's reserve lot, i guess a lot of these things are coming back as trade ins, without exageration, there must have been 25 of them back there. They were giving 4,000 - 6,500 off of the Camrys. Can't blame them for not advertising the Yaris right now, they have to ramp up production before stirring increased demand. Actually that ramp in production might get them to a higher economy of means making the Yaris more profitable. Big company though lots of momentum, hard to shift direction instantaneously. Hopefully they will soon."

and this one:

"I wonder how many Yaris's Toyota would sell if...

-they actually built enough
-they advertised it
-dealers were interested in selling them

I think sales numbers would be doubled.

Think about it...The Yaris is pretty much sold out across America and isn't advertised. Plus dealers try to push customers into Corollas instead. Sales potential is dramatically being affected."


Just as I surmized. Demand is outstriping suppy and dealers don't care too much because they make no money on them. a short sighted mindset.

shared by that Lutz moron I might add.

no Beat for U.S. - what a tard.

[LAMRONH]

Originally Posted by gaffo

yes, i know. I have dylexia and it is more work for me to reference an online dictionary or trying google to help with a word than to just type it wrong and move on with the post.

as for grammar - you are right there as well. my grammar is better if i can write it out in longhand. i learned to write with pen/pencil and typing i've never really mastered - both in my mind and my fingers.

Thanks for the explanation. It can't be easy dealing with it.




we been here before - a month ago. yes the Corolla auto gets better highway miles than the standard. solely due to the final gear ratio.

all things being equal (yes that means same gear ratio) the standard will get better mileage.

this just means do some research on the car's gear ratios before you buy.






honestly? - i pulled it out of my arse.

all i know is i have alot more onhand power in my car than i would if it were an automatic.








you'll have to find the #s yourself. i don't have them and i don't need them. common driving experience is enough for me.






when you floor it - exactly. I had an auto for 13 long long years (integra). here is what happens.

stop on gas...........wait.........wait................... ....wait...........auto downshifts. took around 1 sec of flooring to get it to downshift.

with a manual, one does not have to floor it to downshift. you downshift first!then 1/4th second later you floor it. you can also downshift to a lower gear and entirely skip a gear if you have to.

alot faster and alot more personal control over your vehicle downshifting with a manual.

one more thing so far we are talking about downshifting in order to pass another vehicle. Their is also the whole world of downshifting to intersections using the tranny for braking instead of the brake rotors which an automatic basically cannot do.

again downshifting to intersections is a choice left to the driver. another example of the superior control a driver has with a manual over an automatic.

I drove sticks for years so I'm familiar with their characteristics and the pro-con arguments. Sounds like your Acura needed some GM trannie upgrades.

Almost any automatic can be downshifted, if one so desires. Just move the lever. IMO brake pads are cheaper than trannies and clutches.






I know they hate it - it is veiwed as "work". anyone under 40 basically never even learned how and now have no desire to.

Americans have become soft - we like gadgets to do things for us. if a car can shift for us all the better.

just like the movie WALL-E and that geat classic song 2525.

i didn't see the truth of it in the 70's and 80's - but today with the current culture of "luxury" (auto toilets/ auto towel dispensors/ remotes for ACs/ remotes of TV etc....................) lazy is now a virtue.

still waiting for the auto butt wipers to be installed with our auto flush toilets at work. i can't wait.

As for the decline of American can-do will-do, I agree.
I got rid of my last stick because my wife's neck cannot take the motion inherent in stick shifts.
Many Americans are soft and lazy. Too bad "Honest John" dumped the great Phil Gramm just because he spoke the truth about the US-Americans being whiney. Gone are the days when we as a people just quietly did what needed to be done. No doubt, Certain Forces are working hard to sissify us.

Originally Posted by wildgoosechase

The one thing that really bugs me is how these articles tend to slam on GM for not bringing small cars to market today. These production decisions were made 3-5 years ago, it's going to take that long at least to turn over the current fleet. Financially this also means throwing away billions of dollars of R&D for project all-ready being worked on in order to change gears. A battleship can't stop on a dime.

That argument for some reason reminds me of the current crop of Drill Here Drill Now deniers who say it will take 10 or 20 years for a drop of that oil to become gasoline. Of course, if the offshore and inland drilling had started 10 years ago...

GM has not taken their small cars seriously. The junker Cimmaron is a perfect example of how not to execute.
The desire and willingness to milk a POS like Cimmaron for short-term profits, rather than build an excellent car that will build long-term reputation, goes back to the perennial GMmismanagement problem of long range vision measured by three-month periods.

[spidge]

Originally Posted by megeebee

It never has been before. The Astra is the latest Euro car to meet with yawns.

The Catera comes to mind, as well.

Opels sold with Buicks, then Opels dressed as Cadillacs, now Opels as Saturns.

Even the Vue, based on a GMDAT vehicle, isn't selling as well as the American one it replaced.

I thought the new Vue was based on an Opel as well. Daewoo just got a version of it recently.

Apparently, Americans like Opel underpinnings, but not Opel styling.

[Bravada]

The new VUE is an Americanized version of the Opel Antara, designed and built by GM DAT basing on their very own Daewoo Winstorm aka Chevrolet Captiva aka what Equinox should be.

The Antara is a slow seller in Europe too. Nobody really likes Bryan Nesbitt's idea of Opel styling. And the underpinnings of all those SUVs is GM's Theta, which is bulky and has little to do with Opel.

[xyagentguy]

Why do people still keep talking about the Beat as though it's being brought here when it isn't.

At least, not for MANY years after the first life-cycle of the European-ONLY Beat.

It's been said before and many times that it was never intended for the US Market and even if they wanted to rush it here, they couldn't, it wasn't built to US safety specifications and would take an additional two years and immense funds to transform it to meet US specifications.

It's not coming here. Which I HATE.