Weak End to 2007 Expected for Carmakers.

[coaster.n3rd]

AP
Weak End to 2007 Expected for Carmakers
Saturday December 29, 7:29 pm ET
By Dee-Ann Durbin, AP Auto Writer
Auto Analysts Expect Lackluster Figures for Carmakers in December, Capping a Dismal Year

General Motors Corp. could see an even sharper decline of 14 percent due to a planned cutback in sales to rental fleets, Barry said. In a note to investors, Barry said he expects GM to cut fleet sales by 30 percent in December, the same amount the automaker cut fleet sales in November. Ford also has been slashing sales to rental fleets all year in an effort to shore up resale value and brand image.

full article.

[osv_alero]

I'm glad GM is willing to stick to the reduction in fleet sales. It will be a short term hurt and a long term gain.

[Ambalanche]

I'll be glad when we don't have to hear about all these fleet cutbacks. Didn't that start in January of 2007? If so, we shouldn't be hearing about the fleet cutbacks unless they state they are cutting back further. I would also like to see GM hire some PR people to smooze the automotive press, either wine and dine them like the pharmacutical companies do to Dr's or something along those lines. GM needs the writers to stop giving backhanded compliments when the cars are damn good in the first place.

[DarkKnight67]

The interesting thing about fleet cutbacks ... guess who is filling those "holes" in sales with their own crappy product? My dad and I saw a hybrid Camry taxi the other day - you know that didn't come without some kind of incentive and special deal.

[bone]

I don't understand why G.M. doesn't make fleet specific models so they don't lose market share. I realize the Malibu Classic is sold only to fleets but that car is being discontinued. Why? Ford has the right idea in continuing production of the Crown Vic(Law Enforcement and Taxi market) and Town Car(Livery and Car Rental) but making them fleet only. Chevy should have done this with the Caprice after 1996.

[Hurricane]

I just hope that all these cuts in fleet sales result in increase profitability...

[mcool]

Originally Posted by bone

I don't understand why G.M. doesn't make fleet specific models so they don't lose market share. I realize the Malibu Classic is sold only to fleets but that car is being discontinued. Why? Ford has the right idea in continuing production of the Crown Vic(Law Enforcement and Taxi market) and Town Car(Livery and Car Rental) but making them retail only. Chevy should have done this with the Caprice after 1996.

If GM were to make some fleet-only models a la the Malibu Classic, then they'd be smart to have a fleet-only brand to go with it. Any brand that has to have a fleet-heavy product in its lineup does detrimental harm to the brand image overall, and I think the end result is a net negative.

Sure, Ford has made a ton of profit off of the Panther platform selling Crown Vics to police and taxi fleets, and Town Cars to livery services, but at the same time it's helped prevent Ford from making credible full-size RWD, attractive, competitive models that would otherwise occupy that showroom space. In my opinion, Ford probably looked at continuing to sell the Panther products as a reason NOT to domestically engineer a new large car platform, and when the need was dire, they had to leverage Volvo's platform to yield the 500/Taurus. Now they've got a product that's so banal and not really core to the brand in addition to a product that's long in the tooth and only manges a few retail sales to retirees.

Fleet sales basically keep factories humming, and some use of them is fine. But an over reliance on that type of sale makes a company become lazy in developing captivating new product.

[asim]

I am sure the carmakers are blaming the waning housing market. Too bad that I bet Toyota beat GM out this year, in sales and profits.

[steverino]

Next year is going to be even worse. When desperate for sales, wonder if the spin will be that "Fleet sales are a good thing, people get to test drive a vehicle while on vacation or on business"

[civilzues]

hopefully some good incentives will be around for when I trader in my current

[vam29]

If the Asian Central Banks didn't keep the yen and the yuan artificially low,the American Big Three car manufacturers wouldn't be able to build enough cars to keep up with the demand in N. America and the trade deficit would dissipate very quickly, IMO. Every time the dollar drops to near where it will start to do some good there's always a lot of pressure from several sources to let it get strong again. It would be a tremendous handicap for any manufacturer to compete against a 20-30% handicap.