February 2008 Sales: GM (down 13%)

[Geotpf]

I wonder if GM will wise up and kill Saturn already. Astra has sold only 757 total since it's introduction in January, and overall sales for Saturn were down by a third in February.

[Greg Burr]

Originally Posted by igor

February 2008 Sales: Ford Motor Company (down 6.9%)

Ford is down 7% (some retail highlights), and is cutting productions on the Taurus/Sable/TaurusX/MKS plant to 1 shift - the same for the Explorer/Sport Trac/Mountaineer plant. A V6 engine plant will remain idled for extra 6 months.

Ford is paying close attention and adjusting their model.

Igor

Does job 1 on the Flex have any impact, or is that at another plant?

[VCDJ]

Originally Posted by coaster.n3rd

yay for Aura.

Booo for Vue.

well did gm think that that people will go crazy over new vue when it gets crapy mpg. Full size tahoe gets better mpg then vue. And you just have better choices. Rav4 is faster and more efficient, CRV is more efficient and high quality and the most important reason why people are not buying new vue is because it is made in Mexico. . I would rather buy American honda then mexican vue. People agree with me just look at sales of new vue and old vue.

[igor]

Originally Posted by Greg Burr

Does job 1 on the Flex have any impact, or is that at another plant?

Flex will be in Oakville, Ontario, Canada plant.

Igor

[Lichtronamo]

I see few bright spots here other than the increased retail sales of the Malibu and overall sales of the CTS. Interesting to note that that both models have GM's full marketing support (at the expense of other products) right now. All of the other sales increases are more than likely fleets (including the Aura). Once again, too many models, too many brands.

The REALLY bad news in this for GM is that most of their revenue comes from those large trucks who's sales just tanked 19% compared to this time last year. That's going to hurt the company's financial situation. Thank goodness the American Axle strike will likely cause them to stop producing for a while until demand catches up with (over) supply.

[Motownr]

Great point, probably seconded by every non-Saturn GM dealer and industry analyst out there.

However, GM simply doesn't seem prepared to eat crow on this issue; at best, we may see them lump Saturn in with another GM brand.

Creating, of course, even more overlap.

Which brings up another interesting topic: what about Saab? Talk about the walking dead.

[bone]

It is not often that I agree with VCDJ, however, I toally agree with him on the lack of a 6-speed auto not being standard equipment in the 900s. It's a perception thing. With gas approaching $4 a gallon GM should be doing everything to improve mileage on these things. This serious oversight reminds me of how long Chevy stuck with the 2-speed Powerglide transmission in the 60s when Ford,Plymouth and Dodge had 3 speeds. When the 900s first came out there was a general consensus that the 6-speed woulb standard by 2008. Now it looks like it won't be standard in 2009. By the way, has anyone heard when the Malibu will finally get the 6-speed option in the 4 cyl. or is this another false promise?

[Buick61]

Originally Posted by VCDJ

the most important reason why people are not buying new vue is because it is made in Mexico. . I would rather buy American honda then mexican vue. People agree with me just look at sales of new vue and old vue.

That's the only thing keeping the forthcoming VUE 2mode off of our shopping list. The only thing.

What the hell is a Saturn? A Saturn used to be an American car that didn't dent and was inexpensive to own. It was a car built with pride in Spring Hill to battle the imports.

Now look at them. They're expensive, overweight, they readily dent, and the worst thing about it is 2/5ths of the lineup are built outside of the U.S.

Originally Posted by coaster.n3rd

yay for Aura.

Booo for Vue.

Yay for Aura? Its sales are up when compared to an especially terrible month last year. They still didn't crack 5,000 units in February.

[pinyon]

Originally Posted by VCDJ

Keep saying blah blah all you want but, each month i am proven to be correct. Last mont i told you silverado sales will go down alot not because of slow down in truck sales but because it is ugly and it uses four speed. and everybody here was saying looks are subjectiv. nobody cares that it uses four speed consumers do not know difference between 6 and 4 speed. well they all have internet and they all find out. Silverado had 6k rebate and still down almost 30% while old ford f15o about same rebate only down 6%. Pick up truck market did not decline by 30%. and maybe you should ask your self why tundra is up 43% again? Maybe you should ask your self why silverado is down almost 30% That tells you everything. and tundra is up again. keeps sayin blah blah all you want but until you people wake up. we will keep getting news like this all the time.

Rant all you want...

Siverado 44,000
Tundra 14,400

This doesn't even include the Sierra or Avalanche. Heck even the Sierra (15,000) outsold the Tundra.

[paul8488]

Yikes... I don't see much good news this month, aside from the CTS!

[paul8488]

Originally Posted by VCDJ

well did gm think that that people will go crazy over new vue when it gets crapy mpg. Full size tahoe gets better mpg then vue. And you just have better choices. Rav4 is faster and more efficient, CRV is more efficient and high quality and the most important reason why people are not buying new vue is because it is made in Mexico. . I would rather buy American honda then mexican vue. People agree with me just look at sales of new vue and old vue.

I don't think that's the case at all. While your first points are valid... there are better choices when you look at the measurables... most people don't have a clue where their vehicle comes from. I applaud anyone who takes that into consideration, but I really don't think that's the problem with the Vue. There are tons of American-branded, Mexican built vehicles that well well... as well as vehicles built all over the world. The Vues price and fuel mileage are more likely the reasons it's not a huge hit.

[VCDJ]

Originally Posted by bone

It is not often that I agree with VCDJ, however, I toally agree with him on the lack of a 6-speed auto not being standard equipment in the 900s. It's a perception thing. With gas approaching $4 a gallon GM should be doing everything to improve mileage on these things. This serious oversight reminds me of how long Chevy stuck with the 2-speed Powerglide transmission in the 60s when Ford,Plymouth and Dodge had 3 speeds. When the 900s first came out there was a general consensus that the 6-speed woulb standard by 2008. Now it looks like it won't be standard in 2009. By the way, has anyone heard when the Malibu will finally get the 6-speed option in the 4 cyl. or is this another false promise?

Thank you for Agree with me. I am just used to being attacked all the time. So when somebody agrees with me. I like to say thank you to them

[coaster.n3rd]

Originally Posted by paul8488

I don't think that's the case at all. While your first points are valid... there are better choices when you look at the measurables... most people don't have a clue where their vehicle comes from. I applaud anyone who takes that into consideration, but I really don't think that's the problem with the Vue. There are tons of American-branded, Mexican built vehicles that well well... as well as vehicles built all over the world. The Vues price and fuel mileage are more likely the reasons it's not a huge hit.

Thank you. I was geared up to type out a post regarding VCDJ comments. I highly doubt the numbers reflect VCDJ opinions.

The quality of the CRV is nothing to write home about compared to the VUE, infact I hear more customers complain about the over all quality and feel of the CRV and rave about the feel of the VUE and over all quality of the materials. It just weighs too much... - 500lbs and it would be golden.

[VCDJ]

Originally Posted by paul8488

I don't think that's the case at all. While your first points are valid... there are better choices when you look at the measurables... most people don't have a clue where their vehicle comes from. I applaud anyone who takes that into consideration, but I really don't think that's the problem with the Vue. There are tons of American-branded, Mexican built vehicles that well well... as well as vehicles built all over the world. The Vues price and fuel mileage are more likely the reasons it's not a huge hit.

Bealive me most people will not buy vue because its made in mexico and they shouldn't. Old vue was made in america and it was not cost a lot to operate.

[91Saturn]

It's interesting that pretty much all of GM's midsize sedans (CTS, Epsilon cars, Lacrosse) are doing fairly well.

Yikes, another horrible year-over-year month for the Solstice and Sky. Hopefully the new Sol coupe will give the franchise a badly needed shot in the arm.