GM Reports June Sales; 70K Over Toyota; Truck Sales Down 17%; Mkt Share +2 Points

[Extreme4x4]

An interesting tidbit............ I hope this hasn't been posted in one of the other 129 posts before this page. LOL

Apparently, appx 1/3 of GM's sales for the month, happened during the 0% for 72 months sale. Thus, if that wouldn't have happened, GM's month would have looked pretty much like Fords.

Lets hope they didn't pull forward too many sales.

[vcs2600]

Originally Posted by xyagentguy

Can you blame these vehicles for failing? They aren't exactly the extremely competitive and competent vehicles I'm talking about. The G 8, on the other hand, is what I'm talking about, and the sales have been luke-warm due to the economy and fuel crunch, but maybe if Pontiac only sold a few of these cars and took massive amounts of money and manpower away from developing and selling re-badges or vibes (that could sell just as well or better under Chevy) and filter that money into other projects, luke-warm sales may be all that would be necessary to ensure profit.

I do take your point, though.

Well the problem is that if you narrow Pontiac down to the Solstice, G8, and the imaginary RWD G6, their volume is going to fall below 100K/year. And then it's barely even worth keeping the lights on. You would have no advertising, no inventory.

What GM is trying to do is move all their brands up-market without alienating their core customer base. They were (surprisingly) successful with the Buick Enclave. But the more expensive Pontiacs and Saturns seem to be duds. Saturn has a lot of potential, they should keep plugging. But perhaps Pontiac would be better off as as a "move the metal" volume brand.

[paul8488]

Buick won't crack 100,000 vehicles this year.

For a tough market Cadillac is doing well.

Malibu is doing okay, but is nowhere near the big boys (Camry and Accord). Everyone is going to say "But they can't produce them fast enough". I say baloney. Honda released the new Accord at exactly the same time and they are selling a whole lot more. If GM can't build cars after 100 years they should get out of the business.

Cobalt's going to have a huge year. If even it can't beat Focus and has to settle for 4th place in small cars, it will be well over 200,000 units, which is very respectable.

Vibe is doing nicely... not a huge volume vehicle but is still Pontiac's second-best selling car YTD.

I love the G8, but Pontiac is really hurting without the Grand Prix volume.

Saab will sell 20,000 untis this year? Can this even come close to breaking even for a brand? Are worldwide sales enough to make up for the pitiful US performance?

Aura will sell 60,000 units. Like last year. Yay.

Astra will sell 10,000, if its lucky.

Colorado and Canyon, with a few changes, still make sense and still should stick around.

HHR and Equinox/Torrent and Vue are doing not too bad, showing that people want that size of vehicle. Equinox needs its redo NOW!

Outlook down so far YTD. Can it now. Make way for Traverse.

[E. Haskell]

Originally Posted by paul8488

Malibu is doing okay, but is nowhere near the big boys (Camry and Accord). Everyone is going to say "But they can't produce them fast enough". I say baloney. Honda released the new Accord at exactly the same time and they are selling a whole lot more. If GM can't build cars after 100 years they should get out of the business.

It's going to take a few more model years before the Malibu can build up a good reputation. Also, I wonder how many more Malibus they could sell if a manual trans, coupe and full hybrid were offered?

[neshapop]

I posted a topic with media forecast how Toyota will overtake GM in monthly sales a week ago. "Expert" market analysts were babling about doomsday for Big 3 expecting that media pet Toyota will walk on water or float on sheer profit money and "reputaion".

It is pleasing for my eyes to see how wrong (as usual) they were about numbers, more than Toyota free fall performance. The way how the sales data shows Toyota is just keeping up with Jonses industrywise and as a car maker is not much better vs. Big 3. On the other hand Honda "slow and stady wins the race".

[ph39]

Originally Posted by paul8488

Malibu is doing okay, but is nowhere near the big boys (Camry and Accord). Everyone is going to say "But they can't produce them fast enough". I say baloney. Honda released the new Accord at exactly the same time and they are selling a whole lot more. If GM can't build cars after 100 years they should get out of the business.

Malibu / G6 / Aura are the same made at the same assembly plants. Combined their sales are about the same as the Camry / Solara and Honda / Honda Coupe.

Now - should GM sell them under 3 brands? probably not. But I bet if GM didn't make the G6 and the Aura - 75% of those sales would go to the Malibu. Of course - that means 25% would be lost - which is why GM is slow to pull the plug on some of these vehicles.

[E. Haskell]

The Solstice and Sky crushed the MX5 this month:

Sol = 1,688
Sky = 1,581
MX5 = 1,064

With the coupe coming out soon, the Solstice should be the best selling roadster for the 3rd year straight.

[AMERICA 123]

Originally Posted by paul8488

Buick won't crack 100,000 vehicles this year.

For a tough market Cadillac is doing well.

Malibu is doing okay, but is nowhere near the big boys (Camry and Accord). Everyone is going to say "But they can't produce them fast enough". I say baloney. Honda released the new Accord at exactly the same time and they are selling a whole lot more. If GM can't build cars after 100 years they should get out of the business.

Cobalt's going to have a huge year. If even it can't beat Focus and has to settle for 4th place in small cars, it will be well over 200,000 units, which is very respectable.

Vibe is doing nicely... not a huge volume vehicle but is still Pontiac's second-best selling car YTD.

I love the G8, but Pontiac is really hurting without the Grand Prix volume.

Saab will sell 20,000 untis this year? Can this even come close to breaking even for a brand? Are worldwide sales enough to make up for the pitiful US performance?

Aura will sell 60,000 units. Like last year. Yay.

Astra will sell 10,000, if its lucky.

Colorado and Canyon, with a few changes, still make sense and still should stick around.

HHR and Equinox/Torrent and Vue are doing not too bad, showing that people want that size of vehicle. Equinox needs its redo NOW!

Outlook down so far YTD. Can it now. Make way for Traverse.

All of which makes GM's above industry average for the month of JUNE 2008 all the more impressive, and Toyota's third from the bottom ? - below industry average also more impressive in a negative sense.

Put the two together..................., gee Paul, you musta' missed somethin' somewhere.

[jbernie]

Originally Posted by paul8488

Saab will sell 20,000 untis this year? Can this even come close to breaking even for a brand? Are worldwide sales enough to make up for the pitiful US performance?

The last numbers I saw for Saab said that they needed approx 135,000 sales worldwide to be profitable, that didn't say how much profit, just profitable. I believe the last full years figures had them around 115-120,000 sales. This was pre 9-4x reveal.

The long needed 9-5 refresh should help assuming they haven't killed it by not doing much with it for a long time (sigh!) and some incrimental changes to the 9-3 such as the XWD option, maybe some more focus on some more economical models in the US and the sales number is in reach.

The Aussies are getting a 1.9TTDi Aero model with the same power levels as the 2.8 but better economy, have your cake and eat it too.

[Buick61]

Originally Posted by Perian

Forgive me.

I was buying GM stock at the same time.

That was a stupid thing to do.

[AMERICA 123]

Originally Posted by neshapop

I posted a topic with media forecast how Toyota will overtake GM in monthly sales a week ago. "Expert" market analysts were babling about doomsday for Big 3 expecting that media pet Toyota will walk on water or float on sheer profit money and "reputaion".

It is pleasing for my eyes to see how wrong (as usual) they were about numbers, more than Toyota free fall performance. The way how the sales data shows Toyota is just keeping up with Jonses industrywise and as a car maker is not much better vs. Big 3. On the other hand Honda "slow and stady wins the race".

I'll tell you one nobody wants to talk about - Toyota's MAY 2008 versus Toyota's JUNE 2008 performance in comparison to virtually everyone else and the industry average.

Definitely one for the record books - just a question of how much and how many.

Anyway, here is some segment data

Some interesting segment data.


Segment totals, ranked by Jun unit sales

............Jun2008.....%ChgfromJun'07....YTD2008. ...%ChgfromYTD2007
Cars.......661,048...........-7.9.................3,845,544.............-1.5

Midsize...290,584..........-12.1.................1,773,582.............-2.8
Small......261,877.............6.8................ 1,393,509.............10.6
Luxury.....98,227...........-21.6...................606,617...........-14.9
Large.......10,360...........-37.2.....................71,836...........-32.7

************************************************** *******


LD TR.....528,060...........-28.4................3,566,138............-17.9

Pickup.....148,223...........-37.1.................1,066,427...........-23.0
CUV........184,871...........-16.6.................1,196,360............-2.8
MinVan......77,707...........-15.7...................481,770...........-19.2
Mid SUV....58,656...........-39.2...................425,033............-26.3
Lrge SUV...31,402...........-29.3..................189,690............-31.4
Small SUV..13,965...........-53.5..................115,255............-33.6
Lux SUV....13,236...........-23.5....................91,603............-12.5



Total SUV/Cross-over
.............302,130..............-26.3.................2,017,94...........-14.6
Total SUV
.............117,259...............-37.7.................821,581...........-27.4
Total Cross-over
.............184,871...............-16.6..............1,196,360.............-2.8

From: http://online.wsj.com/mdc/public/pag...=topnav_2_3000

Source: www.motorintelligence.com

[unkillsam]

Well I helped out GM, I bought a HHR on 6/30

[Buick61]

Originally Posted by unkillsam

Well I helped out GM, I bought a HHR on 6/30

Mexico thanks you for contributing to their economy.

[Geotpf]

Originally Posted by jbernie

The last numbers I saw for Saab said that they needed approx 135,000 sales worldwide to be profitable, that didn't say how much profit, just profitable. I believe the last full years figures had them around 115-120,000 sales. This was pre 9-4x reveal.

Well, the European first half sales figures are out, and they aren't good for Saab:

39,418 units, down 13.0%.

Add that to the American first half sales of only 12,068 (down 29.0%), and you get 51,486 units. Double that, and you get 103k-ish. So, Saab would have to sell 32k vehicles in the rest of the world to break even. Not going to happen; I doubt they sell more than 5-10k yearly in the rest of the world outside the US and Europe.

[Geotpf]

Originally Posted by paul8488

Buick won't crack 100,000 vehicles this year.

Most of what you said was right, although this is false. First half sales for Buick were 71,163, so they will certainly sell more than 100,000 vehicles for the full year. Still pathetic, though, and at the speed at which their sales are falling (down 21.1% YTD and a whopping 41.7% in June), they might not break 100,000 next year.