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

[jbernie]

Originally Posted by xyagentguy

I have no idea what to do with Saab..... LOL.

Your suggestions are pretty solid at least to me. Instead of trying to make every brand suit every need, get them back to the core and ensure that what is offered is a top quality vehicle every time.

As for Saab, Euro luxury & enviromentally friendly. I don't think they could do any worse with the extra models on offer outside of the USA. Start by bringing back the 2.0t and make it a true luxury economy car, which couldn't hurt given gas prices. Give serious consideration to bringing over the 1.9TDi model as well even if not 50 state friendly, if it is at least 40 state friendly it is additional alternate product. The 9-4x although a CUV is still worthwhile as has long been said if you want a Euro luxury SUV you don't even consider Saab with the 9-7x when you have Volvo, MB, BMW, Audi etc offering much better overall product.

The 9-5 refresh is long overdue and that can't be denied, the 9-3 is a good car, and with some refinement can do a lot better, the XWD system seems to be getting rave reviews which can't hurt as we head toward the winter months. Hopefully they promote the XWD Combis as an SUV alternative.

From what I see here in the Denver market, I would say GM's biggest issue is marketing & product awareness. They need to do follow up campaigns every so often to remind the buyer what is out there. Help remind them that the very new very different Malibu exists and it isn't the same old, old GM product.

[xyagentguy]

Your suggestions are pretty solid at least to me. Instead of trying to make every brand suit every need, get them back to the core and ensure that what is offered is a top quality vehicle every time.

Precisely. Not exactly a new concept, but I think one that makes sense.

As for Saab, Euro luxury & enviromentally friendly. I don't think they could do any worse with the extra models on offer outside of the USA. Start by bringing back the 2.0t and make it a true luxury economy car, which couldn't hurt given gas prices. Give serious consideration to bringing over the 1.9TDi model as well even if not 50 state friendly, if it is at least 40 state friendly it is additional alternate product. The 9-4x although a CUV is still worthwhile as has long been said if you want a Euro luxury SUV you don't even consider Saab with the 9-7x when you have Volvo, MB, BMW, Audi etc offering much better overall product.

The 9-5 refresh is long overdue and that can't be denied, the 9-3 is a good car, and with some refinement can do a lot better, the XWD system seems to be getting rave reviews which can't hurt as we head toward the winter months. Hopefully they promote the XWD Combis as an SUV alternative.

From what I see here in the Denver market, I would say GM's biggest issue is marketing & product awareness. They need to do follow up campaigns every so often to remind the buyer what is out there. Help remind them that the very new very different Malibu exists and it isn't the same old, old GM product.

Interesting. So while Saturn is sorta euro- for the regular folk, Saab would be the euro- luxury brand that would compete more with Volvo/Volkswagon. Perhaps keep it to below 5 models as well and have the 3-model Pontiac, 3-model Buick, 3-5 model Saab, and 5-model Saturn (add Vibe) all under one channel? I think it's manageable and would give Saturn and Saab desperate exposure.

I'm just thinking out loud here.......

PS. If the Saab 9-4X stays as close to concept as they claim, I think it'll be awesome!!

[vcs2600]

Originally Posted by xyagentguy

Not that this position hasn't been said before, but performance vehicles will always have a market no matter how expensive fuel gets. There will ALWAYS be a buyer and a niche market willing to dish out the cash for a gorgeous muscle car, and who can blame them?

I think Pontiac needs to scratch its re-badges and send Saturn or Chevy the Vibe (which is a great little car, imo) and concentrate on making about 3 EXCELLENT and COMPETITIVE performance vehicles and go after that market exclusively.

Pontiac failed with the Firebird/Trans Am and failed with the GTO, and it looks like the G8 isn't catching the world on fire either. Is there a market for performance cars? Yes. Is there a market for Pontiac performance cars? Apparently not.

I'm just pointing out that, Pontiac is increasing sales with cheap female-oriented "sporty" FWD cars. Getting rid of these products would be the death of Pontiac. It's probably the worst common idea on this site, in fact.

Personally I think Chevrolet is a much stronger "performance" brand than Pontiac, and GM should concentrate vroom-vroom models there along with the Corvette and Camaro.

[xyagentguy]

Pontiac failed with the Firebird/Trans Am and failed with the GTO

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.

[Firebird00]

Originally Posted by vcs2600

Yep. But the stuff that Pontiac can sell (G6, Vibe, Torrent) is exactly the stuff that GMIers want them to get rid of.

IMO the sales numbers show that Pontiac would be much more successful positioned as a young female brand instead of vroom-vroom muscle cars.

Also, what happened to the Impala? Last month GM said they were supply-limited, and this month sales are down 50%.

True, what Pontiac has now is garbage "performance" wise, but for now maybe they should just roll with the junk as long as its making some money and not dragging down the CAFE requirement. When they get everything sorted out in those regards, then Pontiac can ditch the G's and get back to muscle/sports cars.

[dav305z]

Late to this thread but a couple of points:

1)For all the bagging on "Red Ink Red" and the GM leadership (some of it well-deserved), kudos to them for making GM competitive in the car market with shocking speed. As bad as things look now, imagine how ugly it would have been had GM had the car lineup of even three years ago. No Cobalt. No new Malibu. No Saturns. No crossovers. Essentially, imagine if GM had been Ford or Chrysler. The downside of all this is GM has less liquidity than its domestic rivals, but I'll take product any day of the week.

2) The G6 sold well this month. Again. Even if you cut sales in half to account for an unrealistic number of fleet sales, the number and stability is impressive for a three year old car that was never a market leader. And yet, Pontiac is being left out in the cold for a mid-size replacement. Someone at GM should notice that Pontiac has a strong ability to sell mid-size cars.

3) The G8 is on track to sell just as poorly as the GTO, despite being better in every way. I hope sales pick up, and gas prices likely have a role in this; however, I think GM will be forced to conclude that Pontiac can not be positioned as a near-lux bargain alternative to BMW. The sad part is that it never should have been put in this position in the first place. Pontiac performed wonderfully as a value priced sporty brand. Grand Am, Grand Prix, Bonneville, Firebird, and Bonneville all sold well through the '90's. As noted, G6 still does well today. The answer for Pontiac is to move its lineup down into the low-mid 20's, and make it a direct Nissan/Mazda competitor.

4) Astra is still not doing well. As I noted in another thread, there is no logical reason for this. Even taking all the car's shortcomings into account, an attractive, high quality small car should have no problem finding buyers in this market. The reality is GM has yet to market this thing, and people aren't going to buy what they do not know exists.

[Koasterking]

Poor Chrysler. They really, really need to R&D some major hybrids and bring out better products than the Caliber for a small car.

[tgagneguam]

Originally Posted by osv_alero

Did I miss something. Did it say GM's share of the market went up by two points?

That's just LaNeve's usual monthly sales spin. He used an atypical industry standard: last month's share compared to this month's share, in which GM showed a two point gain. It's more traditional to draw year-on-year comparisons, which still paints a positive, albeit more conservative, picture of a slight share gain on GM's part.

[tgagneguam]

Originally Posted by Hotspur

...I would prefer GM follow Ford's approach and just take the hit in the numbers. In the long run it will benefit Ford.

I definitely understand your point, as I usually agree with the ones you make, but I'd prefer a pro-profit/pro-growth strategy from the General. Sure, it may mean taking it on the chin in the short-term (though they've been doing that for the better part of three decades now), but nonetheless, it's time to grow the business profitably.

Originally Posted by BigThreeForever

Having had a chance to briefly scrutinize GM's June figures, the following stand out . . .

Winners

Malibu +73.4
Equinox +45.9
Sky +44.1
G6 +34.2
Trailblazer +28.2
Aura +25.6
HHR +23.6
Vibe +23.0
Cobalt +21.6
CTS +16.0
STS +12.1

To me, some of these vehicles point the way for GM: when GM builds better vehicles, it will do well. And it will do so without the help of external forces. GM got itself in its present predicament, and it's gonna take GM to get itself out of it, too.

Originally Posted by DoomsDave

Word.

• Sales up 16% from last month
• 2nd best month of the year so far
• Overtook CTS in total sales this year (just an interesting tidbit)
• On track to sell 65K+ units

If the Aura is on track to sell 65,000 units per annum in the US, it's selling well below its predecessor's sales, which many would argue was an inferior product to the Aura. With that in mind, I'm not so certain what the cause for celebration is, including the fact that a mid-size car outsold one of GM's near luxury cars (i.e., what's up with the CTS comparison?).

[MonaroSS]

Originally Posted by Kennyboy

Only 900 deliveries of the Saturn Astra? What gives here? Finally a decent small car from GM and nobody is buying it. Is it the lack of advertising? Is it with the Saturn brand? Is it with the lack of a dealer infrastructure?

Am I correct that the US gets it's Astra from Europe? If so then GM makes no money on it with the exchange rate at the moment. So why would they push it to burn more cash? If you want to burn cash then do so getting SUV's and Trucks that don't sell off the lots so the dealers don't look so desperate.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by tgunnd39

Not crowing about this, but...

Where are all of the doomsayers now?!

Haven't read the thread, but I bet they're still here. GM's cashcows are not selling well, the company is bleeding money at an alarming rate, and even with that end-of-month firesale they managed to be down from last year.

If you want to find "doom", it's easy enough.

The one thing I LOVE this month though is the fact that GM, for the first time in recent memory, has actually gained marketshare over Toyota. It's about the only good news.

[xyagentguy]

If the Aura is on track to sell 65,000 units per annum in the US, it's selling well below its predecessor's sales

Wait, you're saying the Aura is selling WELL below the L-series? I find that incredibly hard to believe... You also have to remember that the Aura is a more expensive car than it's predecessor's, no? Perhaps even selling less they are still making more profit.

Ooooooooor wishful thinking. HAH.

[DoomsDave]

Originally Posted by tgagneguam

If the Aura is on track to sell 65,000 units per annum in the US, it's selling well below its predecessor's sales, which many would argue was an inferior product to the Aura. With that in mind, I'm not so certain what the cause for celebration is, including the fact that a mid-size car outsold one of GM's near luxury cars (i.e., what's up with the CTS comparison?).

I think almost everyone would argue that the L-Series was inferior to the Aura...

Not sure it's a fair comparison between Aura and L-Series sales. The L-Series per-sale price had to be about 40-50% less than current Aura prices. Plus the last year, they were practically giving away those things and blowing out inventory. I'd guess the total revenue generated between the 2 models is reasonably close, not to mention total profit. The Aura has to generate more profit per unit than the L-Series.

No matter what the numbers, would anyone want to see the L-Series in the lineup as opposed to the Aura? I could only imagine the armchair CEOs complaining about that...

Also, there's no direct comparison with the CTS. Like I said, just an interesting (maybe only to me) tidbit. The only relation between the 2 is that I consider those models (along with the Malibu, Lambdas, GMT900s, etc) as the beginning of the new design-driven GM. Nothing else.

[AMERICA 123]

Originally Posted by tgunnd39

Not crowing about this, but...

Where are all of the doomsayers now?!

Well, some are mad, some are sad, some are both, some are bitter, and some are just waiting for further instructions.

Pure speculation; some may be considering editing posts and some may be drinking heavily - and yes, some may even being doing both.

I imagine this is particularly tough news for megscuro - I for one feel for the guy - I mean really, its beyond embarrassing .

Hopefully, we'll see him post something on Toyota's labor practices.

[zete]

Originally Posted by TruckMan

This just doesn't make any sense. Saab and Hummer are HUGE flops, and everybody is talking about killing GMC - who did better than their rebadges in almost every vehicle. Good thing you guys aren't running the compnay. You guys are worse than the current managment.

The problem is that GMC is a truck division, and mostly a rebadge division. Hummer is a niche luxury brand with a lot of cachet. Folks who buy Hummers typically buy them as a statement, which isn't true of GMC. Thus, you can take GMC and make it the "professional grade" of Chevy trucks and have it work fine but if you take Hummer and dump it under Chevrolet you'll lose those niche sales.

Saab has been mismanaged for years. It needs to have a purely idiosyncratic and niche lineup. It used to have this, but then it slowly morphed into a slew of rebadges with Saab queues. I'm not even a Saab fan but I can see that it was handled poorly.

The future is cars -- again. Thus you need to focus on the divisions that can at least appeal in terms of cars, and that's Saturn, Saab, Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac, and Chevrolet. As I said, Hummer is niche. That leaves GMC odd man out.

With Saturn GM needs to make it a pure Euro line with efficient cars with European styling and handling. In other words, Opels with a Saturn badge. Or just Opels.

Pontiac and Buick both need to be niche players. Pontiac as a niche performance division and Buick as understated American luxury. The Enclave shows that Buick can get folks into the showrooms with the right vehicles. They need about 4 or 5 in total, and three to start: Enclave, Lacrosse/Invicta/Regal, and Park Avenue/Lucerne. I'd add a smaller Buick or a 5-seat baby-Enclave on a shorter Lambda and a sporty 2-door like the Riviera concept, both of which would sell extremely well as not everyone wants a 7 seat vehicle and folks would fall over themselves to own something like that Riviera concept.

Pontiac also needs about 3 - 5 vehicles, tops. And GM needs to make sure it never gets more than that. Otherwise, its purpose dilutes and confuses, which is bad marketing. Thus, as I've mentioned elsewhere, Pontiac needs a G8, a RWD G6, a RWD G4, and the Solstice. I'd make a 2-door G8 or G6 and call it the GTO. I don't care which, but leverage the platforms. Make it handle and perform, make it stand for something, and folks will line up to buy them. Make a G6 that's nothing more than a Pontiac-faced Malibu and watch sales continue to tank.

Buick and Pontiac should be able to steadily pull in 200k - 300k each. And by keeping them niche brands you end up keeping pricing elevated, with no incentives.

But back to GMC. GMC can be leveraged as a badge like SS is at Chevrolet. Some may disagree but it's an efficient solution that saves money by not having to create two skins and interiors for each vehicle, nor two sets of marketing material. Times have changed, GM has to change. It's why Saturn needs to be Opel in America and Pontiac needs to be RWD (which means a lot of Holdens) in America.