GM Sales Down 11 percent

[HoosierRon]

Originally Posted by K-1

7,000 Malibus = ~2/dealer. 4,000 AURAs = ~9/retailer. Given equal retail outlets, the AURA would be up over 30k/month.

HoosierRon = 0 touchdown passes/0 career games. Peyton Manning = 275 touchdown passes/179 career games. If Tony Dungy let me start as QB for the Colts... the Colts would not be Superbowl champs.

[airglow]

The most disappointing numbers are for the Vue, Equinox and Torrent. This is the fastest growing segment in the auto industry, and all three of GM's entries are going the wrong way. The Nox and Torrent are understandable, since these vehicles are late in their product cycle and have worst in class fuel economy and V-6 power. The Vue is especially disappointing, since it is new and I’d guess production is fully ramped up by now.

[blank disk]

Originally Posted by rueben44

No in real world terms compared to what most people get in MPG generally. Add to the fact it is the cheapest car in America and you save much more than you would from a few more MPG in something else.

If saving money is your priority, then just buy a 2 year old Taurus or Buick for about the same money. FE will not be that far off, and you get LOTS more car for the money that will easily outlast the AVEO.

[minnfang]

Can't get the link to work - does anyone have another link to the actual sales data?

[HoosierRon]

Originally Posted by minnfang

Can't get the link to work - does anyone have another link to the actual sales data?

HERE is the correct link.

[I-Love-Pontiac]

G5 is tearing it up with 2,170 units.

Now someone please explain. How is it that the apparently horrible Sunfire was able to sell almost 4x as much in it's second year? Other than style, the Sunfire had nothing going for it. The G5 may not having a lot going for it either, but it's a whole heck of a lot nicer than the Sunfire was.

I really don't get it.

[TriShield]

Originally Posted by I-Love-Pontiac

Now someone please explain. How is it that the apparently horrible Sunfire was able to sell almost 4x as much in it's second year? Other than style, the Sunfire had nothing going for it. The G5 may not having a lot going for it either, but it's a whole heck of a lot nicer than the Sunfire was.

I really don't get it.

Why is it all of GM's nice cars fail and their garbage sells?

Because of the expectations and tastes of the average GM customer, that's why. That's also why most people who demand more out of their cars will never set foot in any GM showroom ever. And that crowd keeps growing while the average GM customer crowd keeps dwindling.

[free_energy0]

Originally Posted by TriShield

Why is it all of GM's nice cars fail and their garbage sells?

Because of the expectations and tastes of the average GM customer, that's why. That's also why most people who demand more out of their cars will never set foot in any GM showroom ever. And that crowd keeps growing while the average GM customer crowd keeps dwindling.

The bitter truth. When people buy second rate rebate-mobiles just because they're nationalistic it hurts the company because it subsidies GM to make crap. The demographics and last 20 years don't lie.

[paul8488]

The Aura will not hit 60,000 in its first full year of production. That's scary.

It is nice to see GM small cars doing well.

Acadia is doing very well... Lambda will sell about 130,000 this year, which has to be in line with their expectations for the first year, I'd think.

Equinox and Torrent have been left to suffer... as someone else mentioned it's a hot segment... unfortunate that they haven't received some attention.

What scares me most is the number of GM vehicles that need attention and won't be getting it next year. Equinox and Torrent, Cobalt and G5, G6, Lacrosse and Lucerne, STS and DTS, Colorado and Canyon... there's nothing planned for any of these anytime soon... some will have to sit patiently for 2 more years before getting any attention!!! How will GM move ANY Equinoxes and Torrents in 2009 against ever-improving competition?

[sigma]

Originally Posted by paul8488

The Aura will not hit 60,000 in its first full year of production. That's scary.

It is nice to see GM small cars doing well.

Acadia is doing very well... Lambda will sell about 130,000 this year, which has to be in line with their expectations for the first year, I'd think.

Equinox and Torrent have been left to suffer... as someone else mentioned it's a hot segment... unfortunate that they haven't received some attention.

What scares me most is the number of GM vehicles that need attention and won't be getting it next year. Equinox and Torrent, Cobalt and G5, G6, Lacrosse and Lucerne, STS and DTS, Colorado and Canyon... there's nothing planned for any of these anytime soon... some will have to sit patiently for 2 more years before getting any attention!!! How will GM move ANY Equinoxes and Torrents in 2009 against ever-improving competition?

Great question. I haven't heard anything about updates to these Theta's since they got the new corporate radio stack last year.

[HoosierRon]

Originally Posted by free_energy0

The bitter truth. When people buy second rate rebate-mobiles just because they're nationalistic it hurts the company because it subsidies GM to make crap. The demographics and last 20 years don't lie.

It subsidies GM to make crap?

Grammar aside, I did not realize people were buying the Malibu, Corvette, Enclave, Acadia, CTS, Tahoe or the Sierra were buying second-rate rebate mobiles, thus causing GM to make crap. Perhaps you could be more specific as to what second-rate rebate mobile crap GM has been subsidied to make in the past 2 years. Has it been Motor Trend's Car of the Year or one of Car and Driver's Ten Best?

[bone]

Unfortunately G.M. has too many forgetable vehicles that hurt their image. The new product coming off line have and will continue to do well(except Saturn derivatives), however, as someone has already mentioned, there is really nothing coming down the pipe to replace the current Cobalt,G5,G6,Buicks,non-CTS Caddies, and small trucks. The next two years are looking very bleak for G.M.

[paul8488]

Originally Posted by HoosierRon

It subsidies GM to make crap?

Grammar aside, I did not realize people were buying the Malibu, Corvette, Enclave, Acadia, CTS, Tahoe or the Sierra were buying second-rate rebate mobiles, thus causing GM to make crap. Perhaps you could be more specific as to what second-rate rebate mobile crap GM has been subsidied to make in the past 2 years. Has it been Motor Trend's Car of the Year or one of Car and Driver's Ten Best?

I'm pretty sure he's talking about past GMs... I think he's saying that undesirable cars GM built over the past 20 years (up until recently) sold in big enough quantities to encourage GM to keep building them.

[1487]

Originally Posted by paul8488

The Aura will not hit 60,000 in its first full year of production. That's scary.

It is nice to see GM small cars doing well.

Acadia is doing very well... Lambda will sell about 130,000 this year, which has to be in line with their expectations for the first year, I'd think.

Equinox and Torrent have been left to suffer... as someone else mentioned it's a hot segment... unfortunate that they haven't received some attention.

What scares me most is the number of GM vehicles that need attention and won't be getting it next year. Equinox and Torrent, Cobalt and G5, G6, Lacrosse and Lucerne, STS and DTS, Colorado and Canyon... there's nothing planned for any of these anytime soon... some will have to sit patiently for 2 more years before getting any attention!!! How will GM move ANY Equinoxes and Torrents in 2009 against ever-improving competition?

sts was just updated for 2008. What else do you want? equinox and torrent were updated inside for 2007 and got new engines for 2008. Thats not an improvement? The Lacrosse was updated for 2008 with new exterior and a new V8 engine. GM had 3 months of decent results and now with one poor month everyone is saying they are in deep trouble and all their products stink. They need the cobalt to do better as well as the Aura and Vue. The Malibu's sales will be substantially higher in coming months.

[paul8488]

Originally Posted by 1487

sts was just updated for 2008. What else do you want? equinox and torrent were updated inside for 2007 and got new engines for 2008. Thats not an improvement? The Lacrosse was updated for 2008 with new exterior and a new V8 engine. GM had 3 months of decent results and now with one poor month everyone is saying they are in deep trouble and all their products stink. They need the cobalt to do better as well as the Aura and Vue. The Malibu's sales will be substantially higher in coming months.

STS is down below last years already low sales. If it was redone (and I didn't know that it was) they did a poor job. Equinox and Torrent have new Sport / GTP models, but these expensive versions should be the base models (at base model prices), not uplevel versions. And even with the much better drivetrains they still need a restyling. The Lacrosse does have a new grille, but it doesn't stand out as a 'new' car... and the V8 is an option... a welcome one, but an option nonetheless.

I am not saying because of one bad month that GM is doomed... I've felt for a long time that even though there are many great GMs currently available and coming out soon that there are still many other neglected vehicles. The STS, Equinox / Torrent, Lacrosse, Lucerne, Cobalt, G5, Colorado, and Canyon are all vehicles that are not selling very well (compared to their competition) and that will only become more dated over the next 2 years. As far as we know there aren't even any solid plans for Cobalt/G5 or Colorado/Canyon replacements.

The Cobalt has been doing okay... but it's going to have a tough time against the new Focus and Corolla.

I'm a GM fan and love much of their lineup... but so many of these other vehicles have no hope of selling two years from now when they aren't moving all that well right now. Saab's another worrisome case... the 9-3 and 9-5 redos don't appear to have bolstered sales all that much. Not sure when a 9-2 or refreshed 9-3 and 9-5 models are coming out, but it had better be soon!