June 2007 Sales Figures - The Other Guys

[guitarlix]

It's odd that those are the two brands (Saturn and GMC) that I've been saying need to be chopped off from the very first day that I started posting here. GMC is redundancy at its best and Saturn simply won't take off like people here believe it will. That's like Toyota buying Suzuki and giving it its best products and hoping that it will do well. People will always buy Toyota over Suzuki unless something drastic happens to change their minds.

[Geotpf]

Originally Posted by solman98

Rabbit, 1363.1%?

New product that was only out a partial month last year (that's the YTD percentage).

[slade'man]

Very disappointing month overall. I support Rick and Bob. They have made many improvements to the company. Yes there was an enormous amount of money spent on the 900's. But look what we have, class leading vehicles in every aspect. It is not Rick and Bob's fault that gas prices are high, or that trucks and suvs are becoming less popular. GM had already started the 900 platform. Were they supposed to abandoned it and work on Zeta? That doesn't make any sense.

[Geotpf]

Originally Posted by guitarlix

It's odd that those are the two brands (Saturn and GMC) that I've been saying need to be chopped off from the very first day that I started posting here. GMC is redundancy at its best and Saturn simply won't take off like people here believe it will. That's like Toyota buying Suzuki and giving it its best products and hoping that it will do well. People will always buy Toyota over Suzuki unless something drastic happens to change their minds.

Saturn's in deep trouble. It was always a bad idea. Small cars alone could never substain an entire dealer network profitably, and now people dismiss the brand due to the small car stereotype, causing the move upscale to fail. Worse still, this stereotypical Saturn (a compact sedan) no longer exists at all (the upcoming Astra is a hatch).

As for GMC, there is no GMC. There is only PontiacBuickGMC. They are joined at the hip as a (very) slightly upscale Chevy Part Deux. And you can't kill it, due to dealer bribes, plus the massive sales drop that would occur. Of course, Pontiac and Buick are doing worse than GMC.

Now, killing Saturn is somewhat more possible, although still requires massive dealer bribes. But if the Outlook, new Vue, and Astra all fail, GM will seriously have to consider deep sixing it after the product cycle for all of them winds down.

[Mcmflow]

So much for the tundra being a fluke. 21K this month???? That to me says everything. GM willnever be #1 again, and will probably fall to number 3 at some point. Very sad.

[guitarlix]

Originally Posted by Geotpf

Saturn's in deep trouble. It was always a bad idea. Small cars alone could never substain an entire dealer network profitably, and now people dismiss the brand due to the small car stereotype, causing the move upscale to fail. Worse still, this stereotypical Saturn (a compact sedan) no longer exists at all (the upcoming Astra is a hatch).

As for GMC, there is no GMC. There is only PontiacBuickGMC. They are joined at the hip as a (very) slightly upscale Chevy Part Deux. And you can't kill it, due to dealer bribes, plus the massive sales drop that would occur. Of course, Pontiac and Buick are doing worse than GMC.

Now, killing Saturn is somewhat more possible, although still requires massive dealer bribes. But if the Outlook, new Vue, and Astra all fail, GM will seriously have to consider deep sixing it after the product cycle for all of them winds down.

Never understood the point of creating YET another brand when you have Chevy, Pontiac and Buick that do pretty much the same thing.

Saturn should have done something different or continued to make very inexpensive cars packed with features but with better design. Taking it upmarket was the most bonehead move GM could have ever made. I saw this coming from a mile away and every month when people here are shocked, I don't even blink an eye.

If I were in charge of GM, I would have made Saturn their GREEN brand - where every vehicle would have been a class leading hybrid/diesel product. Sort of like Toyota's Prius but an entire brand of cars. Even the name - Saturn, would have been perfect for something like that. That at least, is something different. Instead they squandered millions doing something very stupid.

What is killing GM (and has been killing them for a while) is poor management.

[VCDJ]

Originally Posted by slade'man

Very disappointing month overall. I support Rick and Bob. They have made many improvements to the company. Yes there was an enormous amount of money spent on the 900's. But look what we have, class leading vehicles in every aspect. It is not Rick and Bob's fault that gas prices are high, or that trucks and suvs are becoming less popular. GM had already started the 900 platform. Were they supposed to abandoned it and work on Zeta? That doesn't make any sense.

How could they not know that price of fule will go up. Everybody here know that price of fule will keep going up. If they do not know that with all of those millions that they spend on research, they need to quiet. If they did not spend all of that money on 900's they would have competive cars now that people would want to buy. If they continue with this. GM will be know as a truck and SUV maker.
THey made improvment??? Losing 10% of market share in 10 years that is improvment to you?

[Geotpf]

Originally Posted by Mcmflow

So much for the tundra being a fluke. 21K this month???? That to me says everything. GM willnever be #1 again, and will probably fall to number 3 at some point. Very sad.

Looks like Toyota is meeting thier sales goals for the Tundra. 21k a month translates to about a quarter million a year. Thier yearly production capability seems to be 325,000 running full out (200,000 in the new Texas plant, 125,000 in the old one in Indiana), and they weren't expecting to reach 100% capacity for a few years.

The only models that aren't selling are the base models, which are overpriced compared to the domestics. But the loaded models are flying off the lots.

[DW115]

Did anyone remember that last year they had the huge zero percent sale. That blew the numbers way out of porportion from the norm. Have a bad month ready to chop you have a good month your the best thing since sliced bread. Everything is going to be fine.

[sigma]

Originally Posted by Mcmflow

So much for the tundra being a fluke. 21K this month???? That to me says everything. GM willnever be #1 again, and will probably fall to number 3 at some point. Very sad.

With between $4,500-7,000 in incentives on this truck, it would have to move. That's the only reason it sold that much this month. If GM had offered the same rebates on their trucks they too would have had a massive month.

Saturn's in deep trouble. It was always a bad idea. Small cars alone could never substain an entire dealer network profitably, and now people dismiss the brand due to the small car stereotype, causing the move upscale to fail. Worse still, this stereotypical Saturn (a compact sedan) no longer exists at all (the upcoming Astra is a hatch).

As for GMC, there is no GMC. There is only PontiacBuickGMC. They are joined at the hip as a (very) slightly upscale Chevy Part Deux. And you can't kill it, due to dealer bribes, plus the massive sales drop that would occur. Of course, Pontiac and Buick are doing worse than GMC.

Now, killing Saturn is somewhat more possible, although still requires massive dealer bribes. But if the Outlook, new Vue, and Astra all fail, GM will seriously have to consider deep sixing it after the product cycle for all of them winds down.

Saturn sales are down to do the fact the Ion isn't in production anymore. It will be replaced by the Astra. Also the new Vue just entered production as the old one just left... so there is a ramp up period. My goodness. The way you all talk about it you would think its the end of the world.

[DW115]

[quote=Geotpf]Saturn's in deep trouble. It was always a bad idea. Small cars alone could never substain an entire dealer network profitably, and now people dismiss the brand due to the small car stereotype, causing the move upscale to fail. Worse still, this stereotypical Saturn (a compact sedan) no longer exists at all (the upcoming Astra is a hatch).

Are you aware that the target for Saturn sales is only 260k this year. They are on track for gm goals. They are actually on track to do 250k, but can easily be corrected

[guitarlix]

Originally Posted by sigma

Saturn sales are down to do the fact the Ion isn't in production anymore. It will be replaced by the Astra. Also the new Vue just entered production as the old one just left... so there is a ramp up period. My goodness. The way you all talk about it you would think its the end of the world.

That's what they said about the Aura. Wait and watch.

[Pucks]

What a rout. June 2006 does look like a tough comparison - but 24% down? Fleet or no fleet, the retail numbers need to be better.

[slade'man]

Originally Posted by VCDJ

How could they not know that price of fule will go up. Everybody here know that price of fule will keep going up. If they do not know that with all of those millions that they spend on research, they need to quiet. If they did not spend all of that money on 900's they would have competive cars now that people would want to buy. If they continue with this. GM will be know as a truck and SUV maker.
THey made improvment??? Losing 10% of market share in 10 years that is improvment to you?

Okay...........
They spent the money on the 900's b/c that will make them money. Think about all the trucks they have on this platform, Silverado, Sierra, Tahoe, Suburb, Yukon, XL, all the Escalade variants. All these trucks needed updating. Did you want GM to just leave them to rot? Or make class leading vehicles as they did. I think the Aura is completely competitive car. For some reason it just isn't catching on. Bob and Rick have not been in control for 10 years.

[Geotpf]

Originally Posted by guitarlix

If I were in charge of GM, I would have made Saturn their GREEN brand - where every vehicle would have been a class leading hybrid/diesel product. Sort of like Toyota's Prius but an entire brand of cars. Even the name - Saturn, would have been perfect for something like that. That at least, is something different. Instead they squandered millions doing something very stupid.

What is killing GM (and has been killing them for a while) is poor management.

There's been talk that Toyota is going to do just that-turn Prius into a sub-brand (a la Scion), with three hybrid-only models (other Toyotas and Lexuses will have optional hybrids as well).

Of course, sub-brands are a better idea that starting new brands because you don't need to build a whole new dealer network for them (that you are stuck with if the sub-brand fails).

Saturn would have been a great sub-brand of Oldsmobile, although they wanted to make it so un-GM they couldn't do that. Of course, it's now in the GM fold (with little GM badges on the sides even), and Oldsmobile is dead.