Solstice Outsells Miata

[Variance]

Solstice Outsells Miata

For the first time since it debuted in late 1989, Mazda's MX-5 Miata is not America's favorite budget two-seat sports car.

That honor now belongs to the Pontiac Solstice.

Heading into the final weeks of the year, the swoopy $20,000 Pontiac sports car has a commanding sales lead over the venerable Miata. And there are no asterisks, either: Both cars came out in 2005, so this is their first full year of head-to-head competition.

Through November, Pontiac sold 18,361 Solstices, compared with 15,873 Miatas. Pontiac padded its lead in November, chalking up sales of 1,305, compared with just 995 Miatas.

This race could be even more interesting next year. Expect greater availability of the high-performance 260-hp Solstice GXP. And Mazda will offer a Miata with a folding metal roof.

Autoweek

[79VetteZ06]

I hope GM resolves the quality glitches quickly and take care of the ergonomics soon.

Better control now before the ding of the magazines hit it hard.

[aaaantoine]

GM now leads another segment!

So, how many of those 34,234 combined buyers do you think read all the auto rag reviews... Or even care?

[caddycruiser]

It's no mystery why or how they sold more--they just need to make sure it continues now by taking care of some of the ergonomic foibles and tightening up QC a bit. Early on and until now, such things could be brushed under the rug because the looks+performance+price=a very happy owner, but that can only last so long before more little things add up.

Still, and either way, great news, even if not at all unexpected.

[AxelTheRed]

[Robert Hall]

Good news, definitely..though I prefer the Sky.

Speaking of Solstices, whatever happened to that guy that was on here that had one and wrecked it?

Edited December 15, 2006 by moltar

[FAPTurbo]

Good news, definitely..though I prefer the Sky.

Speaking of Solstices, whatever happened to that guy that was on here that had one and wrecked it?

228227[/snapback]

Josh I think... He started his own website. Satty, Fly, and wpbharry will likely fill you in on the details...

[Sixty8panther]

I predicted this sicne befeor it hit showrooms.

It's a better car and a better value.

Wonder if the kappas will double Maita sales

collectivelly... might happen.

[ToniCipriani]

They're not piling Solstice + Sky + GT + G2X sales as one like Toyota does... right??

[Z-06]

You should see the blogs posted on various websites like jalopnik, edmunds, etc. See how much hatred people have about these twin convertibles. They just want them to fail.

I wish GM constantly keeps on revising them to make them world beaters.

I honestly think they should sell the Pontiac version in Europe and Asia and let those old countries have some.

[Camino LS6]

I expected this from the start. Though not really into small cars, my neck snaps around the instant I see a Solstice on the road - they have such presence .

[PurdueGuy]

How many Miatas were sold each year the last few years? Can we see a notable dent in their sales #s?

[eldiablobanshee]

I want to know if the sky came close in sales to the miata.

[Mr.Krinkle]

I want to know if the sky came close in sales to the miata.

228486[/snapback]

Not yet anyway. Theyll move about 8k this year. But when you add them up its Miata what?

http://media.gm.com/servlet/GatewayServlet...n=2&docid=30971

[MyerShift]

What great news.

There's no "obvious" reason that the Solstice (or Sky) wouldn't outsell the Miata.

Looks sell, and the Solstice just happens to have a look that can command one's atention like no Miata ever could. Oops, I mean MX-5.

[Regalguy01]

[hyperv6]

How can the Kappa's be doing so great???

They have no trunk space, poor cup holders and a roof that takes a slight bit more effort than some others!! These are all things I have to have in a sports car!!!!

In reality this is not perfect but is still a great car! I savor the future as GM turns things around they will run out of excuses to bash GM.

I can see it now they will try to bash the Blue Devil for no third row seating!!!!!!

Good job GM now let do the same in a high volume line in a sedan and make em eat their words. The Aura is a good start.

Edited December 18, 2006 by hyperv6

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

Is this the article that Edmunds was refering to in which "Solstice/Sky" sales are "cooling" ?!?!?!?

This sounds good... The cars have glitches, but they'll be forgiven because the cars are such homeruns in other aspects of design. GM just needs to keep steadily improving them.

[I hope GMRULES again]

Great news!

[Dragon]

thats great!

the question is can it hold on to that spot once the newness factor wears off

[boblutzfan]

thats great!

the question is can it hold on to that spot once the newness factor wears off

230802[/snapback]

That's were the GXP and Redline versions will help to sustain sales. I predict another addition or model to come out next year to keep interest in these great roadsters.

I'm curious - what were Sky sales during the same time period? What were Miata sales during 2004 and 2005? Have they declined since the Solstice and Sky came out?

[heintz]

That's were the GXP and Redline versions will help to sustain sales. I predict another addition or model to come out next year to keep interest in these great roadsters.

I'm curious - what were Sky sales during the same time period? What were Miata sales during 2004 and 2005? Have they declined since the Solstice and Sky came out?

...and how do Kappa sales worldwide compare to MX5 sales?

[hyperv6]

thats great!

the question is can it hold on to that spot once the newness factor wears off

Your going to see upgrades in many forms. Special colors, wheels, more HP [300 hp is not far off], a coupe, special editions like the Miata has had over the years. At this point it is in marketings hands to help keep it fresh with out a lot of heavy money investments.

They will off many things to keep it fresh but they will not over sell the car. Mazda has kept sales limited to preserve future sales and demand. Porsche almost wrote them selves off when they over built the 911 in the 80's.

Two much of a good thing is the kiss of death to any limited market two seater. That is why it is so hard to make a low cost two seater. You keep cost down but volume is so low you can't make any money and if you over sell the car dies in 5 years or less. The Fiero is a great example of this.

I know there were many factors involved with the Fiero but the fact they built 140K the first year killed future sales and demand in the future. Pontiac really only wanted to sell 30K but the plant they had could put out 250K cars a year. Pontiac had hope the GM 80 F body replacment would take up the extra capacity when sales reached the 30K range but it was canceled. Once the GM 80 was killed this gave all those in GM who hated the Fiero the ammo to kill it. The Vette people were at the head of the line as they could not afford to lose any more sales of their own and hope to get a C6 approved. Chevy sells more cars and Chevy get more say than Pontiac.

The Solstice will do fine and sales will decline slowly till a second gen is readied. That is as long as the economy does not tank and that could put an end to the Kappa. If a second gen makes an appearance it will also base a wider range of cars on it and help keep the 2 seater viable. The critical time is from now till a Second gen is approved. They don't need killer sales but they need to keep it from being a big money loser..

As for world wide sales I don't think we can compre that too much yet. The Miata is in more markets [Asia, Austrailia, etc.] The Opel is new to the market in Europe so It needs more time there. As of now only the North American market is a fair place to judge sales at this point. By fall we should know how the Opel is doing, we need a good summer to judge it overseas. Either way it should out sell the speedster just based on the lower price.

Edited December 28, 2006 by hyperv6

[GMman]

Sweet!

Much deserved. The Solstice is so much better looking than the miata, I knew this would happen.

[SS427]

Quoted from hyperv6:

"I know there were many factors involved with the Fiero but the fact they built 140K the first year killed future sales and demand in the future. Pontiac really only wanted to sell 30K but the plant they had could put out 250K cars a year. Pontiac had hope the GM 80 F body replacment would take up the extra capacity when sales reached the 30K range but it was canceled. Once the GM 80 was killed this gave all those in GM who hated the Fiero the ammo to kill it. The Vette people were at the head of the line as they could not afford to lose any more sales of their own and hope to get a C6 approved. Chevy sells more cars and Chevy get more say than Pontiac."

Ya never mind that the GM80 was calling for a FWD Camaro and Firebird just like the Ford Probe was originally supposed to be the Mustang III, I am sure there was allot of input as far as keeping the F-bodies RWD that killed the GM80.

Edited January 18, 2007 by SS427

[hyperv6]

Ya never mind that the GM80 was calling for a FWD Camaro and Firebird just like the Ford Probe was originally supposed to be the Mustang III, I am sure there was allot of input as far as keeping the F-bodies RWD that killed the GM80.

You are 100% correct on killing of the GM 80 was the FWD and V6.

Pontiac was banking on the GM 80 and got burned when it was canceled because of the change back to RWD. This left the plant open and the Fiero open for attack and gave those who did not want the Fiero ammo to point out the plant was way under capacity with no model that could share the line with the Fiero.

The GM 80 died because of FWD and was not done to kill the Fiero. It was after the GM 80 was killed that it left the plant well under capacity and people who hated the Fiero a chance to point out a new costly reason to kill the car.

Bottom line the GM 80was not killed to kill the Fiero but its effect created a reason to kill it after the fact.