WSJ: "39% of GM's 4Q Sales Were Fleet"

[Bimmer325]

"Here's one of the most shocking numbers from GM's genuinely awful fourth-quarter financial report: 39% of the passenger cars GM sold in the U.S. during the quarter were sold to fleets, including rental-car agencies. When people say that GM makes too many cars that people don't want, this is what they are talking about."

[NOS2006]

Wow. That's absolutely unbelievable.

[Northstar]

Isn't that pretty similar to the % they sold to fleets for the first 6 months of the year? Either way it's too large of a percentage, I'd like to see it at about 20%.

[Flybrian]

Where was the WSJ article when Mitsubishi was fleeting over 50% of their production?

[Cory Wolfe]

Well, it's a shock but not really if you think about it for a moment.

[sciguy_0504]

Capacity cuts could not come any quicker.

[Robert Hall]

I'm sure some models the % is higher than 39%.. I bet the Impala and MC are closer to 50%. (I wonder if the Ford CV is 99%...)

[sciguy_0504]

A Model-by-model breakdown has been posted on here a few times. The Impy was close to 65%, I believe, and the Malibu was close to 45-50%. The Impala is the gold standard for government cars.

Edit: Along with the Taurus.

Edited January 30, 2006 by sciguy_0504

[4gm]

I honestly didn't think the percentage was that high. That's pretty shocking.

[frogger]

I remember the article about the first 6 months having a similar percentage, hard to put into context without knowing historical GM #'s.

[Cadillacfan]

I'm not shocked but still very dissapointed. Until more attractive sedans come out... it will stay this way.

[VenSeattle]

If I recall correctly, fleet sales are always higher in the 4th Qtr.

[regfootball]

Where was the WSJ article when Mitsubishi was fleeting over 50% of their production?

since the number of cars being fleeted was nowhere near the sheer number that GM is whoring out to fleets, it wasn't a big deal. this? a lot of cars.......

[thegriffon]

By itself this is meaningless. You can't stop fleets buying cars, and some fleet sales are actually for private buyers. You can't say "go and buy a Camry instead". Again, when you look at actual sales numbers, there could be far more Camrys and Accords going to fleets, but it won't show the same percentage since they sell so many. Fleet buyers are more dispassionate. They look at the numbers and see the Impala and Malibu get better economy and are more reliable. It shouldn't be a surprise that they buy so many.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

Where was the WSJ article when Mitsubishi was fleeting over 50% of their production?

Wall Street only kills domestic industry....

They don't dare touch the asian companies.

Oh, and BTW, am I the only one that isn't surprised by this? And I guess the street decided to throw this out to try and kill stock prices again, after they've been on an upward trend.

[SoCalCTS]

Thats great. If we could grow the total number of cars so that the percentage is 50% than that would be an awesome achievement. Fleet sales support the rest of the company.

[turbo200]

Where was the WSJ article when Mitsubishi was fleeting over 50% of their production?

GM isn't Mitsubishi. I don't care how many fleets Mitsu sells, and the WSJ being based in the US wouldn't put as much precedent on it either.

The fleet sales are not what get me, it's the percentage. If we could grow total sales by way of retail and the percentage shrinked, then I'd be happier.

[Robert Hall]

GM isn't Mitsubishi. I don't care how many fleets Mitsu sells, and the WSJ being based in the US wouldn't put as much precedent on it either.

The fleet sales are not what get me, it's the percentage. If we could grow total sales by way of retail and the percentage shrinked, then I'd be happier.

Yes...61% of total output going to retail seems pretty low considering GM's production volumes.

[Newbiewar]

If I recall correctly, fleet sales are always higher in the 4th Qtr.

well is there anyway what the % of the industry was fleet?

and should GM's sales be leading or lower?

remember during GMS GM wasnt doing very much fleet....

[thegriffon]

Perhaps we need a very plain-jane three-car GMC? lineup, just for fleet sales. Stripped down, low-cost sheetmetal on an existing body, four/five colors- yellow/red, white, black and silver. No names Just general length - 45, 48, 52.

[4gm]

How about a fleet trim instead?

[frogger]

Perhaps we need a very plain-jane three-car GMC? lineup, just for fleet sales. Stripped down, low-cost sheetmetal on an existing body, four/five colors- yellow/red, white, black and silver. No names Just general length - 45, 48, 52.

But then who would buy Malibu's, Impalas, Grand Prix's, LaCrosse's etc.

[SingleStylish]

Call me crazy but... is this really news??? Think for a minute, GM sells almost 50% of their GMT-900 lineup to fleets as WORK TRUCKS. Those aren't rental car sales... Then they sell all of the full size vans to fleets. Then they've also got the 2 1/2 ton trucks that always go to fleets. Also you've got the cars and those are rental sales and few general purpose fleet cars. But, when you look at the number of vehicles GM has for industry that is huge! Toyota and Honda just don't have it. Period. So lets be fair and remove all of those sales and then compare that percentage of overall sales!

[razoredge]

Call me crazy but... is this really news???  Think for a minute, GM sells almost 50% of their GMT-900 lineup to fleets as WORK TRUCKS.  Those aren't rental car sales... Then they sell all of the full size vans to fleets.  Then they've also got the 2 1/2 ton trucks that always go to fleets.  Also you've got the cars and those are rental sales and few general purpose fleet cars.  But, when you look at the number of vehicles GM has for industry that is huge!  Toyota and Honda just don't have it.  Period.  So lets be fair and remove all of those sales and then compare that percentage of overall sales!

Exactly, but then you didnt mention the volumn of cars that go to the state agencys, its alot of cars, like someone said previously Impala and Taurus are our governments car of choice.......as they damn well should be.

In the commercial industries, heavy truck, service truck & Vans sales are conquest sales. Either you make the deal or someone else will.

This whole "fleet" sales topic has no where near the bearing some make it out to have, its just another distraction, something else to degrade GM's products about. You know the "buzz" factor

Edited January 30, 2006 by razoredge

[Matt276]

Not totally surprised, but will we have a good news for once. It's like getting worse everyday. How is the new Tahoe selling and HHR?

[The O.C.]

By itself this is meaningless. You can't stop fleets buying cars, and some fleet sales are actually for private buyers.

Fleet buyers are more dispassionate. They look at the numbers and see the Impala and Malibu get better economy and are more reliable. It shouldn't be a surprise that they buy so many.

Well, that's not exactly true. What usually drives fleet sales to companies, etc., are the incredible fleet incentives that the manufacturer offers up.

For example, I was able to get a loaded Jeep Liberty Sport 4X4 for less than I could a base, 4cyl, 2WD Ford Escape.....because the fleet incentives were SO much stronger on the Jeep.

Fleet buyers don't always get to choose the vehicles they want to drive. When it comes to companies....it's all about the dollars and cents. Impala and Malibu don't get THAT much better fuel economy to make that an overriding decision-maker for a company buying fleet vehicles. It's all about the deal that GM has on those cars.

[The O.C.]

Thats great. If we could grow the total number of cars so that the percentage is 50% than that would be an awesome achievement. Fleet sales support the rest of the company.

All fleet sales do is keep the factories running.

GM actually loses money on each fleet car it sells. I guess they lose less from that than if they actually cut production to levels reflecting true demand for their vehicles.

[The O.C.]

This whole "fleet" sales topic has no where near the bearing some make it out to have, its just another distraction, something else to degrade GM's products about. You know the "buzz" factor

As I told you before.....fleet sales are just about the number one factor in damaging vehicle resale value. That's one of the main reasons that many high-volume GM products are worth so much less than competing makes.

It's important to YOU if you own your GM vehicle and try to sell it down the road.

It's also important to YOU if you want to lease a new car.....higher resale value helps reduce the monthly payment.

It's important to the manufacturer because in order for them to be payment-competitive on a lease with a vehicle that has a higher resale value, they have to spend alot more incentive money to subsidize that lease payment.

I don't care whether they are to rental fleets, company car drivers, or government agencies.....if not managed properly, a manufacturer's fleet business can have a significant negative impact on many levels.