May 2016: General Motors Co.

[William Maley]

GM’s Newly Launched Chevrolet Malibu and Cruze and Cadillac XT5 and CT6 Off to Strong Start

• Daily rental deliveries down nearly 22,000 units, or 49 percent, the largest monthly decline in 2015 - 2016
• GM Full-size Utilities, Mid Pickups and Small Crossovers Continue to Show Strength
• Malibu and Cruze gain share in key segments
• Commercial deliveries up for 31st consecutive month

DETROIT – General Motors (NYSE: GM) sold 190,613 vehicles in May to individual or “retail” customers, down 13 percent from last May, largely due to two fewer selling days and very tight supplies of new launched products.  Based on industry estimates, GM’s retail sales were in line with industry performance.

 

Customer demand has significantly exceeded supply for new vehicles like the Malibu, Cruze, XT5 and CT6.  GM’s full-size utilities, mid-size pickups and small crossovers continued to show strength in the retail marketplace with double-digit increases for Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe, GMC Yukon and Yukon XL, Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Trax, Buick Encore and GMC Canyon. 

 

“The demand has been so strong for our new launch products, there’s no question we could’ve sold more, however, production was impacted at Fairfax, Lordstown and Spring Hill by the Japanese earthquakes,” said Kurt McNeil, GM vice president of Sales Operations.  “Current dealer inventories for launch products are about half of what we’d like for launch products, but availability is improving, which sets us up well for the second-half of the year.”

 

Through the first five months of the year, GM retail sales are up more than 1 percent and GM retail share is up 0.6 percentage points, the largest retail share increase of any full-line automaker.   Year to date, Chevrolet retail sales are up 3 percent and retail share has grown 0.6 percentage points.   Chevrolet remains the fastest growing full-line brand in the industry.   Year to date, Buick retail deliveries have grown 5 percent and Buick has gained 0.1 percentage points of retail share. 

 

GM’s Commercial deliveries were up for the 31st consecutive month while daily rental sales were down 21,753 vehicles or 49 percent from last May as planned.  GM total sales were down 18 percent to 240,450 vehicles, driven largely by the planned rental reduction and two fewer selling days in May 2016 compared to May 2015.

 

The all-new Malibu continues to gain share in a very competitive segment, with retail share doubling to more than 10 percent year to date.  In May, Malibu’s average transaction price or ATP was up significantly compared to the previous generation model.  The all-new Cruze is also off to a strong start.  According to J.D. Power PIN data, Cruze’s May retail share was up 2 percentage points to approximately 9 percent and Cruze’s ATP was up substantially from last year.  In May, the all-new Cruze accounted for 85 percent of the Cruze retail sales compared to 53 percent in April.

 

“We continue to execute our retail-focused sales strategy and maintain disciplined inventories and incentive spending with great products” said Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president of Sales Operations.  “Our incentives continue to be well below our domestic and many Asian competitors.  Also, our rental reduction strategy is clearly divergent from our key competitors and it’s playing a critical role in our efforts to strengthen our brands, improve our residual values and build the fundamental health of our business.”

 

Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra’s performance in the marketplace are prime examples of GM’s retailed focused strategy.   Year-to-date, Silverado and Sierra retail sales are up 1 percent and 6 percent, respectively, while having the lowest incentive spend and the best-managed inventories in the fiercely competitive, full-size pickup segment.  In May, Silverado and Sierra had their highest ATP ever on record.

 

GM continues to reduce daily rental deliveries.  Year-to-date, GM’s rental deliveries are down more than 82,000 vehicles from a year ago.  May represented the largest single monthly decline of 2015 – 2016. 

Through its retail-focused strategy, GM continues to capitalize on a strong, stable economy.

 

“We expect key economic indicators like historically low interest rates, rising wages, stable fuel prices and strong employment to continue for the foreseeable future,” said Mustafa Mohatarem, GM’s chief economist.  “These positive economic factors point toward continued strong auto sales as the industry works its way toward another record year of sales.”

 

May Retail Sales and Business Highlights vs. 2015 (except as noted)

 

Chevrolet

• Malibu, Spark and Volt were up 4 percent, 40 percent and 19 percent, respectively.
• Year to date, Malibu had its best retail sales performance since 1981.
• Colorado was up 9 percent and had its best retail May and year-to-date sales performance since 2005.
• Suburban and Tahoe were up 38 percent and 16 percent, respectively
• Trax was up 19 percent.
• Silverado had its highest ATP ever on record for any month.
• Silverado’s year-to-date retail sales of 185,123 are the best since 2007.
• Suburban’s year-to-date retail sales of 14,268 are the best since 2008.

GMC

• GMC’s May ATP were up more than $3,000 or 7 percent from last year, driven by Sierra Denali’s penetration.
• Denali penetration was 26 percent in May.
• Canyon was up 17 percent for its best May ever.
• Sierra was up 6 percent year-to-date.
• Yukon and Yukon XL were up 15 percent and 14 percent, respectively
• Yukon has had 9 consecutive months of year-over-year growth

Buick

• Encore was up 26 percent, marking 29 consecutive months of retail sales growth.

Cadillac

• Escalade was up 17 percent.
• Cadillac dealers delivered 2,717 XT5s.
• CT6 deliveries were 694.

Average Transaction Prices (ATP)/Incentives (J.D. Power PIN estimates)

• GM’s ATPs, which reflect retail transaction prices after sales incentives, were $35,722 in May, nearly $4,600 above the industry average.
• GM’s incentive spending as a percentage of ATPs was 9.8 percent in May, well below domestic and many Asian competitors and below the industry average of 10.6 percent.

Fleet and Commercial

• GM’s fleet mix in May was approximately 21 percent of total sales, in line with the company’s full-year guidance of 20 percent.
• Commercial sales grew 1 percent, compared to last May.  Calendar year-to-date, Commercial sales are up 6 percent.
• State and local government sales were up 15 percent in May.  Total government sales are up 10 percent calendar-year-to-date.

Industry Sales

• GM estimates that the seasonally adjusted annual selling rate (SAAR) for light vehicles in May was 17 million units. On a calendar-year-to-date basis, GM estimates the light vehicle SAAR was 17.2 million units.

[G. David Felt]

Clearly low gas prices is driving truck and suv sales. Be interesting to see how this is at this time next year once prices go back up.

 

Sad that GM seems to have lost some mojo on car sales. Hopefully that will turn around in the near future.

[surreal1272]

How are Camaro sales continuing to struggle? That is a brutal drop off from a year ago.

[El Kabong]

Six percent year-over-year ain't that bad, especially considering their commitment to retail sales. Actually, it's pretty impressive what they were able to accomplish last month when you keep that in mind.

[Suaviloquent]

WRT the Camaro - it's probably because it has very few fleet sales of any kind. I think while the Mustang and Camaro are totally on par when it comes to total passenger volume, the Camaro has a noticeably smaller trunk and the worse visibility. 

 

So the Mustang is probably preferred by the fleets simply because it is just a little bit more of a practical two-door. 

[ocnblu]

The humble yet totally awesome Chevrolet Spark enjoyed the largest percentage sales increase of any GM product!  GO SPARKY GO!

[surreal1272]

WRT the Camaro - it's probably because it has very few fleet sales of any kind. I think while the Mustang and Camaro are totally on par when it comes to total passenger volume, the Camaro has a noticeably smaller trunk and the worse visibility. 

 

So the Mustang is probably preferred by the fleets simply because it is just a little bit more of a practical two-door. 

The Stang sold over 10,000 for the month of May. I know they have increased the fleet presence of those but a 5,000 unit difference is steep any way you slice it. I don't get it personally given all the rave reviews of the Camaro and how it has been beating the Stang in just about every comparo as of late. 

[ocnblu]

People can see a difference in the style of the current Mustang over the previous.  A lot of ppl are complaining about the barely evolutionary styling of the Camaro.  Love the look of the car, but I can see their point... why trade for one if it looks so similar to the old?

[ccap41]

I think some might be that regardless of the performance the camaro is just more expensive. EcoBoost Premium starts at 29,6xx and a 2.0 Camaro 2LT starts at 31,7xx. Base engine to mid range engine. Camaro's v6 adds 1,500. To most people who aren't getting the V8 that's a pretty big difference.

[surreal1272]

People can see a difference in the style of the current Mustang over the previous.  A lot of ppl are complaining about the barely evolutionary styling of the Camaro.  Love the look of the car, but I can see their point... why trade for one if it looks so similar to the old?

That's what I was thinking. However, I had a really nice blue Camaro pass me today and I knew right away it was the new model. The other thing is that most current Camaro owners are probably happy with what they have right now while the Mustang was a bigger leap (on appearance and the addition of IRS anyway) from the older model. I do believe that the Camaro had the big leap where it counts but to the average buyer, all that matters is what they see and not what they can't see. It's a pity really because this is the first Camaro I would actually own if the money were right.

[surreal1272]

I think some might be that regardless of the performance the camaro is just more expensive. EcoBoost Premium starts at 29,6xx and a 2.0 Camaro 2LT starts at 31,7xx. Base engine to mid range engine. Camaro's v6 adds 1,500. To most people who aren't getting the V8 that's a pretty big difference.

The Camaro 2LT starts at $30,795, not $31,7xx.

[ccap41]

I think some might be that regardless of the performance the camaro is just more expensive. EcoBoost Premium starts at 29,6xx and a 2.0 Camaro 2LT starts at 31,7xx. Base engine to mid range engine. Camaro's v6 adds 1,500. To most people who aren't getting the V8 that's a pretty big difference.

The Camaro 2LT starts at $30,795, not $31,7xx.

Sorry, you are correct. My bad.

[Suaviloquent]

Well, then perhaps it comes down to the fact that Pony car buyers aren't the gearheads we expect them to be. 

 

And that performance, while great for a halo car....isn't always the top thing people have in mind even for a two-door, relatively high power car.

 

Also, I think if you are buying a Pony car for the experience, the heritage, the image, neither of the 3 actually compete on the same turf for the same image.

 

And then when it comes to the drive. For a lay person, you still have to drive to a certain degree to truly expose how the Camaro is more advanced, and is less a pony car and more a sports car.

 

The Challenger is the old badass. The Mustang is the Pony car for all of the world. And the Camaro is a transformer - something the movie studios realize there is an insatiable appetite for. 

[smk4565]

People can see a difference in the style of the current Mustang over the previous.  A lot of ppl are complaining about the barely evolutionary styling of the Camaro.  Love the look of the car, but I can see their point... why trade for one if it looks so similar to the old?

Agreed and the Camaro is really hard to see out of and rather cramped on the inside.   The Mustang feels more usable and easier to see out of to me.  Plus it is a coupe, coupes don't sell in volume, especially when the price keeps going up.

[regfootball]

People can see a difference in the style of the current Mustang over the previous.  A lot of ppl are complaining about the barely evolutionary styling of the Camaro.  Love the look of the car, but I can see their point... why trade for one if it looks so similar to the old?

i do think that is part of it.  Chevy's strategy may have backfired there.  The car itself is well done.  But perhaps stylistically they should have evolved the look.  Actually to me the elephant in the room is that they really downsized the already small interior and really crushing the roof, i think a lot of the complaints in reviews about the car being hard to see out of has made a big difference in the interest.... they went just a bit too far. 

 

Funny thing is they could reskin the body and just raise the roof to more of the 69 Camaro greenhouse profile on the same lower body and with bigger windows and i bet the damn thing would take off like wildfire.

 

Camaro pricing increases are tough to stomach too, when last year the Camaro was selling for thousands off already low prices.

 

GM will really be butthurt in market share by this month.  GM Card sent me additional bonus money for me to use by July.  Maybe with the poor sales in May, they will bring the huge discounts in June.  Yes, with GM just wait for the discounts since they price it all too high to start with.  Just wait for them to get desperate sometimes is the drill.

 

Cadillac sold 4,600 or so sedans last month.

 

evolves the discussion on whether sedans are worth it anymore? 

 

Buick, i would call that situation close to dire  (the non CUV's).

Edited June 2, 2016 by regfootball

[smk4565]

ATS down 30.7%, CTS down 39.6%, XTS down 29.3%

 

That is why I said Cadillac needs 3 more crossovers.   CTS is on pace for 14,000 sales this year, that is worse than the STS did and they killed the STS.

 

LaCrosse down 57.3%, Impala down 54.4%.  Full size sedans are really hurting, that whole segment could disappear in about 5 years time.  Chevy should make Impala their Camry fighter and Malibu should become a Civic/Corolla fighter, Cruze would replace both Spark and Sonic as a compact car.  At least that way they get to preserve the Impala name plate.

[surreal1272]

ATS down 30.7%, CTS down 39.6%, XTS down 29.3%

 

That is why I said Cadillac needs 3 more crossovers.   CTS is on pace for 14,000 sales this year, that is worse than the STS did and they killed the STS.

 

LaCrosse down 57.3%, Impala down 54.4%.  Full size sedans are really hurting, that whole segment could disappear in about 5 years time.  Chevy should make Impala their Camry fighter and Malibu should become a Civic/Corolla fighter, Cruze would replace both Spark and Sonic as a compact car.  At least that way they get to preserve the Impala name plate.

More of the same. This is why you are just so boring being that predictable.

[El Kabong]

Lost amidst all the freaking over the Alpha sedans and XTS is the fact that the CT6 sold 700 units last month. The Alpha has spawned a pretty good machine, it appears.

Edited June 2, 2016 by El Kabong

[ccap41]

Well, then perhaps it comes down to the fact that Pony car buyers aren't the gearheads we expect them to be. 

 

And that performance, while great for a halo car....isn't always the top thing people have in mind even for a two-door, relatively high power car.

 

Also, I think if you are buying a Pony car for the experience, the heritage, the image, neither of the 3 actually compete on the same turf for the same image.

 

And then when it comes to the drive. For a lay person, you still have to drive to a certain degree to truly expose how the Camaro is more advanced, and is less a pony car and more a sports car.

 

The Challenger is the old badass. The Mustang is the Pony car for all of the world. And the Camaro is a transformer - something the movie studios realize there is an insatiable appetite for. 

Most aren't unless they're buying the V8 versions. Other than that they are usually people who just really like the look of the car.

 

Completely agree. An average test drive will not show off its superior driving characteristics as most dealerships aren't held over race tracks or back road canyons and in that case a softer ride on a test drive will probably sell better..obviously not too soft but again, if you're not buying the V8s in these cars you're likely not the kind of person who wants the stiffest and tightest of chassis. 

[Suaviloquent]

Terrain and Nox seem a bit surprising, given the market. Perhaps a combination of reduced fleet sales and some showing of age is hurting them.

[surreal1272]

Terrain and Nox seem a bit surprising, given the market. Perhaps a combination of reduced fleet sales and some showing of age is hurting them.

Fleet would be a big reason for that I think. I used to see rental Noxs all over the place but not so many today.

[Cmicasa the Great]

Reduced fleet.. industry down 6%.. shorter selling days... and vehicle ramp up of several models along with the death of of a few key models during the build up. I have never seen something like this before. GM starts killing fleet sales.. after years of so called enthusiasts complained about their fleet sales at 30%.. and suddenly they are in dire straits. Talk about damned if U don't.. damned if U do.

 

As to Cadillac's CTS.. They are low on the sales numbers, but the expectation that they wouldn't be in this market is insanely naive. Mid-car luxo was:

 

E-Class 3,699 

5Series 3264

A6 1661

GS 1111

CTS 1082 + XTS 1209 = 2291

[surreal1272]

Reduced fleet.. industry down 6%.. shorter selling days... and vehicle ramp up of several models along with the death of of a few key models during the build up. I have never seen something like this before. GM starts killing fleet sales.. after years of so called enthusiasts complained about their fleet sales at 30%.. and suddenly they are in dire straits. Talk about damned if U don't.. damned if U do.

 

As to Cadillac's CTS.. They are low on the sales numbers, but the expectation that they wouldn't be in this market is insanely naive. Mid-car luxo was:

 

E-Class 3,699 

5Series 3264

A6 1661

GS 1111

CTS 1082 + XTS 1209 = 2291

I'm not saying that they are in dire straights because I have known about their retail/fleet strategy for a while and thinks it's the way to go. However, concern was more specific to the Camaro only selling half of what the Stang sold. There's no way that difference is purely in fleet sales on the Mustangs behalf. Just strange to me but I think the reasons have been covered pretty well.

[cp-the-nerd]

Why did you combine the CTS and XTS sales? The XTS is the same size as an Impala, if it should be added to anything, it would be the CT6.

[Suaviloquent]

Close to the same price point across the range, except the V Models.

 

The XT5 had a great start, though it didn't quite cover the decline of the SRX - probably supply being a HUGE issue.

 

But I think the car biz has now peaked for the time being.

[G. David Felt]

+1 to Suav as I agree I think the auto business has peaked and will taper down over the next couple quarters as people are waiting for new product that is promised late 2017 or as a 2018 model.

[Suaviloquent]

Not that really. I think it's more of a prevailing demographics issue. The GEN X'ers have less money than boomers. And Gen Y has less purchasing power than when boomers were of the same age back then.

 

And then the disinterest in motor vehicles.... sales are going to down. And it's going to strike fast and hard.

[ccap41]

^ Plus it's just been so damn high the last year it's inevitably going to drop off somewhere. 

 

If it is going to be in a constant downfall for a few quarters I think companies like BMW and Mercedes with all of their unnecessary models like the GLE Coupe, X6, X4, E Class convertible.. will be hurt the most.

[El Kabong]

I agree that the market as a whole as probably plateaued for now.

As for the Mustang: it would not surprise me in the least if 40% of its sales were fleet. Let's not forget that they have an entire trim level aimed at that segment. The Camaro's sales are fine for now. When the ZL1 arrives they will edge up a bit as well.

[Suaviloquent]

There's nothing really noteworthy as to why the Mustang might be sought after by fleets, but regardless - it's just slightly more practical, and GM probably wants no part of the fleet sales, and is willing to forgo a fair bit of revenue, and as we've seen even profits to do so. And no - Drew said that the Mustangs he sees are often actually the premium models with leather and EcoBoost. So the V6 may be the trim aimed at the fleet customer, but they're not tied to it.

 

But I think Mustang retail sales are still higher than Camaro. But these vehicles are just such a small part of the company's business, I don't think their contribution to profit is nearly as high as any other model line, especially any crossover or truck.

 

And remember, Ford had done a good chunk of fleet deliveries earlier this year. 

[smk4565]

2015 had record sales, things are leveling off and may even drop some, but even if sales drop industry wide 10% this year, they are still more total sales out there than there were in 2010 or 2012.    There were 17.5 million cars sold in 2015, go back to 2009 and that was like 9 or 10 million.  Sales volumes as a total industry are pretty good, important to look at what segments are growing or shirking or what models are losing share.

[Cmicasa the Great]

 

Reduced fleet.. industry down 6%.. shorter selling days... and vehicle ramp up of several models along with the death of of a few key models during the build up. I have never seen something like this before. GM starts killing fleet sales.. after years of so called enthusiasts complained about their fleet sales at 30%.. and suddenly they are in dire straits. Talk about damned if U don't.. damned if U do.

 

As to Cadillac's CTS.. They are low on the sales numbers, but the expectation that they wouldn't be in this market is insanely naive. Mid-car luxo was:

 

E-Class 3,699 

5Series 3264

A6 1661

GS 1111

CTS 1082 + XTS 1209 = 2291

I'm not saying that they are in dire straights because I have known about their retail/fleet strategy for a while and thinks it's the way to go. However, concern was more specific to the Camaro only selling half of what the Stang sold. There's no way that difference is purely in fleet sales on the Mustangs behalf. Just strange to me but I think the reasons have been covered pretty well.

 

 

 

Actually its a real possibility that the Mustang is running 30-40% Fleet. That's about 3000-4000. Interesting thing is that the  Mustang is down 25% in May. I will also say that there are still not a full load of every trim of Camaro on the lots yet.  

[Cmicasa the Great]

Why did you combine the CTS and XTS sales? The XTS is the same size as an Impala, if it should be added to anything, it would be the CT6.

 

Pricing.  have been saying it since 2014 when the new CTS debuted that the price point of each is hurting the other. I say that unless this is GM's strategy. I say it sounds nuts, but it could be a possibility.. The XTS is a product of a huge family of Epsilons. Its sales are not confined to the based model either. I remember reading that the XTS on average was selling at an ATP of $60K. 

[surreal1272]

Reduced fleet.. industry down 6%.. shorter selling days... and vehicle ramp up of several models along with the death of of a few key models during the build up. I have never seen something like this before. GM starts killing fleet sales.. after years of so called enthusiasts complained about their fleet sales at 30%.. and suddenly they are in dire straits. Talk about damned if U don't.. damned if U do.

 

As to Cadillac's CTS.. They are low on the sales numbers, but the expectation that they wouldn't be in this market is insanely naive. Mid-car luxo was:

 

E-Class 3,699 

5Series 3264

A6 1661

GS 1111

CTS 1082 + XTS 1209 = 2291

I'm not saying that they are in dire straights because I have known about their retail/fleet strategy for a while and thinks it's the way to go. However, concern was more specific to the Camaro only selling half of what the Stang sold. There's no way that difference is purely in fleet sales on the Mustangs behalf. Just strange to me but I think the reasons have been covered pretty well.

 

 

Actually its a real possibility that the Mustang is running 30-40% Fleet. That's about 3000-4000. Interesting thing is that the  Mustang is down 25% in May. I will also say that there are still not a full load of every trim of Camaro on the lots yet.

If they do not have all the trims out on the lots, eight month after the car came out, then that is a serious fail on GMs part. That should not happen.

[Suaviloquent]

Hey maybe they have a supplier shortage - like they said about the Japanese earthquakes - which would affect many automakers, and may explain a lot of declines seen in many automakers. 

 

Toyota actually had a steel plant explosion - not related to the earthquakes tho.

[daves87rs]

2015 had record sales, things are leveling off and may even drop some, but even if sales drop industry wide 10% this year, they are still more total sales out there than there were in 2010 or 2012.    There were 17.5 million cars sold in 2015, go back to 2009 and that was like 9 or 10 million.  Sales volumes as a total industry are pretty good, important to look at what segments are growing or shirking or what models are losing share.

 

 

Some truth to this....more of an out of the box look here....

 

 

I'm expecting car sales as a whole to start dropping quite soon....for one (and a big one)-it is an election year- and people are scared right now in what is going to happen. Yeah, we could argue about the past- but right now it is a big deal. and questions about the ecomony as  well.....

 

 

Thinking many outside factors here....

[El Kabong]

Lovin the downvotes for some pretty plausible assumptions.

Ford's fleet deliveries are just shy of 40%.

Ford sold roughly 10,000 Mustangs last month.

Ford's V6 model is indeed intended primarily for fleet. C/D has explicitly stated it, and likely

Others have as well. So it's not unreasonable to think that the Mustang's fleet percentage is in line with Dearborn's as a whole.

All of a sudden, the sales lead doesn't look like America has turned wholeheartedly to the Stang, does it?

But by all means, keep me laughing :D

Edited June 3, 2016 by El Kabong

[El Kabong]

Children, children...

[Suaviloquent]

How are Camaro sales fine if the excuses has to be made inventory is insufficient?  Especially in it's eight month of sales... And if it's tied to a shortage of parts, why is this something that GM did not foresee - knowing full well how a new Camaro would do...especially in it's eight month of sales!

 

And no. Ford's fleet sales in May were actually right at around 30%.  Ford said that it's fleet sales would taper off after Q1.  Also, rental are only 15% of sales. With that bearing in mind, many of the same vehicles sold as commercial fleets, such as transits and F150s, also end up as daily rentals. Some cars, like the Taurus and Fiesta have a bigger contribution to rentals than Focus, Escape or Fusion.

 

And the Mustang has been out longer than the Camaro for one whole more model year, and the GT350 isn't a high volume seller at all. Everyone was expecting Mustang to go down, and it did. But they were also expecting the Camaro to come up.

 

Realistically, the Mustang fleet sales percentage could be between 20 to 30%. So you're way off that mark, and it puts the Mustang and Camaro on equal footing. Ford also sells the Mustang overseas, and they're facing supply shortages over there too. This doubles the volume of the Mustang, which means the car is actually quite profitable on these high volumes per unit.

[Suaviloquent]

Children, children...

 

[El Kabong]

Another place I post in had the percentage at 37% last month. I'm not going to bother digging up the link because I don't really care that much. So for sake of argument, it's actually 30%. So they sold about 6,500 units to actual humans. I'm fine with that. It's an orphan platform, it needs to earn its keep all by itself. That's not a problem GM has with the Camaro. The ZL1 will probably edge that number up a bit, but as I've said elsewhere, this is just a battle in a larger sales war-a war that GM is winning despite basically giving Ford carte blanche in the fleet market.

Children, children...

 

...and their guardians are even worse

[Cmicasa the Great]

Close to the same price point across the range, except the V Models.

 

The XT5 had a great start, though it didn't quite cover the decline of the SRX - probably supply being a HUGE issue.

 

But I think the car biz has now peaked for the time being.

To my dismay they killed production of the Srx months ago instead of just changing the name to XT3, giving it a quick styling update, and dropping the price by a few thousand. At the same time.. XT5 production is just ramping up

[surreal1272]

Lovin the downvotes for some pretty plausible assumptions.

Ford's fleet deliveries are just shy of 40%.

Ford sold roughly 10,000 Mustangs last month.

Ford's V6 model is indeed intended primarily for fleet. C/D has explicitly stated it, and likely

Others have as well. So it's not unreasonable to think that the Mustang's fleet percentage is in line with Dearborn's as a whole.

All of a sudden, the sales lead doesn't look like America has turned wholeheartedly to the Stang, does it?

But by all means, keep me laughing :D

Maybe the down votes (which you are way too obsessed with lately) are because you keep throwing out numbers about fleet with no proof to back it up.

[ccap41]

^ speaking of which... Where do people get their fleet sale numbers from? Are they released somewhere yet people just guess at the %? Or are people really just taking a wicked shot in the dark for the sake of "superiority"? 

[FordCosworth]

DETROIT -- General Motors, which has seen its U.S. market share fall faster than any other automaker through the first five months of the year, is hitting back with multiple June promotions and marketing plays for its core Chevrolet brand.

 

In a message sent to Chevy dealers Wednesday, Chevy U.S. chief Brian Sweeney acknowledged that May “did not deliver the result we planned for.” GM’s 18 percent slide, which it blamed on a planned pullback in rental sales and lost production stemming from the April earthquake in Japan, knocked its May market share to within half a point of rival Ford, and cut into retail share for GM and the Chevy brand.

 

Read more...

 

http://www.autonews.com/article/20160602/RETAIL01/160609959/gm-boosts-chevy-incentives-after-may-jolt?cciid=email-autonews-blast

Edited June 3, 2016 by FordCosworth

[El Kabong]

The downvotes aren't just about me not caring to provide links for fleet percentages. It's more a generalized childishness.

And yes, GM is rolling out incentives for two transitional models, two fuel-sippers, and the Impala.

Yeesh

[G. David Felt]

Who cares about fleet sales, I would rather have a profitable GM with "I Want Product" than one driven by needing fleet sales.

[El Kabong]

Who cares about fleet sales, I would rather have a profitable GM with "I Want Product" than one driven by needing fleet sales.

Stop with that heresy, they'll downvote you into oblivion as long as they can take their fingers out of their ears to do it.

It is true though. Automakers MAKE AUTOS. That is their whole raison d'être. And given a choice between selling retail to people or selling cheaper by the dozen to bots, it's always better for the product to go with the former route. You get customer feedback which allows you to make better autos, which in turn engenders brand loyalty. Both good things. Pandering to fleets just lets you build cheaper by the dozen for a longer time, which hinders product evolution and erodes resale value for your paying customers.

It ain't rocket science. And I've witnessed both firsthand.

Edited June 3, 2016 by El Kabong

[surreal1272]

DETROIT -- General Motors, which has seen its U.S. market share fall faster than any other automaker through the first five months of the year, is hitting back with multiple June promotions and marketing plays for its core Chevrolet brand.

In a message sent to Chevy dealers Wednesday, Chevy U.S. chief Brian Sweeney acknowledged that May “did not deliver the result we planned for.” GM’s 18 percent slide, which it blamed on a planned pullback in rental sales and lost production stemming from the April earthquake in Japan, knocked its May market share to within half a point of rival Ford, and cut into retail share for GM and the Chevy brand.

Read more...

http://www.autonews.com/article/20160602/RETAIL01/160609959/gm-boosts-chevy-incentives-after-may-jolt?cciid=email-autonews-blast

So an explanation is given for the decline, of which just about every manufacturer had, and you still feel the need to troll that fact? It's even confirmed in the very snippet of info you copy and pasted.

Just seems a little redundant and trollish.

The downvotes aren't just about me not caring to provide links for fleet percentages. It's more a generalized childishness.

And yes, GM is rolling out incentives for two transitional models, two fuel-sippers, and the Impala.

Yeesh

Umm, no it's not. You can't just throw out whitewashed numbers, like that is the be all end all to one specific car, and then act like you are not at fault for NOT providing at least a little evidence to back up your claim. Your explanation is what comes off as childish as a result. Edited June 3, 2016 by surreal1272

[FordCosworth]

 

 

DETROIT -- General Motors, which has seen its U.S. market share fall faster than any other automaker through the first five months of the year, is hitting back with multiple June promotions and marketing plays for its core Chevrolet brand.

In a message sent to Chevy dealers Wednesday, Chevy U.S. chief Brian Sweeney acknowledged that May “did not deliver the result we planned for.” GM’s 18 percent slide, which it blamed on a planned pullback in rental sales and lost production stemming from the April earthquake in Japan, knocked its May market share to within half a point of rival Ford, and cut into retail share for GM and the Chevy brand.

Read more...

http://www.autonews.com/article/20160602/RETAIL01/160609959/gm-boosts-chevy-incentives-after-may-jolt?cciid=email-autonews-blast

So an explanation is given for the decline, of which just about every manufacturer had, and you still feel the need to troll that fact? It's even confirmed in the very snippet of info you copy and pasted.

Just seems a little redundant and trollish.

The downvotes aren't just about me not caring to provide links for fleet percentages. It's more a generalized childishness.

And yes, GM is rolling out incentives for two transitional models, two fuel-sippers, and the Impala.

Yeesh

Umm, no it's not. You can't just throw out whitewashed numbers, like that is the be all end all to one specific car, and then act like you are not at fault for NOT providing at least a little evidence to back up your claim. Your explanation is what comes off as childish as a result.

 

 

 

Thanks for your approval of my post.