Has GM released any sale numbers for the 2006 Impala yet? I seem to be seeing them around here as often as the 300s. I did some searching, but was unable to find anything.

thanks
Jeremy

 

MSN just did the "top 10 best sells of 2005" or whatever. it has the impala listed at 246,481 for all of 2005. that obviously includes a lot of the older 2005 models, but at least it doesn't look like there's much of an overall drop from '04. probably even a little growth over last year.

what surprised me was the Malibu was in there at 245,861. that's pretty damn good. I just wonder how many of those are fleet sales though.

 

January's figures aren't out yet (of course), but here's some 2006 Impala numbers:

December, Impala sold 22,186 versus 28,380 the year before.

November, it was 23,057 vs 19,488 the previous November.

October, 18,959 vs 22,939.

Best thing you can say about the sales of the 2006 Impala over the 2005 so far is that at least it isn't a disaster. The 7 year old 2005 Impala so far is outselling the new 2006.

I would think that better deals late 2004 is the reason, but GM has the even bigger "Employee Pricing Program" this past fall, so I don't think that's the problem.

 

I would wait for the yearly sales numbers to make a full comparison. I never really thought the month-month comparison is a very effective test.

 

I posted something like this in another thread.

The new Impala has an exponentially better interior than the one it replaces, It has new and arguably, better powertrains, including a lusty V8. It has new added features. A yet it still doesn't outsell the old as dirt, previous car.

The reason? I say styling. The old car was definitely a Chevy. Four round tail lights. Fender swishes. Muscular shoulders. You could see Chevy cues all over it. Damnit, it looked like a Chevy. The new car has completely retreated from all that. It is FAR less bold. It makes much less of a statement. Someone at GM was feeling very timid and insecure when they signed off on the design,

Is it a Chevy? Or could it be a Toyota/Nissan/Honda/Ford? At 100 ft, I need to take a second look sometime, just to be sure.

 

The reason the new Impala is not outselling the 05 is simple.

The rebates and incentive programs aren't there like they were last year.

And the lease deals are horrendous. The transaction prices are much higher now even with the lower stickers.

Just because the sticker price has been lowered, doesn't mean the actual selling price is better. Without the rebates, prices are higher, and less cars are being sold.

It's nice that they lowered the MSRP's and all..... but the actual purchase and/or lease prices on basically all the models are way higher right now.

I just looked at a TrailBlazer SS lease. I can now get out of my GTO lease, I was unable to until a few weeks ago, without paying a mint to get out. Anyway, a 24month/24,000 mile lease on a TrailBlazer is $80 more, yes eighty dollars more per month than it was just a few weeks ago on the same vehicle.

Now...... not a lot of people are going to go for that.

 

And to make a comparision directly with the Impala:

While getting pricing on the TBSS, I also had a same-term lease done up on an Impala SS and also an Avalanche Z71.

The TrailBlazer ($39k MSRP) and the Impala SS ($31k MSRP) both had lease pricing within $10 of each other per month!

And the $44k MSRP Avalanche..... was $20 per month CHEAPER than the TBSS or the Impala SS.

 

I agree. I thought the old Impy was good looking family car, but the new one is just so bland and generic. Yes it's better in some ways, but with its lack of styling I couldn't see one parked in my driveway.

Maybe it's just my opinion, but lately GM seems to be replacing too many of their cars with less attractive versions, even if they're functionally better:
- Impala
- Grand Prix
- Silverado
- Malibu
- Lacrosse
- Corvette

 

That means that the Avalanche is expected to have a higher residual than the other two. Or they want to move Avalanches so they are artificially inflating the residual in order to lower the monthly payments.

I am leasing my Ion for $125.97 per month, for 2 years, 18k per year. That was with $600 paid at signing (basically the trade for my old 150k mile SL2 that needed some maint. work done). Sticker price on it was ~$162xx; at the end of the two years, I'll have paid $3500 toward the car (and I can get some back, because I bought extra miles from 15k to 18k per year; if I don't use them, I get it back). This car will not be worth $13k with 36k miles on it in March of '07, when the lease is up. So instead of a rebate up front, they will likely eat some money at the back end of the lease. They play with the numbers all the time.

 

Yes, I agree... but there are some other parts to this scenario.

The Avalanche is basically on the "old" rebate program, where the Impala and the TrailBlazer are on the reduced MSRP "Value Promise" program.

Yes, they lowered Avalanche's MSRP, but only by a whopping $100, just to be able to count it as one more model they can say they reduced.

They are trying to move through the full size GMT-800's to build them out and make room for the new GMT-900's...

However, I had actually priced out leases for all three vehicles (Impala SS, TBSS, and AvZ71) prior to the MSRP reductions, and then had the same exact vehicles repriced after the MSRP reductions.

The Avalanche pricing stayed almost exactly the same... the Impala and the TB shot WAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY up.

The only reason I was still on the sidelines before, like I mentioned earlier, was that it wasn't cost effective to get out of the GTO lease... it is now...... but I won't bite on these deals (unless I decide on the Avalanche)

 

Does anyone have any information about the average transaction price of the old vs. the new Impala?

After all, it's not how many you sell but how much money you make/lose on each one you do. I'd rather sell less and make a profit on each with a higher price then sell more and lose money. Anytime the average transaction price rises (which it will with less rebates and we know it had to since they were losing money offering too much off prior) the amount sold will go down.

I like the old Impala look in police trim better (they just look meaner), but as an everyday car, I think the new one looks a little nicer. Personally I notice them on the street a little more then I do the old ones.

Chris

 

Gotta agree with Z284ever and R377. The old car was my fav of the Impys. It definately looked like a Chevy while the new one could be mistaken for any other import at 50ft or more away.

 

that's a GOOD thing. why anyone would want GM to continue building cars with tacky styling and 3 inch fender gaps is beyond me. the "it looks like a chevy" look just screams backward american car to the import buyer (same as the TB, GMT-800s, GP, Colorado, etc). the old one looks like it was clobbered together (tho of course, it ISN'T). in contrast, the new one looks SOLID. there's outward appearance of progress.

it's like saying "the LT1 was better" when the LS1 beat it in ALL possible ways that count. but it didn't "feel" faster...

if anything is holding back sales, its the "value pricing". at one point GM was offering 4k off sticker as a given, plus regional/seasonal promotions ON TOP OF THAT. if all they did was reduce the MSRP by 2k and got rid of other promotions, then of course an extra 2-3k will make the buying public think twice.

i'd say the newer one is selling well despite the higher overal transaction price. then again, considering the overhaul, i'd say it's worth it. where I would never consider buying the "old" one, I could justify the added cost of the new one because its just plain better.

 

Well, maybe it wasn't put together as well, but it still looked different enough to stand out in a boring segment without going too radical.
If I was ever in the market for such a car, I'd be picking up a used 97-05 just for the styling alone.
JMHO

 

I have to agree with both of them as well. Though I was no fan of the old Impala's front end, I too think the new one is too genaric. Just like the new Malibu, it seems GM replaced a borderline ugly (but unique) front end with one that looks like it came off a 3 year old Honda.

The old Impala interior is no contest to the new one. The side view of the new one IMO looks better as well. The rear looks very good, but unless it's Chevy's new design language (the Malibu and Cobalt's rear is similar) looks nothing like a Chevy. Plus, with Impy's narrow width and tall height, the new rear makes the car's proportions look tall and skinny.