http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/s...threadid=26105

 

Why is that such a problem?

Over here, around 70-80% of Commodores and Falcons are sold to fleets. Granted its one car line but the point is that both companies are profitable.

 

It's a big problem because it means that individuals aren't choosing to buy GM cars in large numbers. It means fewer people are "talking" about GM vehicles and suggesting that their friends buy them, etc. Fleet sales deliver much lower profit and can sometimes harm resale values. Don't get me wrong...fleet sales are better than no sales, but this is definately a big problem for GM.

Also, GM just reported an enormous loss, so I'd hardly call them "profitable."

 

exactly what he said. Fleets sales have very few options and are used for work vehicles or rentals. If you cant sell the cars to the consumer, fleet sales will go away too. Fleets sales are about cheap cars.

 

I have a friend who manages on a Enterprise Rental car branch out here in Southern California and while GM is their biggest supplier he mentioned they're starting to buy more and more Hyundai's for their fleet. He said one of the biggest headaches of the rental car biz is when there is a national recall on a particular car and for legal reasons they can not rent that car out under no circumstances. Only after the car is taken to the dealer and the recalled problem corrected can they put back out on the road, and when you consider that Enterprise can have 1,000's of just one vehicle you can imagine the horror when GM or Hyundai annouces a recall, even if its only a minor thing .

He has also mentioned to me that the Buicks in his fleet are the hardest to rent out and usually they are the last cars on the lot on a busy weekend or holiday.

 

Damn! If those numbers are correct, GM is in serious trouble

 

This is a big problem, but something that will be addressed by market forces assuming the general continues to make good strides towards building solid cars.

 

Not so fast..........

You need to define "fleet"....

...daily rental can be a killer because of residuals.....plus other than enterprise, we (the various manufacturers) agree to a certain 'buy back' price.

On the other hand, 'fleet' can also mean huge numbers to companies.........and that's not only profitable, it assists in other sales.

 

Thanks for clarifying that up RP.

For a minute there I thought there was a language barrier between you guys and us Aussies.

'Fleet' sales is sales to the commercial sector... in other words, cars that are leased for business purposes even though they may be actually used privately. All you need to do here is supply an ABN (Australian Business Number) to the dealer and they will give you the 'fleet' discount. The discounted amount depends on the company you work for. A large fleet company will obviously afford you a bigger discount. There's loopholes of course.

So, going back to my original question, how is GM's 39% sales to fleets such a bad idea? Would you all rather Toyota picked up the void?

 

My carfax on my 95 says it was a fleet vehicle for its first year of life. But when some guy bought it in 96, it had 27 miles on it. Im not sure what all tha means, but its not like it was a rental.

(Then it spent 10 years traveling in the Marine Corps. You can follow all of its owner changes from cities that have Marine bases in them. Started in San Diego... Then came up in Yuma, AZ... Then TX, and back to San Diego where I bought it from a Marine buddy of mine. Now we are out of the military... It had 10 years of active duty though. Kinda funny.)

 

I'm not sure why this is an "issue"???

I beleive fleet sales, however you define "fleet" has been a significant part of GM and Ford sales for a long time...I wouldn't consider it a "bad" thing and in fact, most nameplates would be pleased to have them.

 

My work buys a lot of Dodge Rams now. Does all commercial count as fleet? They run those and other state cars into the ground. There is a Chevy 3500 dump trucks from the very early 90's still in use.

We also have a 1992 Ford Tuarus that my dept. uses that we got from the state surplus.

 

often times the retail discount is better then the fleet discount however, but if you purchase more then 4 cars a year i think you are required to do fleet... at least with GM...

 

i mean how long can you preach "Professional Grade" and complian when companys purchase a vehicle?

 

like i said before... any company can purchase vehicles as retail... and recently its been a better deal to puchase retail, due to massive incentives.

although you can only purchase so many vehicles before you will be denied retail rebates...