Good job Lutz

Throw in the Sky and GM is kicking butt.

So what? That does mean they will automatically sell more. In my area Pontiac to Mazda dealerships are about a 1.2 to 1 ratio. Mazda dealers out number Saturns by 5 to 1 in my metro area.

 

This seems amazing to me since ALL Solstices I have seen on the lots have atleast a $4,000 ~ 5,000 (+) markup.

The fact that the car is selling this well with a 20 ~ 25% markup is crazy.

Simply imagine what the Solstice will do when dealers let them sell at sticker?!?!?

 

Sometimes, the better car isn't the one that sells or is the one that is declared the winner in a comparison. Take the new GTO for example, and the infamous "Gotta Have it Factor" incident.

 

aside from the pop up headlights, thats exactly what Im telling you. It progressed but esentially it is a very similar looking car.

Vette and Viper are exactly the way it should be done. Of course its going to be redesigned, but needs to retain those ques like you said. When I hear total redesign I think throwing everything out which has been known to happen...

 

but to say its not redesigned cus it looks the same.
Maybee I am no getting what you mean here. but its almost like taking the 67 mustang and the 05 stang..they are asentially the same car...but you pull them apart and they are diffrent from every nut and bolt. Same thing for the miata..same thing..you pull those tow cars apart they are totally diffrent. But they look the same. A refreshining is just changing some things. like the 98 stangs to the 99's..from soft lines to edgy..

 

Wait til they release the mazda Kabura.

 

Maybe its because I dont know the terms. I said "full redesign" or Total redesign which in my mind at least is like going from a 69 to a 70 Camaro or a 81 to an 82 Camaro. Im talking strictly style. Yes the 67 and the 05 Mustang do not share one bolt, but you sit Steve McQueen in the 05 and hed be right at home. It would be unlikely he would have to ask you what it is. The same would hold true for the 5th gen or even the Mustang Giugiaro. If you blind folded a first year Miata owner and took it off today they would probably know that the new model was a Miata without having to ask. According to Motor Trend Mazda purposely kept the ques for this reason.

 

I still predict until GM gives the Kappa's some day to day versitility the Miata has .....they may still sell more new GM's , but you will see about 10 times more people trying to sell thier Solstice/Sky within the first 2 years over the Miata . The Kappa's dont really have many faults . But ....the couple that it does have are HUGE . Again ...

 

I don't know why everyone is so defensive about the solstice. It's a fine car. The miata is a better package in almost every way. The gas tank in the middle of the Solstice's trunk is terrible. What do you do if you go on a road trip? Roll up your shirts and stack them around the gas tank like a moat?

Imagine how much better it would sell if it had the same looks, but a better top, more refinement, and more cargo room? GM's going to have to work on these things if they want to turn short term success into long term success. I think they're perfectly capable of making a better car in the second go at it. No need to get all fired up.

 

There, that's all three stylings that the miata has had. It looks like it just evolved from one form to the other to me. No massive styling changes, other than the flared fenders in the third encarnation of the car...well, aside from the non pop-ups in the second body style.
Basically it went from a miata with pop ups to a miata with regular headlights to a miata with regular headlights and flared fenders. Nothing drastic about that.

 

ugly.............................................. ...........still ugly.............................................. ......nice try but still ugly


All this in my humble opinion

 

Any chance GM might try to take the car into Miata turf and sell it in Japan?

 

I can;t believe they sell better than the Sky but that's subjective...

 

Too wide.

In addition to the 'tax' on width, it would also retail for far more than a MX5 (Miata).

Finally, the cost to pass Japan's customs and vehicle import regs vs maybe the few hundred it'd sell per year would make it a financial loss.

 

Wow, I just found past sales #'s and it looks like Miata is down by about 50%
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_Miata

2006 Will be the Mazda Miata worst year ever. They sold 90,000 in 1990 and 40,000 as recent as 2002