Add this to the "Believe It or Not" file:

http://www.bonforums.com/sales/sales...ysis090302.htm

GM's best selling car is still the Cavalier (#3 overall), GrandAm (#5).

Keep in mind the list also includes each BRAND's best selling car, so there are no figures for Impalas, Mustangs, or any other car other than the brand's best seller.

 

EDIT (read the chart wrong)

Still not too surprising... although I thought Chevy would be slightly higher than Toyota.



[This message has been edited by Ken S (edited September 03, 2002).]

 

Although Truck sales are not factored in. Even saying that, it is still disappointing and shows where Chevy's focus should be.

 

Profit is the bottom line... TRUCKS are high profit... and that is where GM leads. GM is the lowest-cost producer of the big three and is the most profitable.

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Sunset Orange Met. 2002 Trans Am, DF Lid, FRA, K&N | DFGreen 98 GTP, Insulated SLP K&N, !U!Res, 3.5 Pulley, transcooler
| Brilliant Red Metallic 1990 IROC-Z Camaro, K&N, Camaro SS takeoff muffler | NBM 99 Formula, SOLD in Aug. 02.

 

Scary thought - Toyota doesn't depend on Fleet sales to meet those numbers! Actual people buy most of those cars! Often, without incentives! (consider that over 50% of Malibu sales are to fleets). They have also managed to convince growing numbers of people that a Toyota made in Kentucky(?) is an American Car! The high profit from trucks is disappearing with market saturation and increased competition. The big 3 are all scared ****less right now because the profits are gradually eroding for trucks and they are getting creamed in the car market - on the low end by the Koreans, in the middle by the Japanese and the high end by the Germans. Big 3 market share is at an all time low. Now they are talking about how they are giving "CARS" their number one priority (great, seeing as they ignored them for the last 10 years. ). They've got their work cut out for them. The Toyota juggernaut will not be easily stopped - and they make great trucks. I think the car market is going to be a bloodbath in a few years. As the largest automaker, GM has the muscle, it has the know how - and maybe now the GUTS (or is it LUTZ) to play the game - but will it?


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If it breaks, it wasn't high performance enough.

2001 Mustang Bullitt GT
2000 Jetta M5

[This message has been edited by WERM (edited September 03, 2002).]

 

I agree with BigDarknFast, passenger cars are irrelevant in the current equation. Moreover, if the CAFE standards were repealed you would see the loss leading Cavalier disappear in a flash - they lose $2,000 per car! From the point of view of profits, only trucks and SUVs really matter.

 

Hyundai out sold Saturn. That is Sad. GM needs to help that division. The new Ion looks cool. the needs a high power I4 to get the ricers into then.

 

Just imagine how much better off GM would have been if they hadn't neglected their small car for so long.

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-Joshua
1997 Bright Red Trans Am WS6 M6
I was thinking dagger. -Steve Nash

 

You got that right.

 

Toyota actually does a fair amount of Fleet sales. Way more than Honda (virtually no Fleet)does. They had to do a significant fleet sale at a discount to capture the #1 selling car title for the Camry few years back.

 

I take everything from that tabloid BON with a grain of salt, but the numbers seem about right.



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Jason

<A HREF="http://camaroz28.cardomain.com/id/munche" TARGET=_blank>1997 A4 Z28 "Mongoose"
</A>

<A HREF="http://www.iz-us.com/images/cars/cougar/" TARGET=_blank>New Project: 1969 Mercury Cougar 351W
</A>

 

Wait a minute... if they lose $2000 on every Cavalier sold, and if they sold 156,015 of them, that's a total loss of $312,030,000 on just one model! That can't be right.

The penalty for not meeting CAFE can't be that high

 

Sounds extreme till one consider's how much is made on trucks & those over $30,000 cars.

 

Just to clarify guys, I do not believe passenger cars are irrelevant for making profit... it's just that there is logic in GM's emphasis on trucks and SUV's, since they are typically higher profit vehicles than cars. Plus GM has historically had difficulty competing with import brands which excel at low-cost production of high quality passenger cars, like Toyota and Honda. However I believe that is slowly changing. This will especially be true for large cars and muscle/sporty cars.