G8 ST Dead
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 2,979
I just don't... regardless of the badge you put on it, it costs virtually the same amount of investment to build the car from a clean sheet (or somewhat clean in this case).
Put an arrow on it... sell 30,000.
Put a bowtie on it... sell 60,000.
Easy-peasy.
Chevrolet.
Cadillac.
GMC + Buick.
There's the way forward. Buick only lives because they're popular in China. Otherwise, I'd "Old Yeller" 'em in a heartbeat. GMC only lives because GMT-900 can support the volume to tool up new badges and slap them on what are fundamentally Chevrolets.
Save all that money spent on making iterations of the same platform for Pontiac and/or Saturn and plow it into making the CHEVROLET a better car.
Put an arrow on it... sell 30,000.
Put a bowtie on it... sell 60,000.
Easy-peasy.
Chevrolet.
Cadillac.
GMC + Buick.
There's the way forward. Buick only lives because they're popular in China. Otherwise, I'd "Old Yeller" 'em in a heartbeat. GMC only lives because GMT-900 can support the volume to tool up new badges and slap them on what are fundamentally Chevrolets.
Save all that money spent on making iterations of the same platform for Pontiac and/or Saturn and plow it into making the CHEVROLET a better car.
Last edited by PacerX; Jan 8, 2009 at 07:19 AM.
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 4,600
From: Pewee Valley, KY
FWIW you can drop the ST part of the same argument if you are asking why the G8 wasn't a Chevy.
Now if we are asking about the future (like say once the Oshawa line is up and running and about a future RWD sedan (G8 or Impala) this argurment is completely null and void because there is a LOT of capacity that will be left sitting open once that plant is able to build Zetas.
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 2,979
Simply put the plant that makes the G8/G8 ST/VE cars doesn't have the available capacity for 60k additional cars. It doesn't have 30k additional car capacity but it does likely have 10k additional capacity (what the G8 ST might have been able to top out at. So you could badge it a G8 ST and have demand come close to reaching capacity or a El Camino and have demand way above supply.
Demand will exceed capacity. For the manufacturer, that's a BEAUTIFUL THING.
Why?
Because then you get to charge a premium for it. The best way to do that? Jack up the content.
Heck, you can even advertise it.
"ALL El Caminos now come with Nav standard!!!!"
"ALL El Caminos now come with heated seats!!!"
"All El Caminos now come with AWD, standard!!!"
The individual features aren't really the issue - the marketing guys can work that out. The issue is supplying a given demand properly. Meaning, supplying UNDER what the demand is so that you can charge a premium.
This is the core problem with Solstice and Sky now. The demand has tanked, and the car is still around - I would submit that adding the Sky to the line up actually HURT GM by diluting the demand.
Had it had a Bowtie and there been no Solstice or Sky, you could still have sold more, built a better car (1 less iteration to tool... plow that money back into the car...), and made more money on a per unit basis because you would not have over-supplied relative to demand nearly as quickly.
GM has to begin to understand that demand equation to increase profitability. Pontiac and Saturn are ultimately forcing them to build multiple iterations of basically same car, at the same price point, but with MORE investment and lower profitability per car because they are over-saturating the market... and doing it to themselves...
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 16,176
From: Chicagoland IL
"ALL El Caminos now come with 8-track!!!!"
"ALL El Caminos now come with tow hitch!!!"
GM has to begin to understand that demand equation to increase profitability. Pontiac and Saturn are ultimately forcing them to build multiple iterations of basically same car, at the same price point, but with MORE investment and lower profitability per car because they are over-saturating the market... and doing it to themselves...
This is the big take-away here. Imagine taking the cash spent on Aura and G6 and folding it into Malibu. Holy crap!
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 3,597
From: oshawa,ontario,canada
Registered User
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 3,597
From: oshawa,ontario,canada
but at the time it was a "fast and cheap" way to get pontiac some unique product.
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 2,979
Please splain why sales numbers are the end all and be all of this industry.
Here's a hint:
They aren't.
Profitability is what matters, particularly on a per unit basis.
GM needs to relearn this lesson in light of their current market share. They've got to make a better car, with higher demand, un-clutter the very market they themselves clutter up, and sell them at a higher per unit profit through fewer and more profitable dealers.
Here's a hint:
They aren't.
Profitability is what matters, particularly on a per unit basis.
GM needs to relearn this lesson in light of their current market share. They've got to make a better car, with higher demand, un-clutter the very market they themselves clutter up, and sell them at a higher per unit profit through fewer and more profitable dealers.
Registered User
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 3,597
From: oshawa,ontario,canada
Please splain why sales numbers are the end all and be all of this industry.
Here's a hint:
They aren't.
Profitability is what matters, particularly on a per unit basis.
GM needs to relearn this lesson in light of their current market share. They've got to make a better car, with higher demand, un-clutter the very market they themselves clutter up, and sell them at a higher per unit profit through fewer and more profitable dealers.
Here's a hint:
They aren't.
Profitability is what matters, particularly on a per unit basis.
GM needs to relearn this lesson in light of their current market share. They've got to make a better car, with higher demand, un-clutter the very market they themselves clutter up, and sell them at a higher per unit profit through fewer and more profitable dealers.
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 4,600
From: Pewee Valley, KY
