I am friends with the GM of the largest Chevy dealer in Baltimore. Chevy is also the best selling brand in Baltimore, so this guy does some volume. We had a discussion about the next Chevy's and he had alot to say..some of which I never thought of. This guy deals...if there is any chance he can get you in a car...he will..even making $50. I know we tend here to be rate dealers...but we also have to remember..they are the guys on the front lines. they are the ones who see peoples reactions to cars...and why some sell and some don't Here is the cliff notes version of the story.

-New Malibu is selling well..the Maxx is doing "dreadful". He says people come in thinking the Maxx is an AWD Subaru type wagon..and are disappointed when they find it is just a "Malibu wagon". Looks are not a Malibu strong point...and the Maxx just magifies that. Also, some of it's key selling points make no sense. Alot of people buying Maibus are doing so because they are so heavily discounted. In other words...if it weren't for the rebates they would be in Cavaliers. Some of the Maxx's selling points don't work with this group...such as the DVD system.

-The Venture simply did not sell. He said at the end of the 03 Model year he had 90 Ventures in stock. Ine 2004 he hasn't orded a single 04 Venture and is still selling 03's. Keep in mind...largest dealer in Baltimore area.

-Just saying SSR makes him want to cringe. He had 3 sitting in the showroom floor...and no one seems to really care. Salesman lean against them...parents let there kids play in them while they look at other cars. He complained that they stopped generating traffic a few months back...and now the only traffic they get are people wanting 05's. He is not sure if they will order them though because the owner cringes if you even mention it.

-He said the Equinox is doing well. The first month it was out it had a $1K rebate on it...they sold everyone they got. The second month GM took away the rebate...and people started literally refusing to buy them just because they had no rebate. The next month they put the $1K rebate back, and all is well again...

-His C5's will all have $10K markups until they see a reason to remove it. Looking at it from a business perspective...could you blame him?

That's all for now...

 

I can unsderstand and agree everthing he's saying.

I too am really dissapointed with the MAlibu MAxx. I think the new malibu is really ugly and the Maxx is even uglier. But whne you dont gove it and really "good goodies" whats the point of buying that turd.

 

I suspect the SSR is location sensitive. I don't believe dealers here in Cali have much problem selling them. They don't fly off showrooms like 300s, but they don't exactly gather dust on the lot either.

I have no doubts whatsoever that the Malibu isn't doing well, and the Malibu Maxx is a flop. I hardly ever see a new Malibu on the streets, and I have yet to see one single Maxx outside the showroom.... not one. Heck, I even see at least 1 GTO on the road per week now.

I know the Equinox has to be doing well. Not only is a a good looking rig inside & out, it's priced decently. But you do bring up one good point...rebates.

I feel GM screwed the pooch when they went on a mad dash for market share and tried to wreck their competition when they started jacking up incentives into the stratosphere (this came well after their keep America buying campaign post 9-11).

After all that, what did GM get out of that? Ford's clearing more cash in profits than GM, Chrysler's gained market share against GM, and for all that improvement in materials and quality GM has achieved, the public still thinks of GM as the K-Mart of the auto industry. Good products, but who shops at K-Mart for good products?

I think GM opened up a Pandora's Box with their cut-throat incentives. It may have seemed like a good idea at the time, it's just that now the whole scheme is begining to seem like it's backfired.

 

Law of supply and demand. I think marking them up like that sucks, but dealers are in the business of making money, not making internet jockeys happy.

 

i've actually seen a couple of malibu maxx's around here and while i don't think they look all that great, they're atleast selling some around here

 

Sad thing is we will never know...since Chevy will only report Malibu sales a whole. I think they are rather ugly myself. I would rather have boring, or even polarizing like the CTS. I have yet to see a person who likes the malibu on looks alone.

 

Around here, there are tons of Malibu's and I would say that about 1/3 are Maxx's. I wish they would have made them more sporty looking, but so does just about everyone else.

 

GM needs to stop styling these volume cars for AVIS and then trying to sell them to US. AVIS doesn't care what they look like, WE DO. AVIS will buy whatever GM makes.

I mean, they PAID MONEY to covert the OPEL ASTRA into the Malibu??!!?

 

New Malibu sells well here.

Maxx sells decent too, at leats Ive seen more than a few on the road.

Equinox, while I see them, is not seen as often as I would have thought... probably due to the fact that the massive TrailBlazer rebates price the TB right down to the Equinox which have fairly light rebates.

Ventures? They are liek the proverbial a-holes... EVERYONE has them around here.

SSR's? Ive seen a few... not a ton, but then again, this isnt a car you are gonna see everyday, is it?

 

That car looks way better than the malibu

 

As our martian friend tells us all the time...just because you see 4 Camaro's on your block does not mean they are selling well. Also, you live in a GM plant town (I think)....so there are probaly a higher percentage of GM vehicles

 

I liked the Malibu Maxx on its looks... I see a LOT of Malibus around now. Its starting to become the new "Grand Prix" or "CTS" around here.
Look up any review of the Maxx, and they praise it for what it offers over a regular sedan. Cant wait for the 3.9 to come in. I love my Maxx. It might not have a Hemi, but its an awesome car for a young guy like me.

 

I guess it depends...

While I definetely agree with your comment on the mark ups , around here, it's not too uncommon to see 10K rebates on the remaining C5's. I guess they are making room for the C6. Which, in turn, around here have $10K+ mark up.

TS

 

Up here in importland I have seen only a couple malibus, one maxx. I have seen one silv. SS, one nox, a handfull of aveos and not 1 GTO or SSR.

 

Odd. You'd think the Venture would be selling pretty well. Even here in Ameri-Germany, There are Ventures and Montana's EVERYWHERE. I can't drive to work without seeing at least two, and work is only 1 Mile from where I live!

Perhaps everyone owns used Ventures and such. They fall in price quick once used. Us poor military people can't afford a Super Duper Town & Country.