So is GM concerned about low sales, or the fact the my local dealer has 3 of them sitting out in the snow bank not any indication than the sales are lacking?

Does anyone actually know what the current sales figures are?

 

"IF" the GTO doesnt sell as expected ....( cars that dont sell generally dont have a 4 month waiting period ) it will be purely the greedy arrogant dealers fault . Not all dealers are like , and the ones that dont gouge prices and have great customer relations ...I bet , can't keep enuff GTO's in stock .

The sales of the GTO is not a very good indication for GM to use as far as decision making goes and future products and chryslers comment on the coupe market being dead are ridiculous . How bout we add up the sales of the volume 2 door cars , then tell me theres no market . There IS a market , below $30K .

-Ford Mustang ...sales are STILL strong
-Chevy Cavalier ....before you laugh look at how many 2 door
cav's are sold ....and the Cobalt should do better by far .
Honda Civic coupe
Honda Accord coupe

People buy the absolute hell outa all those cars listed above , why ...because they all pack alot of value and their AFFORDABLE to most of the population who cant go plunk $35K plus on a new G35 , 350Z , GTO , Vette ect , ect .

 

The GTO hasn't even been out 3 months..come back in a year with a 4 month waiting list AFTER the mustang has been out a little while, and remember, your talking 20k units as compared to 200k units. Lets also see the GTO's msrp with some of the new stuff they want to do to it. The aussie $ is going up and the US $ is going down, it may not be pretty.

 

Woulda', coulda', shoulda'...
As we know, the problem lies in the fact that to pass federal crash testing, the fuel tank had to be moved. This dramatically reduced trunk space.

It gets worse...
Ford announced that the '05 Mustang will have approximately 15% more cargo capacity than the current cars, plus the rear seating accomodations have be significantly increased.
S.

 

Wow.
Here you go again...and this is your modus operandi.
Where...exactly...did I comment that the GTO would be a sales flop?

Is this another case of you attributing comments to me that I did not make?

S.

 

I think he was asking you if you thought it would be a flop, not saying you said it would be.


Sorry, just noticed his post was edited.

 

I agree..I thought that was what question marks meant.

Now as for it being a sales flop, Its really hard not to sell 20k units of a RWD LS1 with the GTO name. I think 20k units itself could be construed a sales flop considering they sold more LS1 f-bodies. I think it will be considered a flop if at any time they have a problem selling these cars. There should always be a demand for this car, and there is a chance of that demand going down because of a high sticker price and a body style that most are not impressed with.

 

I think that body style grew on people in the early 90's. You don't hear people saying it looks like (the already outdated) Grand am/prix for nothing. There is nothing in that styling that screams 2004, let alone say 2007 when the car will only be 3 years old.

 

A sales flop?
Judge for yourself...
Pontiac has sold 1,161 GTO's in the US (79 in December, 476 in January and 606 in February).
Annualized, they're on track to sell 6k this year.
Also, it's mid-March. The 2004 model year is nearly half over already.
S.

 

The car just started rolling out... there have been few on the dealer lots.

Now that there are finally a few here and there, the dealer's are still trying to get sticker price, or worse... once that fades away, sales will pick up just fine.

This happens for just about any new car... bvut especially ones where dealers want to overcharge.

 

Far be it from me (labeled a "GTO hater" by Ude- lose ) to decide.
I merely presented completely objective data.
Draw your own conclusions.
S.

 

I would have to disagree on that. Most TOTALLY new cars sell like hotcakes if it's:

1) Priced reasonably
2) Looks good
3) Unique/Limited

The GTO definitely qualifies for two out of three here. And where there isn't a dealer markup, then three. However, considering how many people see these sitting ON DEALER LOTS, I have to wonder what's going on?!

It's plausible to me that:

1) People don't want to pay that much for an American car (I know it's built by Holden, but they probably don't know that)
2) Feel they are getting a better deal on a RWD Lexus or Infiniti
3) Just don't like it for whatever reasons they have

Personally I think it's a cool car and wouldn't mind having one, but I wouldn't BUY it. I don't like how much it weighs. I know some have said that it' ONLY 100 lbs more than a 2003/2004 Cobra, but I don't like how much it weighs either. I have other cars in mind that I want.

 

You need to put things in perspective here... some people are making it seem like there are 50 GTO's languishing on their dealer's lots for a year to try to exaggerate things.

More likely , they have had ONE GTO in the SHOWROOM and are trying to get sticker or more for it. They dont care so much if it sells, because just having one generates some showroom traffic...

MOST people will not pay sticker or more for any car... so that is going to slow things dramatically, but until availablility warrants the dealers actually dealing on the cars, fewer are going to move...

So, being that there have been FEW cars available, and the dealers want a PREMIUM for them... sales are going to be light.

Now that, it seems, more GTO's are starting ot show up on lots... delaers will slowly begin to deal, and sales will bounce up to their true level.

Watch and see.

I am confident a similar situation will happen with the 2005 Mustang and Corvette as well.

 

I'd be willing to bet the '05 Mustang/'Vette will sell like crazy from the day they hit dealer lots.
For some reason, GTO has failed to generate the excitement that these two vehicles have over the last 6 months.

I personally am planning to order an '05 GT for a pseudo-driver in a few months. That's very uncharacteristic for me, but I'm very excited about the '05 Mustang. I'd consider a C6, but I've got three boys, and it's less practical for me given I already have two other toys in the garage. For ~$23k (I'll get it on a good friends X-plan), it's hard to pass up an all-new car with the Mustang nameplate. If I keep it for a year or two and then decide to trade it on an '06 Cobra...all the better.
S.

 

"Sell like crazy" is a relative term though.

If there are only a few of them available off the bat.... how can you sell hundreds or thousands of them?

Also, yes, SOME people will pay a premium for these cars... guess what? People are doing that right now for GTO.


This is really nothing new.

The same thing happened with the 1997 Corvette... the 1993 Camaro and Firebird... etc etc etc.