It would seem that the General is just on a roll. Over on GM Inside News I saw a copy of a Wall Street Journal article that mentions G6 and Lacrosse sales are already tanking and both cars are offering as much as 4k in rebates in an attempt to move them. These cars are brand new folks! The last model year of an Accord wont require those kind of rebates to move them off the lots!

If the numbers are correct then Ford is actually on track to sell more 500's than Pontiac will G6's this year! Never fear though, GM will rebate these things into sellability and obscurity all at the same time. Remeber too that the near 30k G6 retractable hardtop is about to debut too. We discussed this in another thread and I think this news is but one more indication that the G6 vert will be GTO part II.

Finally, if GM has to rebate these cars this much to sell them now how much more will they have to rebate them in five years to move them?

 

Ha its funny cuz GM had a big chance to make the G6 really good and put out something nice. Of course, they did the usual and put out a bland car with average everything.

 

shame on you GM

what happened to the days of amazing looking affordable cars, and high performance affordability... long gone i guess :cry:

 

 

Did Lacrosse already went into production? Its was introduced recently at Chicago Auto Show, I thought its not going on sales before 2006.

 

jsaylor,

don't forget that sales hit they have in the HHR

 

Thanks to them I became a big Ford fan, I used to be pretty equal to the Big3 when I was younger. I guess we need to look at their past now, but with Ford it's past, present, and future.

 

Good point Galaxie. I almost forgot about that one completely.

 

Do you mean SSR? HHR isn't out yet (not that it will be a big seller either).

 

thier rebates are crazy, wouldnt be surprised if their next pitch is like buy a G6 get a free Cobalt or something

 

Do you mean SSR? HHR isn't out yet (not that it will be a big seller either).
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I was assuming he meant the SSR too, considering the HHR is not out yet.

 

And then they go ahead and give their coolest roadster to Saturn?

The Sky could be a pretty good seller, but how many people are going to go to Saturn for a roadster? (Pontiac's version, with its mushy curves does nothing for me)

Maybe Chevy or even Caddy versions would be a definite winner (with just a change in the badges)...but Saturn...just shoot yourself in the foot, GM.

 

Man one thread after another started about how bad GM is by you.
Did GM give you the fist or what?

They are still the biggest car company unitl that changes there is
no argument you can make. Lots of whining maybe!!

 

I was in the same boat as you Manny
I loved the Mustang, Firebird, and Camaro... still do, but its not like it used to be what with the new stang out and the maro/bird not going anymore

 

Now here is the flipside January sales for Ford is down 12% as compared to GM's 6%. What do you have to say now Jsaylor. Spin me a good one!

 

thats sales...your cars are expected to sell like hotcakes when one after another new model is coming out at used car prices

 

And we all know that Ford NEVER gets bashed on a GM site....

 

Actually, if you want the answer so badly to what I think of this I have said so elsewhere on these forums, and often. However, for your sake I will say it again.
There are two resons Ford's market share is falling like it is.

1: The suv craze is not quite as crazy as it once was, and Ford was "into" the suv thing moreso than anyone else. Logic would dictate that Ford is going to be lose more than most others wiil.

Ford has also neglected their car line, especially under the tenure of Nasser. Things are getting better, but it is no longer 1964 and you do not revampt the entire company in a day.

2: Ford is essentially rebuilding their company a few offerings at a time. The powers that be have claimed for some time now to be focusing more on profit than on market share, and essentially said they knew they would lose market share in the short run. Personally, from what I have seen of it I like the business plan they are following right now. And if you know anything about business you know that trading market share for profit is a good trade indeed, especially in this instance.

That said I do not agree with everything that Ford does, and I never have. I do like this Ford Motor Company "administration" much better than most of the recent boards we have seen, and I think they follow very sound business practices for the most part.

For examples of what I do not like....I am not crazy about how the Lincoln Zephyr turned out, and have said so on this forum before. As a matter of fact I cannot adequately describe my dissapointment in what could have and should have been the car to lead Lincoln's revival as the standard bearer of American class and luxury.

The style of the show car coupled with the power and refinement that the 3.5L V-6 is going to bring would have made this car a slam-dunk. The power is going to debut in a year or two which would have been acceptable but for the styling of the production model. Looks are king in the market-place, and this car delivers far less in this respect than did the concept.

I am also still amazed that nobody within Ford could figure out the X-Type was a bad idea (as it was executed) before it hit the showrooms. Or that Ford has had such a difficult time with the Jaguar brand in general for that matter. I believe I have mentioned this is this forum before as well. Do you only notice the posts which are hard on GM?

I see many, many indications of a bright long-term future for Ford Motor Company now that are confidence inspiring. The new F-Series is superb and Ford has a new F-Seies HD on the horizon, both of which represent large monetary investments that needed to be made and were absolutely the smart thing to do right now. The Mustang is near perfect and the car is a runaway hit.

The 500 and Freestyle are both very good offerings that should yield consistent sales and profits for many years to come. The upcoming Fusion looks fantastic and execution appears to be up there with the Mustang and F-Series to my eyes. Of all of these the 500 is the "worst" in a relative way, and it is still very well done and bodes well for Fords future. Mercury's current strategy is very conservative and very smart. It offers easy profitability and a way to sustain the brand while addressing more dire needs.

The reason I give GM such a hard time is I see very little in the way of bright spots for their company. Other than the Vette, some of their trucks, and Cadillac what do they have to offer to show me or anyone else that they are getting any better and indeed not actually getting worse? What other part of their company would even appear to have something resembling a business plan?

Nobody in the public is certain what Pontiac and Buick want to be in the near future, and GM would seem to share this problem. Everything Buick does leaves me scratching my head. From their commercials to their product line Buick cannot seem to make up it's mind who it wants to sell cars to. They market to a younger audience, but build cars that look like renamed versions of the same "old man transport devices" they have been building for decades now. Current trends would seem to idcate that they are alianating their older client base while not attracting any younger customers...smooth.

Pontiac apparently wants to abandon the large car market for smaller, sportier offerings. Of course, they seem intent on pricing these cars in the stratosphere virtually accross the board. A loaded G6 sedan with a very old, uncompetitive V-6 in it can hit 28k right now and the top of the line model is not here yet! Hello, anybody home?

Chevy will apparently keep making due with a sedan fleet straight out of the Hertz catalog for the near future, while Saturn gets the far better executed European sedans? Saab is juts a total disaster. Nothing GM does outside of Cadillac, the Vette, and some of their trucks would appear to make much sense, but apparently nobody at GM has enough of a clue to stop this train ride to automotive hades.

You appear to be a GM fan which is your prerogative. However, in that instance might I suggest spending more of your time writing the powers that be at GM expressing what should be your concern over a future that looks bleak indeed rather than trying to stand up for a business strategy (if you can actually call it that) which is pathetic and indefensable?

 

GM is gonna go bankrupt if they keep it up, i mean look at their pick-ups and cars, they are all odd shaped and fugly.....

 

Here's a little more fuel for the fire:

* GM recently announced price reductions on most of their SUVs because sales are down as much 54% on some models. The new pricing is a move to make their SUVs more desirable since many consumers are not even shopping GM.

* The GMC Envoy XUV has been given the axe due to poor sales. It's only been in production since September 2003.

* G6 & LaCrosse sales are less than expected while sales of the Ford 500 and Freestyle have been increasing each successive month since introduction without incentives. While the sales still aren't what Ford had hoped, they are trending upward, which is a good sign. IMO, a facelift to 500 similar to the Fusion would help tremendously. A little more HP under the hood wouldn't hurt either.

* Franz von Holzhausen (chief designer of the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky) has resigned from General Motors to join Japanese automaker Mazda, an affiliate of Ford Motor Co., as design director of North American Operations. GM loses a very talented designer to the competition.