There’s one parked outside at the dealer up the road, where you can just barely glimpse it through the serried rows of trucks… It has been there two weeks and they don’t seem to be in a rush to brush the snow off of it. Well, that snow will all melt by May, I suppose.

They don’t bother to brush the snow off the Silverados, either.

Without comparisons to actual sales and incentives (or transaction prices), web site hits do not offer anywhere near a complete picture. They probably indicate some level of interest but that’s about it. The Tesla, for example, is interesting, too. I wouldn’t say their web site hits are an indication of success.

Oh, and it would be interesting to see more than a twelve-month period, so we get some idea of seasonal changes.

At least this is a step up from “proving” something with Google hits.

—

Bunkie, you are asking a question that Bob Lutz ought to ask himself every day and should have been asking himself every day since starting at GM. It’s awfully hard to win a reputation for quality. It takes a long time to forget how much money one lost on a car that ate transmissiont or threw a rod, etc. The gasket business will affect a generation.

I took a quick look at Edmunds and the number of ‘03 CTS customers reporting problems was disheartening. The number of ‘04 CTS customers reporting problems was larger than I’d like to see if I was considering a used one. The number of “No More GM Ever” entries was disturbing.

Frankly, I think that GM will only beat that rap when their last bad year rolls off the repair history section of Consumer Reports. Those ratings are five or six years deep. If the ‘05 CTS was a reliability winner – along with a very strong majority of the other ‘05 GM vehicles, then they might be in the clear in 2011.

For those that are unconvinced, try this – go to the Chevrolet.com web site and see how many new Malibu’s are sitting on dealer lots in your area. In my case the most I could find is three at any given dealer! Now, try the same with Cadillac.com, again I can only find at most one new CTS on a dealer lot. In the case of the new Malibu and CTS, the horses haven’t left the gate, but leave it to the automotive press to call imported autos the winner before the race even gets under way.

What I believe to be truly revealing is that traffic at Chevrolet.com has increased 300% since the introduction of the Malibu, while the imports are seeing traffic at their web sites decline. Click the link below and you can actually see where I’m drawing my conclusions from – how novel.

http://tinyurl.com/24drvu

In summary, I believe web site hits are a positive indication for a future rise in sales. However, we won’t know how successful the new Malibu or CTS will be until there is at least a smattering of inventory on dealer lots for consumers to chose from.

Here in the Bay Area, I have seen very few ‘bus or CTSs. Of course, that’s hardly scientific, but it doesn’t seem like GM or any of the domestics are getting a lot of conquest sales. I see a ton of Camcords and the redesigned Altima. And there are Prii everywhere you look (especially in Berkeley, no big surprise). I think it will take a number of years and perhaps product cycles for people to shake off the notion that GM/domestic cars are cheaply made and not reliable. Plus, as other posters have noted, the Malibu and CTS must hold up over time in that regard in order for any hope of long-term conquest sales to occur.

An Acura dealer dealt on both content and price, and most importantly, and like BMW, the sales staff appeared oriented toward selling cars and dealing with the customer in an honest manner. So I ended up with a Honda MDX built in Ontario, probably only 300 miles from the SRX plant. So much for globalization. I find it interesting that the MDX is a US only rig…Honda builds it for us alone-not that I’d want to feed this beast in Europe.

One caddy dealer tried to sell me a leftover flood car-the other saw the BMW and tried to sell me the SRX at the X5’s price.

There are problems, sadly, that brilliant design and quality construction cannot solve. I’m sure these dealers make money, and that scares me.

What is so significant about Nissan?

Yes, if I was getting an 08 Malibu (or anything in its first few months on the market), I’d have to ante up to get one of the first ones. But I’m OK with waiting a year or two. I’m not in the market for a FWD midsize sedan at the moment anyway. My Accord has been too damn good to me, making its replacement unnecessary for the time being.

I like the 08 Malibu and especially the 08 CTS a lot…I’d probably buy a CTS tomorrow if I needed a car. But now that GM has vehicles I want, I don’t need any.

I thought the era of the V8 was dead and gone…

If so than what is the point of the Pontiac G8?
If GM thinks a v8 will sell in a 30grand+ Pontiac why not a 40grand+ Cadillac?

More to the point a CTS equiped with the 5.3l ohv v8 could have been produced and sold for the same or less than the 3.6DI V6. Equiped with the new 6 speed tranny it would have also had comparable fuel economy yet would have a real world power advantage over every v6 equiped car in this segment. More important GM would be able to slap a nice v8 badge on it and market it as the v8 for the price of a v6 with the same economy.
Instead GM has been on a a role wasting money developing engines that they really do not need outside of the negative image that they themselves have put on the ohv v8. Just when the ohv v8 is coming into its own again GM is content to run with the crowd doing things (dohc 4v)that other do better than them.

The CTS is nice but considering the price that GM is asking for it, it is not that nice. A better way to look at this arguement is would you rather have an 05 G35 or an 05 CTS? Needless to say based on past performance Nissan gets the pass here for the new purchase in 08.

CTS inventory is about 2 to 4 per dealer.

Believe me, if you are not prepared to pay anything over dealer invoice for a new Malibu you are in no danger of buying one.

Mercedes has been trying to claim that they are getting quality back in the cars (without really admitting their previous failings).

Didn’t work for GM because they have taken AT LEAST twenty years without real proof yet if you buy a GM model, it will be a quality car. The only way to get a GM car with proven reliability is to buy a five year old model after you have seen which ones hold up. With so many crappy models, a couple good ones will not change enough minds.

BTW, I have a friend who, for years, drove nothing but 7-series and S-classes. The day that, while sitting at a light, all the airbags in his S500 deployed was the beginning of the end for him. Stuck with a nasty combination of relentless lease payments and a dealer that was competing with all the other dealers for the repair parts, he was driving a loaner for months. MB reliability is nothing to brag about.

One final point: How is anything to be learned of ‘08 CTS conquest sales by looking at ‘07 Mercedes data?

I thought the era of the V8 was dead and gone…

I’ve seen a number of new CTS’s and have to say it looks very good in the flesh.

Will they win the war? No. But it’s a start. It’ll take two or three generations of great cars to turn this thing around. All the new ‘Bu and CTS can hope to do is stop the bleeding.

Once again by NOT offering up a v8 in the CTS GM has come to the battle with NO advantage over the established champions.

It is time for GM to accept that there are folks that like Japanese cars just because! The same as with folks that like German cars because they are German and do have some unique German qualities to them. I am in that camp, I have been driving Toyotas, Hondas, and Nissans for about 20 years now in that time I have enjoyed what they do better than domestics and have accepted what they cant do. For example during my driving life a Mustang GT has always been capable of blowing the doors off of any comparibly priced Japanese car, yet the Japanese cars at teh same price point have consistantly been better built and of higher quality. Yes they were slower but that is the trade-off I have been willing to deal with.
I am the guy who brought the Prelude over the Stang and have never looked back.

20 years later I am still a Asian-Import man and will naturally gravitate towards the G35 as my first choice. When I put it all together, performance, style, quality, reliabilty, and price I can think of no reason to shop beyond the Inifiniti dealer. A 335xi would be great but I aint spending an addtional 10grand for what I consider to be a maybe 5% better car.

The CTS is still faced with the “GM Factor”. It looks great at first sight but I can help but think where did GM cut the corners? This become a mute point once I consider the fact that the Cadillac will be all but worthless next to the G35 and 328i in matter of a few short years.

jaje, according to Automotive News, there are no national rebates on the Malibu as of January 21. The current round of incentives expires March 3. Link: http://www.autonews.com/assets/PDF/CA37013118.PDF

That’s not to say the dealer wasn’t trying to drive up volume by selling them for invoice. Frankly I don’t think I’d ever pay over invoice for a Malibu, although I do like the cars.

CarsDirect also shows no incentives (at least in my Zip code of 19320).

With roughly 4,063 Chevy dealers and about 14,500 Malibus in stock, your inventory experience appears to be atypical, since the average would be 3.37 units per dealer.

I got to sit in one and the dash is much nicer than any Malibu I’ve rented before but there are a lot of uneven gaps all over the car even on the body work – reminiscent of Saturn.

I didn’t say the CTS was “better than good,” you used the term to describe GM product.

I was pointing out the flaw in your argument.

As this report on the CTS and Malibu’s conquests (or lack thereof) clearly highlights, even four star cars aren’t enough to “turn the tide” for GM.

They need to BEAT the competition senseless. Consistently. Five out of five. Across the board.

You could say, “great beginning.” But do you seriously think GM has the managerial ability and staying power to repeat this proto-success for 49 models over eight brands?

Frankly, I don’t see how their multi-brand strategy allows for that possibility (as the Cannibals editorial highlights). And I don’t see that GM’s culture of arrogance and ADD has changed, either.

Maybe I’m wrong. There is always that possibility. Right until there isn’t…

Automotive News doesn’t have the February 1 figures in the data center yet.

Raskolnikov, TTAC gave the Malibu 4 out of 5 stars also.
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/reviews/chevrolet-malibu-review/