If GM's Lips Are Moving…
In January '08, GM told the world that Buick sold 12,749 vehicles, an increase of 6.1 percent over last year. But wait a minute– if you look at sales per franchise, they racked-up just four sales each (three cars and one truck) in January of both years. Multiplying the four sales per franchise by the 2700 dealers Autoweek says hang out the Buick shingle gives a total of 10,800 sales in January. So where did the other 2k cars go? My bet's on fleets, even though GM says their sales numbers are dropping because they're going through fleet withdrawal. You also have to wonder about the other lot queens that suddenly had a sales spike in January, like the Pontiac G5 (up 50.2 percent) or the Chevrolet Equinox (up 47.7 percent). Further stretching GM's tenuous credibility: their insistence that the Buick Enclave is such a hot seller they can't produce enough and have to put customers on waiting lists. If that's so, why did they start January with a 26-day supply on the dealer lots and end the month with a 41-day supply? I know: looking for transparency from GM is like fishing in a pile of dirt.
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Gardiner - I KNEW IT. I knew that the Big 3 were moving fleet sales from a more direct and arranging them through their dealers so they count as "retail" shipments to dealers and not direct fleet sales.
Oh Frank. Here you go again analizing the numbers. Where is that simple idylic trust in dear Uncle Rick and crazy (but lovable) Uncle Bob? I swear, you are the only "market analyst" I've seen actually analize the market. Keep it up. Bunter
Gardiner- Interesting.
Classic headline. It has gotten that bad hasn't it?