Oh For Christ's Sake

by Robert Farago

February 12th, 2008 12:13 PM

Given the enormous and ongoing discrepancy between GM's execs' statements and on-the-ground reality you'd think the media would understand that nothing, nothing GM says should be taken at face value. Nope. Automotive News [AN, sub] kicks-off with the PR pleasing headline, "As Malibu soars, Impala sinks amid GM cuts to rental fleets." Showing some semblance of journalistic integrity, AN lists the Impala-related damage and ties the model's downturn to the up-tick in sales of its logical competitor. "While January sales of the new Chevrolet Malibu mid-sized sedan rose 57.9 percent from January 2007, sales of the larger Impala fell 30.6 percent… The Impala had been a hot seller. It finished 2007 up 7.3 percent to 311,128 units." Chevrolet Spinmeister Terry Rhadigan provides the usual tut-tut, pish-posh, no worries Mate: "We're still doing the methodical reduction in daily rental, and that is reflected in that Impala number. Huge progress is being made. You'll see some decline in numbers, and don't be alarmed. It's all part of our strategy." Oh really? So, Terry, what exactly are those Impala fleet numbers? "Rhadigan would not give the Impala's retail and fleet sales totals." Clearly, Woodward and Bernstein don't have nothin' on AN. Anyway, Chevy store own John LaSorsa ends the piece by backing-up the suits. "The Malibu has such style it's pulling in an import customer." Well, that's one…

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50merc on Feb 12, 2008

Impala inherently has limited appeal for police use, like the Malibu or other FWD sedans for that matter. The Crown Vic, as well as having a more rugged drive train, gets many modifications to turn it into an Interceptor. The Dodge Charger is also well suited to the rigors of police duty and is in line to inherit the Crown Vic's cop-car tradition once the Panther platform disappears. (Of course, this assumes the Charger survives Chrysler's death throes.) But the Crown Vic will be missed: I asked a state trooper how he liked the Charger as a patrol car. He said the power was fine but it wasn't as roomy as the Crown Vic. Compact SUVs may come to be the most popular vehicles for law enforcement.

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L47_V8 on Feb 12, 2008
william442 : February 12th, 2008 at 11:44 am L47_V8 Where is this dealer with 4-5 Malibus? I have been waiting since before Christmas for a call from the local dealer so I can look at one. I’ve seen a couple with Dominion Resources on the door. William442 University Motors of Morgantown, WV. I was there a week and a half ago getting an estimate on the damage to my Diamante (someone backed out of a parking spot without looking... right into my passenger side - $2500 in damage), and they had two in the showroom and two on the lot - mostly base models. The C&O Motors of Charleston, WV, where my mom has bought 3 of her four Oldsmobiles (C&O = Chevrolet and Oldsmobile) had perhaps six or seven on their lot when I was home about three weeks ago. Neither shows that many on their websites, however (University shows one LTZ on their "Search New Inventory" option, C&O's claims to have four 2008s). Websites: http://www.candochevrolet.com http://www.umotors.com

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BerettaGTZ on Feb 12, 2008

Well, according to Bob Lutz on the Fastlane Blog, Impala retail sales are up 44 percent vs. Jan 2006.

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Armadamaster on Feb 14, 2008

Well, what did GM expect was going to happen when they jumbo sized the Malibu to WImpala size? And actually, they are still selling more WImpalas down here, I have seen TWO new Malibus on the roads, period. Leave it to GM to figure another way to compete with itself.

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