GM May Sales Down 30%
GM's May sales numbers were down 30 percent from last May. A disastrous 39 percent dive in truck sales led to so much spin in this month's press release that reading it was like watching a washing machine in full boogie mode. GM blames the sales drop on a number of factors: a "strong May 2007," "a decline in fleet deliveries," the "impact of the American Axle strike" and Hillary Clinton's dismal showing in the polls. OK, I made that last one up. The bright points: the new for '08 Malibu's total sales rose 34 percent (103 percent increase in retail units) and the CTS' total sales climbing by 11 percent (retail sales up 18 percent). The Aveo was up 39 percent total and 22 percent retail, Cobalt was up 15 percent total (but only one percent retail) and Vibe was up 65 percent total with a 36 percent increase in retail sales (so much for declining fleet sales!). Rick Wagoner promises to shift focus from trucks to passenger cars, with cars accounting for 60 percent of their North American production in three years. Judging from May's figures he may want to step up the schedule on that.
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I dunno -- I've been to the CarMax website, and I think that their prices are quite high. As to GM, when they dropped the Camaro, (in favor of TrailBlazers and other such junk), updated the Cavalier into the oh-so-sweet (sic) Cobalt, they lost me as a customer. The I4 Malibu (while their best effort in years) was out of my price range, and has little more interior room than my ($7,000 cheaper) Elantra.
Buickman I can imagine these must be the most frustrating meetings to attend ever.
Carmax has to pay for their eight-figured facilities, 5000 plus employees, shareholders, corporate office, executives, and extensive marketing. Their prices aren't competitive from a pure cost standpoint, but they do a lot to eliminate uncertainty and provide disclosure. They primarily rely on folks who hate going to dealers, know little about cars in general, and are willing to pay a premium to not get a product with substandard history or repairs. It's a strong formula that's worked wonders for their bottom line. They also make an absolute killing on trade-in's. But that's a subject for another rant.
INDIVIDUAL COMPANIES AND MARKET SHARE May08 / Market / Yr-to-Date / Market Maker Volume % Chng Share Volume % Chng Share ============================================================= GM 268,892 -30.2 19.3 1,326,906 -17.2 21.4 Toyota 257,404 -7.9 18.5 1,046,852 -5.0 16.9 Ford 205,379 -18.8 14.7 939,000 -12.4 15.1 Chrysler 148,747 -28.2 10.7 750,369 -20.5 12.1 Honda 167,997 +11.3 12.1 655,819 +3.1 10.6 Nissan 100,874 +4.4 7.2 446,474 -0.8 7.2 Hyundai 46,415 +1.8 3.3 181,033 -4.8 2.9 Mazda 27,921 +0.4 2.0 129,370 +0.3 2.1 BMW 31,781 -0.7 2.3 131,758 -3.9 2.1 Kia 31,047 +4.9 2.2 129,327 -0.6 2.1 Mercedes 21,785 -3.6 1.6 99,703 -0.5 1.6 Volkswagen 22,346 -3.6 1.6 92,316 -7.0 1.5 Subaru 18,436 +9.0 1.3 76,088 +2.5 1.2 Suzuki 10,364 -1.5 0.7 46,458 -1.8 0.7 Mitsubishi 10,430 -26.4 0.7 46,389 -20.4 0.7 Volvo 7,238 -24.2 0.5 39,180 -12.8 0.6 Audi 8,534 -6.5 0.6 36,820 -4.4 0.6 Land Rover 3,003 -32.3 0.2 14,292 -24.7 0.2 Porsche 0 NA 0.0 0 NA 0.0 Saab 2,148 -28.0 0.2 10,196 -20.6 0.2 Jaguar 1,757 +22.7 0.1 7,021 -2.0 0.1 Isuzu 510 -30.5 0.0 2,975 -5.6 0.0 Others 0 None 0.0 0 None None