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Automotive News & Views GM News, New Models and Market Share
8270 messages, Last post on Nov 23, 2009 at 5:01 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: bpizzuti (Jan 01, 2009 6:43 am) From what I see people tend to choose Japanese models for smaller trucks (being more fuel friendly than domestics), American for full size trucks (having better utility than imports do). Btw, happy new year guys.
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Canada, Mexico, Brazil etc are all American. When I lived in Mexico, they would get offended if you said you were from America. They consider themselves and rightly so as Americans also. Indeed, they're all American as well. That's why, do you notice them playing with the words "American made" here? Like you said, Canada, Mexico and Brazil are American too. Have you seen the 2010 Fusion? Between that coming out and the goodwill towards Ford for not taking a bailout at all, they may get profitable quicker than they thought. I find it seriously doubtful that they'll need ANY sort of bailout with what they have in the pipe (remember, Fiesta is coming too). Any die-hard "buy American" type is going to favor Ford over the others. True, bpizzuti. The Fusion is worth considering and I'd put it second only to it's "brother" Mazda6 in it's class. The F150 imo is still the best truck out there (alas, not the price). If only they'd put more into the Lincoln division...
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Replying to: m4d_cow (Jan 01, 2009 7:18 am) Not at all, Ford has its priorities straight. Lincoln is a nice halo to have but Ford is the volume seller that pays the bills. That's part of the reason GM isn't in good shape...they've concentrated a lot of effort into Cady, the Vette, etc. Halos, none of which have trickled down to the mainstream volume sellers that pay the bills. |
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Replying to: dave8697 (Dec 31, 2008 6:51 pm) Now, they need to concentrate on making better products at less volumes. I will pay the price if the car lasts 200K miles. My recent results with GMC prove to me there is huge room for improvement. As far as the salary goes, pay should match the level of expertise needed for the job. If your competition makes better product at less pay, your paying too much. Regards, OW |
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Replying to: plekto (Dec 31, 2008 11:47 pm) Regards, OW
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Replying to: gagrice (Jan 01, 2009 6:02 am) Then I got a used V6 Sonoma with the extended cab weighing in at 3800 lbs. Turns 1300 rpms at 40 mph in town. I get 24 mpg combined all summer on regular. A diesel would have to get 34.6 mpg to just compare because reg is 1.59 and diesel is 2.29 a gallon. My brother has a 4 cyl '00 Tacoma 5M that he got new. He likes it but he is not impressed with its mileage. |
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Replying to: circlew (Jan 01, 2009 8:20 am) ***** If you look at the sales figures, GM's cars are down less than the competition, percentage-wise. Their cars are just fine. Great, in fact, considering the economy. It's their truck lines that are imploding. And they put all of their eggs in that basket, as it were. If you want to see a real truck that they CAN build, just look at the Ford. In the U.K., they offer a Ranger Supercab - about the size of a Tacoma, so no tiny little truck... And the reason it sells great is because they offer it like they do to the rest of the *world*... With a diesel engine: A 143HP 2.5L Turbo Diesel engine(330 lb-ft torque!) Owners report a combined real-world average of 24-25mpg(converted to U.S. gallons). The one we get in the U.S.? About 23 combined, but it's a pathetic 4-banger that workers won't actually buy(can't haul, can't tow). Payload: 1260 lbs. Towing: 2600 lbs The V6 is a gas glutton by comparison. City (mpg) 14 - 15 Highway (mpg) 18 - 19 (automatic is the worse of the two figures) - Average reported is 16mpg! I feel no pity. They *have* the engines. Just not in the U.S. |
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The chart shows that every year the Asians displace 200,000 D3 cars. If linear, the entire D3 volume is gone in 14 years. This could be the reason to not help the D3. They will be at zero customers in 2022. That's right. Survival of the fittest, Dave. Nuff said. It also shows that there has been a steady decline in car sales in NA since 2000. We are becoming less of a market for anybody making cars. What explains this? The new emerging markets are China and Russia. US market's been declining for a while and not expected to rise back high enough to challenge Russia and especially China. Are the quality of cars increasing so fast that new replacements are not needed as fast anymore? Yes. When maintained properly vehicles can last over 10 years or more Are we becoming a nation of people who can't afford new cars anymore? In more ways than one, yes. Are the jobs that support new car buying dissappearing? Yes. Have you looked at job markets the last few years? Is all our new car money funnelled into gas instead? Nope. It's wasted on America's tradition of overconsumption. Will the price charged by Asia for new cars rise as they take all the volume and then there is no competition? Nope. Expect rising Korean brands to challenge the Japanese in value. I do not think that $14.50 an hour for all US autoworkers is a good plan. Mitsubishi put a new plant in W.V. to take a huge chunk of parts business from the UAW. GM managers were promoted for coming up with the cost cuts associated with giving the business to the lower cost Asian supplier. Unless you wish to maintain current lifestyle temporarily then drop dead afterwards, a significant drop in costs and wages is necessary. Again, survival of the fittest, no simpathy for the losers.
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Replying to: m4d_cow (Jan 01, 2009 7:01 am) From what I see people tend to choose Japanese models for smaller trucks (being more fuel friendly than domestics), American for full size trucks (having better utility than imports do). That's probably because the domestics don't build a compact pick up worth a crap. While the Titan was impressive when introduced, it's now the oldest full-size on the market and pretty much done from what I understand. I don't think the drop off in domestic full-size truck sales has anything to do with the quality of the product. The current crop of full-size trucks are better than ever. What's happened is a direct result to two things. $4/gal gas making those who didn't really need a truck, but wanted one go elsewhere and the credit/housing mess, means less contractors/workers having jobs or feeling comfortable enough to buy a new truck. I'm sure the problems with credit also has caused a lot of people who wanted to buy a truck to get declined. |
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Replying to: m4d_cow (Jan 02, 2009 8:33 am) At the end of the piece, the buyer was reluctant with all of the uncertainty surrounding GM and he opted to shop on. I wonder how many more incentivized units will be turned down in Q1 considering the current state of affairs. Ford seems to be at the forefront of all the current problems in the market. Too bad most of their choices are ho-hum as well. Regards, OW |
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