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Comments
As I recently said, a supercharged I-4 is coming for 2007.
GM - See we have this really cool roadster. You'll love it. We'll start selling them this summer. Low production, high demand, we'll make a killing. No wait we can't make that date, let's shoot for fall, hold it we can't do that either, we can get them out by the winter. Hold it, well in any quantity we really meant late winter.
Customer - Gosh I really don't want to buy a first year GM car w/o touching feeling, driving, etc.
GM - Sorry we have deposits (which BTW does not mean a sure sale, jobs can be lost, minds/circumstances can change) on what we can make right now. If you're still interested in the future please come back or better yet just leave your $$ and we'll let you know when your car arrives sometime next year.
Customer - Sorry I already bought a Miata.
Last year at this time Mazda sold 7500 Miata's. This year they have only sold 6000 total Miata and MX-5's with 651 sold in September. The Miata/MX-5 has a 78 day supply with 2700 units in inventory.
Solstice on the other hand is completely sold out (as you know) but sold 600 cars in September. Hey they only have 600 cars in stock (well not really since they go out the door instantly) .
This only shows that the Solstice is much more in demand than the Miata. It also shows that Miata is selling about 10,000/year while Solstice will be selling 20,000/year and could sell more if they wanted to. Bottom line is GM underestimated the appeal of this little car and that it would outsell it's only competitor 2:1 with no problem. What a terrible problem GM has. sure they could sell more but they are better off making this a hard to get car because in a few years demand will fall off and they are better of keeping a steady 20K a year. OK perhaps a few more if they can increase producition.
I mean what do you expect a company do? Build a low volume vehicle's yearly volume in 2 months? That is what you are asking them to do.
http://www.freep.com/money/autonews/solstice26e_20050426.htm
"The Solstice promotion also marks the second time in the past year that GM has had a major marketing event in which the vehicle was not yet widely available for consumers to look at in showrooms or drive home."
and more recently:
http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=103113
"Now that we're building in higher volumes than we did in the early, early phases, we're seeing bottlenecks and areas that aren't building as smoothly as you'd like them to build," Queen said.
Promise too much and then under deliver. That will keep them coming back every time, NOT.
So what!!! They are sold out and could not build anymore. Sounds like the promotional plan worked great. They hit summer sales with 2 months to spare and still will build 7000 vehicles which is almost a years worth of Miatas.
How can people find fault with this?? It is unbelievable.
Of course, they'd better all have TWO on hand for test drives (but not for sale); one manual and one automatic.
Heck, they'd better have AT LEAST one on hand in each color. How are consumers supposed to know what color they prefer if all the dealers don't keep all permutations in stock (but not for sale) for consumers to make an informed color choice? :confuse:
Yes, I would demand the car be widely available in all permutations in every showroom across the country so lightly curious tirekickers could make informed opinions of the car before a single buyer who has laid down hard cash can take delivery of their car.......sometime in 2007.
again..you are talking a low density volume automobile.....plans were to produce 20K units a year, they may be get to 8K produced by Dec........the G6 sold over 300K units in 05.....so I dont think you will see a variety of solstices sitting on a dealers lot
My post was ENTIRELY tongue-in-cheek (I thought the sarcasm was perfectly clear :confuse: )
Given that the Solstice (by Pontiac standards) is a low-production car, it would be ridiculous to expect dealers to 'reserve' cars in inventory just for the mildly curious to mull over. Personally, I would be EXTREMELY irritated if I had an order in with a dealer for a car, was told it would still be 3 months before MY car came in, but the dealer had the exact same car sitting on the showroom floor with a huge ADM on it just for people to look over/test drive.
BTW-I would hope that those of you who are ordering Solstice's aren't paying over MSRP for your new Pontiac. If I put a deposit down now on a Solstice and am told two months or so until it arrives, I would in no way pay more than MSRP for the car. Differences surely exist on that, but I wouldn't pay more than list if I had to put a "hold" amount down like that. I suppose if you're nuts over the new Solstice and you were "told" you had to you might, but I wouldn't.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
62vetteefp - I don't know where you got your Mazda sales info, but it doesn't look like this. I'll grant you that Miata sales have dropped big this year. Hopefully the MX-5 will change that.
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2005/10/03/144754.html
BTW - The Pontiac dealer I was at the other day also sells Mazda and they had a couple '05 Speed Miatas for sale at $22,495 w/o even negotiating. It even comes with A/C!
Actually, I would never buy a car before I could give it a test drive either.
But let's look at this logically:
Pontiac can only build 'x' number of cars this year (let's just say the number is 10k units; I have no idea what the actual number is). Let's also say they have presold 15k units (again, I have no idea what the number is). What this means is there is a waiting list for the car.
Now, if you take 2.5k units out of the sales pool so they can sit in the showroom/lots for test drives, then those people who have deposits down and an order in will simply have to wait that much longer for their car. And for those people who DO testdrive the car and decide they want one, they will have to get on a waiting list (and wait their turn in line). Ultimately, Pontiac sells exactly ZERO additional units by having cars on the lots to testdrive; but they have PO'd a lot of folks who have orders in, but can't take delivery because the dealers are 'reserving' cars for folks to take testdrives in.
The time that Pontiac NEEDS to have more orders is when production has caught up with demand. At this time, there will be cars on the lots for testdrives. But why should Pontiac make a concerted effort to pump up demand when they can't meet CURRENT demand?
Makes no sense to me.....if I was a Pontiac dealer I would move every Solstice unit I could get my hands on.
......................................................2005..2004
MX-5 Miata (I)................................ 1,148....651.... 5,929....7,525
It shows that sales has doubled? Something wrong here.
Lookin' good! Really good!
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
I have been driving Zs since my first 240z in 1972. When I looked at the new 350Z I had exactly the same problem as with the Solstice. THe only sports car that I have found on todays market that I seem to find enough room in is the XK8 Jag. Yes I can also fit into some of the other POrsche models but I do not really like the styling on them, and do not like the ultra hard sports car ride.
Another "fit" was the Infiniti G35 for those of you who may be having the same room problem as me. You can still get a manual trans on the G35 but you may have to order it. They are only making 1 out of every 100 a manual, according to the dealer I went to.
A buddy of mine who is an athletic 6'3" and 205 lbs fits just fine in my new 997 Cab and fit equally well in the Boxster S that I was considering. He even fit reasonably well in my old Honda S2000, although the headroom was tight with the top up.
THe only sports car that I have found on todays market that I seem to find enough room in is the XK8 Jag.
The XK8 and G35 are hardly "sports cars" in my book. Compared to the 2,810 lb S2000, even the 3,450 lb 350Z feels like a boat. I cross shopped the G35 sedan and coupe before buying a TL 6-speed, but not against my S2000 or 911. If you are more accomodating in your definition, perhaps you ought to be looking at "GT" cars. They seem to have seats and interior space that accomodate a greater range of body types. Selfish as this may sound, I would rather keep true sports cars "tight" than have them grow to accomodate every possible body shape and size. That may mean that I'll need to hit the gym more often down the road to keep my chest from sinking into my pants, but so be it.
P.S. If you think today's 2,800 - 3,000+ lb sports cars are tight, you might want to find an old Alfa Romeo from the 1970's. A college fraternity brother of mine had one of those that he used to wedge his Illinois state heavyweight wrestling champion body into (about 6'2" and 235 as I recall). The 4,000 lb XK8 is a Crown Victoria by comparison - and that's not a good thing, IMO.
The current Jaguar XK8 isn't a sports car...it is a GT car. The 2007 XK will use the new XJ's aluminum chassis so it will drop weight while having more performance and mpg.
I wonder if an orange exterior color would work well with the Solstice or if it would age quickly.
AC Cobra replicas shown.
Sweet cars and they deliver a ton of traffic.
so why a F1K car.....original owner back out of the deal?
just curious
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Should look really cool in a coupe version, which may or may not be seen next year. Around here, we just got in some of the first G6 Coupes. They have pretty good lines. In some ways the G6 is appealing, but I am not sure I am 100% sold on the design. It is close to the Honda Coupe, yet not as good a rendition. I know, it is all subjective, but IMHO the Honda looks sleeker. As for the Solstice compared to the Miata, it is not going to be a contest at all in the looks department. Now for talent??? ... the game tightens.
Loren
I think Delphi would welcome a excuse to dump ALL USA operations, take their marbels and go home. We may be seeing the end of the American car industry as a world player. To all the good folks @ Delphi I hear Wal-Mart is taking applications.
believer
3800 means produced
• 4000 means available to ship
• 4150 means original invoice (dealer billed)
• 4200 means shipped
By Michael Ellis
Nov. 2, 2005
Good news for the lines of people waiting to buy the Pontiac Solstice
roadster. General Motors Corp. said on Wednesday that it will add a third
shift of workers next year to the Wilmington, Del., plant that builds the
Solstice in order to boost output of the hot-selling car and build two
additional roadsters.
During its first three months on the market, GM has sold 1,488 of the
two-seat convertibles in the United States. But GM has received more than
15,000 orders for the car.
"By adding the third shift in January, we will increase the flow of
Solstices to help fill the thousands of orders we have already received,"
said John Larson, general manager of Buick-Pontiac-GMC.
GM will add two more roadsters to the plant next year. The Saturn Sky will
go into production in the first half of next year and GM will begin
building an as yet unnamed model for GM’s Opel brand in the second half of
2006.
GM expects to add 550 hourly jobs to the plant, drawing mostly from the
ranks of auto workers laid-off when GM discontinued production of the
poor-selling Saturn L Series sedan in June last year, spokesman Dan Flores
said. If needed, GM can also hire other laid-off GM workers from the area,
including those in the jobs bank from the closure of its assembly plant in
Baltimore.
Wilmington currently employs 1,200 hourly workers and 150 salaried
employees.
Kappasphere
before I do a Solstice :surprise: Not like the massive roll out of cars in 1964 when the Mustang was so popular. I guess the bigger question now is concerning the wheels staying on the GM machine. Hope the lines won't have to halt some day soon due to lack of parts, and then do to lack of funds to keep it all in motion. Too bad GM did not offer a hardtop coupe version in the first year, an automatic transmission, and more inventory so people could actually get one off the lot. Looks like some '05 inventory is still on the lots. Obviously these are not cars people are interested in. Time to push the new stuff while the doors are still open at GM.
Loren
believer
--------------------------------------------------
1 Country of Origin UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
G Manufacturer PONT GENERAL MOTORS
2 Division PONTIAC
MB Line SOLSTICE
3 Body Style 2 DR CONVERTIBLE
3 Restraint System MAN.BLT W/DR-PS INF.RES.FT&SD&ROOF
B Engine 2.4L 4CYL MFI,DOHC,HO.ECOTEC
7 Check Digit
6 Year 2006
Y Plant WILMINGTON, DE
000000 Last 6 is Serial Number
If the first digit of the serial will be a 0 for 1st 1k or a 1 for regular allocation. Rest be be what number car you are.
I also saw a silver Solstice on the streets of Chicago just last weekend.
In the 1960s when the Mustang launched, the US population was around 150 million, and a good auto sales year was around 6 or 7 million. Ford launched the Mustang as a major line, not a niche product.
In 2005, the population is 300 million, and auto sales are well over 16 million per year. GM at best will have 6 or 7 thousand Soslti on the road by the end of the year. The odds are well against someone actually seeing a vehicle made in that small of numbers.
If you are aware of a Solstice sitting on a lot somewhere, pray tell me, as I would like to go test drive and would maybe buy.
believer
It's not like folks with cars on order would cancel AND NO ONE WOULD TAKE THEIR PLACE. GM will still sell every Solsti they can make for the first few years simply because the car looks fresh, drives nice, and is reasonably priced. A strike, short or long, doesn't change this.
It would be a problem if GM was anticipating the imminent release of a new competitor in the near future which would steal the Solstice thunder. In that case, a strike by Delphi would mean their competitor would beat them to market. But we already know the main Solstice competitor and GM must compete with them for sales whether they've got Solsti on the lots now or 3 months from now.
Don't eat too much Turkey. The folks @ GM and Delphi will most likely have "crow" on their plates this year.
believer