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There is more interest in the GM line, as more product or improved product comes on-line. Roll on out the product is a good thing, People interested is a good thing. After test drives, sorting out the data on all the plus and minuses of the car, figuring the trade-in potential values, and then the negotiations for price, the product actually selling - is crucial. If people are showing interest, that is a very good first step indeed.
Loren
Brian McVeigh, general manager of GM's fleet and commercial operations, estimated that GM will sell 600,000 to 625,000 cars and light trucks to U.S. rental fleets this year, down from about 800,000 light vehicles two years ago.
McVeigh said GM is negotiating price increases for the vehicles it sells to rental fleets, calling the bargaining "intense."
"We like rental sales," McVeigh told Automotive News this month during GM's annual meeting with business customers here. "These guys buy from us every year."
Because rental companies get volume discounts, fleet sales to those operations generally are less profitable for GM than retail sales.
And when large numbers of retired rental vehicles return to the used-car market at the same time, residual values of new vehicles and resale values of used vehicles decline.
Fleet sales, including sales to car rental companies, accounted for 29.1 percent of GM's U.S. light-vehicle sales from September 2005 to February 2006.
But that rate dropped to 26.6 percent from September to February of this year.
Rental companies will start ordering 2008 vehicles this summer.
McVeigh says GM expects to cut sales to rental companies by an additional 2 to 5 percent next year.
McVeigh would not say how many of the cars and light trucks that GM sells to rental companies are program vehicles.
Those are vehicles that automakers agree to buy back after they are retired from rental fleets.
Car companies resell those vehicles, often amid volatile market conditions.
Last year, GM said, about two-thirds of the cars and trucks it sold to rental fleets were program vehicles.
Americans, however, are not shunning these beasts. Far from it. Auto industry figures show that after a two-year slump, sales of the gas guzzlers are up over 2006 -- in some cases, way up.
The numbers for large SUVs rose nearly 6 percent in the first quarter of 2007, and the April figures were up 25 percent from April 2006, according to automakers' statistics provided by Edmunds.com, an automotive research Web site.
The bigger the guzzler, the better the numbers. Sales of GMC's Yukon XL were up a whopping 72 percent last month, and the totals for its Chevrolet sister, the Suburban, rose 38 percent. Topping off the tank on either one can cost as much as $120.
The turnaround comes after a 24 percent drop in SUV sales from the first quarter of 2004 to the same period of 2006. One explanation for the renewed interest is that U.S. automakers are selling a more modern fleet of SUVs, some of which consume moderately less gas than their predecessors.
Depends on the projected sales volume for a Delta2 Buick in the US. The current Excelle is a variant of the Daewoo Lacetti, and Delta2 will succeed both the Lacetti (and its bazillion rebadges) and the Cobalt/Astra (and its rebadges).
Up 72% to 3,159, and up 38% to 6,287 for April. Yukon XL got outsold by the Corvette and the Aveo, but it did beat the Monte Carlo. The Suburban got outsold by the HHR and the Express panel van.
So given that edge, they may now be able to leverage really good product into some financial success for a change.
The new Vue is based on the European model, not the Equinox. There will be a hybrid "Green Line", alas it will use the same not-much-gas-savings hybrid system as the last model. However, there will also be a straight 4-cylinder model, right?
Outlooks go mostly for around the $30K mark, not $40K. At $30K, it is in the meatiest part of that segment for price, with a competitive feature set. One will have to decide for oneself if the drive in this 2-1/2 ton beast is up to par...
But most of the press and initial buyers seem to like it...
At this time there are no plans for any Saturns to be rebadged Chevys except the Outlook, and in that case the Chevy will be a rebadged Saturn! ;-)
Instead, most of the Saturns will be rebadged from the Opel division in Europe. If other GM models go on to share with Europe as Saturn is doing, that won't change the fact that they are all rebadged Opels.
While I am a hatch lover myself, I am not sure it is the wisest decision for Ssturn to offer the Astra only as a hatch here. I bet it wouldn't be too difficult or costly for Saturn to design a 4-door sedan on this chassis in addition to the 3- and 5-doors.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
This is symptomatic of a much larger problem. GM, whom I love dearly, still is not able to adjust to cut the fat and make each brand into something special, rather than a bunch of clones.
Maybe someone recalls, but I don't think there were any "actual" questions.
IL claims that while GM is working on 6 speeds for the future the "rest of the industry" is moving on to 7 and 8 speeds as we speak. Apparently IL has information about Honda, Nissan/Infiniti and Hyundai that I don't. Interestingly enough they mention the 8 speed in the LS460 as if that is a widely available tranny when Toyota is still using 4 speeds just like GM. As for 7 speeds, last time I checked MB is the only brand using them at the moment.
Meanwhile, you can go all the way up to the Buick Lucerne and find a four speed.
Now you can go back and forth all days concerning how many gears do you actually need but there is little doubt that if you want more of them that Toyota offers more choices than GM. I don't see that as a swipe at GM. It is just reality.
I do, as a matter of course. An increase of 3,053 units (1,322 Yukon XL and 1,731 Suburban) is rather thin gruel for the sort of boosterism that 62 posted.
I have a five speed, which seems to be enough gears. Did do a test drive of the Aura six speed, which during the test run, at least seemed to work well. It had the paddle shifter, which is a good trick for going down a gear or two for cornering, but seems less than needed for acceleration time - IMHO. If the new GM six speed leads to better gas mileage, or is less expensive in the long run to produce - buy for GM then it makes sense. I have nothing to bad really to say about the current one performance wise.
As for four speed, or even three speeds, like my Achieva had, they did the job well enough. Nothing wrong with trying to improve however for performance / gas mileage, so I would expect a five or six speed mated to new cars. Not to say the old Seville FWD transmission is bad in any way. Actually, I found it pretty smooth. Just saying time goes on, gas prices rise, and IF it is going to improve the car in some way, go up in number of gears. Not sure if the six, seven, eight and on and on is not getting to the point of going for show. What will be the repair costs???
My first bike had one speed, as in stand on the pedals, the second bike had five speeds, then I got a ten speed which I thought was the most I would ever see. Ah, no way, I then got a mountain bike, which has fifteen gears. Now I hear that my Mongoose is old fashion, the new bikes have shocks and twenty-four gears! What the??? Guess I have to go down a look at these newfangled bikes - can't imagine how you know what gear you are in, or why you need so many gears.
Loren
funny, to me 36,000 unit yearly increase in a supposedly dead market is pretty good.
But what is interesting is the XL/Suburban sales are way up but the shorter Yukon/Tahoe sales are down. Yukon lost about 2600 units (from 6000) and Tahoe lost 1600 (from 13,000) while the GMC Acadia sold 7500 units and the outlook 3600.
Perhaps those who do not need the towing capacity but need the size are buying the more efficient Lamdas?
I hope so - it would be reeeeally nice (and good for all of us) to see those folks save some gas!
I LOVE the new ads for one of the three Lambdas, I forget which, which state at the end that the model advertised gets 35% BETTER FUEL ECONOMY than the Armada or Sequoia! Now that's what GM should be putting out there! :-)
And of course, it hits Toyota at a weak spot: it currently has no crossover with low-20s fuel economy that can seat 8. And even when the new Highlander comes around in 2 months, I don;t think it will seat 8 in any configuration. Of course, some might argue that the proper comparison for the Lambda ad would have been the Sienna minivan...;-)
As for rental sales, I see then that GM managed to get them down by about 10% year over year, and they need to get them down at least another 30-40% from their current proportion. Is that the plan, 10% lower per year for four more years? If they manage to get them down to 625,000 this year that will be on track: another 10% lower approximately. I do hope they continue this quest.
And it would be nice to see them sprinkle the bad fleet sales around more, rather than slamming the Pontiac line. But I also hope they don't do too much fleet selling with Saturn - it is the only one with the no-haggle sticker, and can least afford the depreciation hit that heavy fleet sales tend to cause.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
There is no major housing, economy, and fuel crisis...... yet. Around Summer, we have the true picture. It all seems to be holding together, with stock markets stable or rising, and economic news is good enough so far. I am old enough not to believe the rosy picture shown however. I think GM is smart to keep what they do best, as in higher end SUV vehicles, and the Cadillac lines, while pursuing changes in their automobile more basic transportation which are pretty inexpensive to do. Saturn and Pontiac will get some new life with the Euro and Aussie cars without having to start from scratch. When money gets tight, the RWD cars and imports may offer some sales as a niche car play. My guess is that the cars sub twenty thousand may suffer the most, as competition heats up for dollars to spare, IF the economy tanks. Of course one can not predict the future 100%, but it seems to me Korea, Japan, and soon China will be the most likely to succeed in the sub twenty thousand car market. Unless the new Cobalt and Aveo line of cars become something outstanding. Those Aveos not built for US markets, which can be built cheaper, may make loads of money for GM. IMHO, in the USA market, the future looks brightest for cars such as the New RWD cars, the Vette, CTS, some SUVS, and specialty cars, like the Camaro and Solstice/Sky. If GM comes up with a wonder car to replace the Cobalt, I will reverse my predictions. The next size up, as in New Malibu is going to be a good car. The competition is darn good too however, and it has to be a flip of a coin as to how sales will compare to the Japan latest products. Of course the sales will move up smartly from the present car. Year over year will be a good figure higher -- enough if compared to Japan, not as sure on that one.
Loren
As a kid, I actually broke my handlebars right off while struggling up a hill on those old 1-speeds!
On a car, I think 6 speeds are probably optimal in regard to cost vs. fuel efficiency. Anything more is overkill, IMO.
I took a 12 speed racing bike(handmade Bertin - sweet ride I picked up used) and took off the small chainring and the associated hardware.
6 speeds and quick as lightning. The lowest gear was sometihng like a monstrous 24 or something, so the worst I ever had was a bit worse than a 1:2 gearing ratio - and you have to be really out of shape to need a lower ratio than that, IMO.
I actually see this a a GREAT idea. Dilute only one brand with rental cars and lowered resale, protect the other brands so that they have more cachet and command better residuals.
I can see your point with the higher end SUV's, as they offer the "Bling" associated with status symbols, but with the demise of the old station wagon, full size SUV's are still relevant, even if the market has shrunk. I guess that could be the niche market you speak of. Even with gas at the price it's at now, in terms of percentage, I think people have had time to adjust to it (believe me, I believe it's our God given right to gas below $1 a gallon
While its true that Toyota makes fewer 4 speeds than GM, its also true that Toyota offers 6 speeds in fewer non-luxury models than GM. Also, lets not forget that until the new LX570 comes out no Lexus truck has a 6 speed. Two Cadillac SUVs have six speeds.
I'm a lot more interested in the reliability and fuel efficiency of a given transmission than I am the actual number of gears.
This is why the lambda's are such a good platform/product line for GM. It's distinct and apparently well done. Being alone in a segment is a good thing. Now if they put a 2-mode hybrid into one or all of the three and increased FE by 30% again they might never stop selling them.
Maybe you should stick with Motor Trend or your local newspaper if you want cheerleading and happy talk all the time. I happen to think Edmunds does a nice job keeping everything in balance. And we can tell Karl or the others directly if they're not!
If you think Edmunds is too critical, have you ever checked out this? They're absolutely brutal!
At 15% overall, I don't think any one brand would be much hurt by fleet sales. And besides the alternative is no good: turning Pontiac into the fleet special brand, that no-one can take pride of ownership in because their car is on every rental lot in America. Not to mention their car depreciates 75% in the first year because every rental agency is dumping thousands of them on the market every month.
Unless you want to just kill the Pontiac brand, or make it a rental-only brand (which I am SURE is not the plan), you need to spread the fleet sales around more.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
This thing is going to be the best investment in product that GM made in the last 20 years.
But as for alone in the segment, doesn't the new Veracruz seat eight? And if you only need to seat seven or less, then there are 20 competitors, some with pretty good room in the third row. (But none with the looks of the Acadia! ;-))
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Report on Gm's new 6 speed FWD transmission, the GT40/45, due out in 2010. And I find Autoblog to be "GM friendly".
I agree; and always sort of felt that that should be Chevy, Ford, Dodge - and keep the higher lines or specialty lines contained to retail sales - but, all of them will dump what they have excess inventory of into their rental fleets. What that can do as well as dilute the resale value though, is also impress rental customers to buy. I, for one, bought my 84 Thunderbird solely on the rental experience I had with an 03 in Maui. Decided that very day, my next car would be a T-bird. I wasn't sorry in the least. So, it's not all bad to mix them up. However, when your cars are as bad as Pontiacs have been for the past 6 years, it also convinces some of us that we will NEVER own one.....
I don't think that was the smartest move, though, given recent gasoline prices. (The Green Line on the way should help a little)
Were most Vue sales 4 cylinder or V6? I see quite a few 4 cylinder ones on the road, but not that many V6 ones.
You had a time machine with you on that trip? :P
Absolutely, with a company as big as GM, this seems a natural, and I have advocated this approach for a long time.
You could call the line "GM Classic", and the models could just be C1, C2, C3 (cars), T1, T2 (pick-ups), S1, S2 (SUVs), and so forth. They would be solely for rental use, the deals negotiated for their purchase would, I am sure, reflect what was bound to be their horrible resale value, and GM could make a little bit of extra money off old, fully amortized platforms, while protecting the good name of its other brands.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
All Mercedes models offer 7-speed (not on all trims). Lexus LS460 has 8-speed. Within 2 years, all Lexus passenger cars with V8 will have standard 8-speed, including the IS-F. ZF is working on a 7-speed auto for BMW, to appear first on the new 7-series next year. One can also bet that Audi and Jaguar are working on their own versions right now.
1st they should be making perfect cars with 4 cyl that get 40 mpg and make everyone who's been a Honda/Toyo afficianado immediately sell their recent, less reliable models and get a GM XXX model.
2nd they should make a V8 with 400 hp and have 10 speed transmissions because one luxury car that the poster probably couldn't afford in their dreams and GM should sell it for less than $35000 and have a better quality car and GM still should make a profit of $5000 on the car despite their high legacy worker costs that have bouyed US workers' jobs and wages through the decade. Oh and that's good to have to have that high content/low mileage car because one head tester on Edmunds thinks the only cars worth having are such.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
90' Acura Legend
92' Honda Accord LX
97' Honda Accord LX
99' Toyota Camry LE
05' Toyota 4Runner V6 Limited
06' Lexus IS350
Not one required any repair on the transmission.
1 or 2 mpg better is 1 or 2 mpg better.
Also, as torque_r mentioned, the Lexus 8-speed is lighter and more compact than its 6-speed. Which, by the way in case you couldn't put 2 and 2 together, is very beneficial in terms of reducing the overall weight.
Looks to me that GM has taken a different approach than other automakers. Instead of adding gears, GM choose to improve and advance the 6-speed technology. As long as they are improving and moving forward then it's all good and God bless 'em.
Back to trannies, when GM had nothing but 4 speed autos many critics and press people were constantly attacking them for being behind the times. Now that GM is farther ahead on 6 speeds than Chrysler, Nissan, Hyndai and Honda I dont read similar criticisms of those companies for continuing to offer "antiquated" 4 and 5 speeds in 2007. Within the last 2 years or so GM has gone from back of the pack to midpack in terms of advanced transmissions and none of the former critics seem to notice. Now they are saying "everyone" is moving beyond 6 speeds which is a lie.