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Comments
Given the choice would you want a Pretty computer that dosen't work well or an ugly computer that works seamlessly?
BMW still sold over 21,000 vehicles last month even with the 2400 vehicles that were held up. That # is above MB and short of Lexus. BMW is a part of the market that is putting a huge amount of pressure on Audi, Infiniti, Jaguar, Volvo, etc..... How do they keep up financially?
There are certainly many other statistics that show BIG brand strength for BMW. They are having a huge year in both new and CPO sales and the products will continue to drive this growth.
Now remember - keep your friends close and Bangle closer.
If a V8 engine component was the problem, that really does not explain why the 5 series sales fell so much. The 545i comprises a very small percentage of 5 series sales.
It is odd how much sales fell from June. It may be production problems... we'll see how the rest of the year shapes up.
The only strength I see in BMW sales is X3. For the 3, 5, 7, Z3/Z4, and X5, sales are down across the board, year over year.
In fact, among cars only it's the #1 selling luxury make in the country. STRONG! The 3 is the #1 selling car in it's segment. The Z4 is the #1 selling car in it's segment. The 5 is #2 in it's segment. The 7 is 3rd, very slightly behind the MB, but way ahead of the A8, XJ, Phaeton, and Q45.
BMW is doing OK.
Torrance, Calif. 08/03/2004 -- Acura sales of 17,057 units were up 4.1 percent over last year, setting a new July record and marking the division's third best sales month ever, Acura announced today. Year-to-date sales totaled 113,795 vehicles representing a 15.8 percent increase versus 2003.
For the tenth month in a row, the TL performance luxury sedan was Acura's top-selling model, selling 6,282 units, with sales up 47.5 percent compared to last July. Year-to-date TL sales surged to 45,183, a 43.9 percent increase over 2003, making TL the best selling performance luxury sedan in the country.
The TSX sports sedan enjoyed its second best month ever with sales of 3,514, while also posting a record July. Year-to-date TSX sales reached 18,266. Continued strong demand for the MDX luxury SUV helped boost sales to 4,767 for the month, setting a new July record. Year-to-date sales of the MDX reached 33,129.
"Bolstered by its strongest product line-up ever, Acura is having the hottest summer of its history," said Dick Colliver, executive vice president, auto sales. "With the addition of an all-new RL and updated RSX this fall, Acura will be hotter than ever."
Acura's doing quite fine thank you and wait till the new RL starts rolling this fall, this division is rocking once again.
Check out red hot Toyota and look at the LS 430 sales. Boy, poorly styled or ugly looking cars must really be hurtin the bottom line eh..
http://www.toyota.com/about/news/product/2004/06/02-1-sales.html
Lexus sold 27,000 units in the month. 2,763 LS 430s
Same thing last year for BMW, during the summer sales went down and then went up strongly for the rest of the year.
Ugh. With only a 50-75% premium over a comparable Windows box. What a deal.
Let me see, what can we talk about. Mmm how about SL vs. Studebaker Avanti?
No, they're more like the IS300s of the entry level luxo segment.
kd, I have always enjoyed reading your posts, but comparing Macs to entry-level cars tells me you don't what you are talking about in this area. Macs are industrial-strength. This is why something like 90% of the computers used in graphics, publishing, multimedia are Macs.
That is their one and only strength. I know several people who have macs in their orgs as well as friends who have them. They excel in the graphics area, that's it. I have yet to find one organization that deploys mission critical business apps on a mac. 99% use Windows, the remainder use Linux.
Anyone have Phaeton sales figures? Is it doing as bad as predicted?
here's the link to press release:
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=wardsauto.story&STORY=/www/story/08-03-2004/0002224334&EDATE=TUE+Aug+03+2004,+02:01+PM
I like the Phaeton and think it's a very good car inside and out, but the name "VW" just doesn't have the cache among upper echelon buyers.
The problem with the Phaeton is that it is *boring* - a plain vanilla luxury sedan that is porkier than all rivals and features ultra conservative design along with the VW badge. Not special enough. They should have done something a bit more daring - like an ultra-luxury wagon or 2-door with hatchback or so. They would sell just as many, and yet it would embed the VW brand image with some "specialness".
The problem with the Phaeton is not the badge, in my opinion. It's the car - it's going against better cars, loses the battle fair and swquare, and that is that.
VW sells very few V10 Touaregs, relative to V6 and V8 Touaregs. Also, as SUVs go, the Touareg isn't that different in price from other non-luxury makes. The 4-runner and Armada are up their in price as well, and neither wear a luxury badge.
The Phaeton is known as overweight and as an incompetent handler. The only thinbg going for it is the interior finish, and rationally that ain't going to cut it against the established opposition in its niche. Wrong marketing strategy.
You said:
"The success of the Touareg shows people are willing to spend decent dough (look the the V10's price tag) for a legitmate offering."
The Touareg is essentially a $40,000 SUV. There are many $40,000 non-luxury name plate SUVs that sell well, such as the 4runner and the Armada. For whatever reason people are more willing to spend $40k for a non-luxury name plate SUV.
On the other hand, a $70k sedan from a non-luxury name is a different story. I don't know how it works in Europe, but in the status-minded US, a $70k VW sedan is doomed from the start, unless it is head and shoulders better than the competition, which it is not.
The LS430 is not exactly a well handling car, yet it sells like hotcakes.
There is a reason why Toyota created the Lexus nameplate in the US instead of selling Celsiors (LS) and Aristos (GS) as Toyotas, like they did in Japan until very recently.
I don't see the "Need" for the Phaeton..Doesn't VW have Audi for that expressed purpose? I think Toyota was smart enough to segregate their product lines along Scion, Toyota, and Lexus. Each of these lines have distinct qualities. For historical note, the LS was made for the US market and released later in Japan. In some ways, it's always been the "real" Lexus and not a rebadged Toyota.
Livinbmw,
I'll agree with you that BMW sets the bar in performance sedans. What we Lexus fans often complain about is the other posters tendancy to label a LS430 as a car with Barge like handling. The LS430 never gunned for the BMW customer, I think that's what Infinti is trying to do.
I'm posting from London at the moment..Can anyone explain why Mercedes would build an A Class?? Wasn't Chrysler supposed to cover the sub $30K bracket for them? I cringe everytime one passes me. I also have seen 1 LS430 in my whole time here. You can compare that to about 50 BMW and MB's. Lexus really needs to work on their European market share.
SV
I think the biggest factor in the sluggishness of Phaeton sales is the fact that its a VW.
I guess we'll just have to disagree.
On the VW label being the cause for the Phaeton's lack of success we can certainly agree to disagree, since the only sure thing is that it is not successful anywhere, and the reasons are not easy to prove or disprove.
Anyone want to talk about ALLANTE'S
Incidentally, since I work in a location that's somewhat off the beaten path in Silicon Valley and am on track to put over 25k miles on my car and motorcycle this year, it seems I am about to get a generous allowance for leasing a car (our CEO obviously has the same problem :-), and that in turn means I might consider one of these or one notch below these sedans towards the end of the year. Or I might just pocket in the allowance and go on as usual until the wheels fall off my current car(s). :-) I wonder what leasing deals one can get on a Phaeton - VW must be pretty desperate to move a few, I'd think, and the fact I haven't seen a single one driving around actually is appealing: counter chic and understatement is still very "in" in Silicon Valley, and the Phaeton might actually be a great car for that. Odd there's not more of them around.
I will tell though you that I spent a lot of time behind the wheel of an A8 this week on a trip down south and couldn't wait to get back into my LS430. I used the dynamic suspension setting which was the besr ride the car offered but it just lacks the luxury ride I'm used to. The MMI was a disaster. It goes on and off, reboots itself, freezes the radio and is very distracting to use while driving. And this is supposed to be far superior to I-drive? Audi and BMW are nuts with this needless stuff and my bet is audi is having a lot of problems with this technology. The audi dealer certainly hinted at that. I didn't like the nav at all and the female voice orders you around rather than speaks nicely to you. She also has limited patience. I'd divorce her in a secomd. One thing great on the Audi though is the ability to access a built-in phone tied in with On-star. As well the interior materials are very high quality. But it's not a car I have any desire to own or lease. Nevertheless it's the best looking car in the segment.
I had heard the Audi wasn't the smoothest rider, but of course on German highways it's got the reputation for being the most planted high-speed cruiser. Cross-country driving at 135mph is probably not a top ranking buying consideration in the US...
Thanks for the info on the Phaeton!
Can't wait to get my hands on one. Planning on going to the dealership this weekend to put a deposit on one!
Amd thanks for the Pacifica suggestion - we hadn't thought about it, but upon a quick lookup in Edmunds it certainly deserves to be looked at! She's got a hard $35k (+ trade in) spending limit if we stick by our premise of buying cars cash, which I think needs to be revised given the fact she obviusly would like to drive a new car every 3 years without many hassles. Of cours ethe numbers look great on a lease when you bring a trade-in into the picture, but I am reminding her she needs to think about the next one since she'll have no equity build into it, and either she saves some out of her budget (i.e. not "invest" it into shoes and jewelery) or she'll be driving a Civic 3 years down the line. :-)