Holy Goats, Batman, Look at September sales!

[juliod]

Well, I would say the discounts and deals have certainly helped GTO sales. The figures were just released, and GTO sales were up 177% in the last month. Yes, you read that right 1-7-7 percent.

They sold 2,678 GTOs in September.

That's astonising. The GTO has been out for 10 months, and in the first half of that period (dec03 through apr04) they sold fewer GTOs than they did in the single month of September.

I think the verdict is clear. GM priced the GTO too high, and GM and the dealers kept sales down for the first 7 months. June was the low point, with only 598 units sold. Thereafter sales increased 50% in July, 8% in August, and 177% in September.

They've sold 8308 units since December 2003. If sales keep to the average then they will have 9972 unites moved in the first year. But if sales keep to the current level of about 2500 per month for the next two months, they will have sold about 13,300. That would be very creditable sales against the plan of 18,000 units in the first year.

I have to say that I am astonished by these numbers. I would expect sales to flounder as the 05 release comes up, since that seems a much more desirable car. Do you suppose people are hearing about the 05, and thinking that's what they are getting at the dealers?

DanZ

[juliod]

Well, I would say the discounts and deals have certainly helped GTO sales. The figures were just released, and GTO sales were up 177% in the last month. Yes, you read that right 1-7-7 percent.

They sold 2,678 GTOs in September.

That's astonising. The GTO has been out for 10 months, and in the first half of that period (dec03 through apr04) they sold fewer GTOs than they did in the single month of September.

I think the verdict is clear. GM priced the GTO too high, and GM and the dealers kept sales down for the first 7 months. June was the low point, with only 598 units sold. Thereafter sales increased 50% in July, 8% in August, and 177% in September.

They've sold 8308 units since December 2003. If sales keep to the average then they will have 9972 unites moved in the first year. But if sales keep to the current level of about 2500 per month for the next two months, they will have sold about 13,300. That would be very creditable sales against the plan of 18,000 units in the first year.

I have to say that I am astonished by these numbers. I would expect sales to flounder as the 05 release comes up, since that seems a much more desirable car. Do you suppose people are hearing about the 05, and thinking that's what they are getting at the dealers?

DanZ

[David Jones]

You have seen the top. From here on out sales will hinge on GM giving them away......similar to the # posted for September. Must make the General proud that the market for their 35K car is under 30K .

[HUMBLER]

Must make the general realize that the dealers screwed their halo Pontiac car early on. Props to GM for putting out a rebate as a slap in the dealers face. Also, glad to know the only reason they didn't sell was because of the price and not what you haters have been belly aching about.

[GTO_2004]

what does it cost the aussies to make it ? GM aint losing.. the car gets seen more , momentum builds.. and then Bam 400HP '05 model, as long as the dealers learn you can't be too greedy.

if the dealers had dealt from the start , they would've moved more at a greater margin..

[Fbody71ta]

Not to mention the dealers that did get it right and figured out how to sell them, will now get a greater alotment of 05' models. Lets hope they keep the same attitude into next year.

[455HOGT37]

Some comments and questions:

First; dealers are morons, and for the most part poor representatives for their brand or their corporation. I doubt they will ever learn. I'll bet the 05 will have a 5k premium added to MSRP for the first couple months.

Second, the car is no POS by any means, but it was marketed very poorly in terms of price, target market and hype. It's a fine car in its own right, but unless you are only talking dragstrip performance, it is no competition for the BMW/Infinity/Mecedes market share. Not that a few SIMPLE fixes couldn't be done to rectify much of this, but in current form it is lacking. Also, though I'm sure one will find its way into my garage, it will never be a Pontiac GTO in my mind. I'm certainly far from alone on this last point.

Third, September sales are way up but I'm thinking the Christmas holiday season is not when people are out buying cars... not end of model year units anyway. There is going to be a significant surplus for many more months.

Now some questions for those of you in the know:

My last dealer (who turned down my offer on the silver/red M6... bastard ) informed me that though sales of the 04 were slow, the 05 was not going to show up until March at the soonest. He opined that this would help sell the surplus 04 models. Any truth to this? When do the 05's hit the showroom?

Also, do the corporations use the Fiscal Year (FY) or Calendar Year (CY) accounting? GM offered that 72mo/0% financing to boost the September numbers. Was that to coincide with the end of FY04, or can we expect more of the same at the end of every month for the remaining 04 units?

Lastly, my dealer is getting a lot of units diverted from the Midwest. Are the California sales numbers significantly higher than elsewhere? If so, what is the best sales price (out the door) anyone has seen anywhere in California? Someone on the boards here was claiming a 25.6k sales price, but it was not in the Western region as I recall. I know for a fact that a few weeks ago I was in the Pheonix Az area and heard a radio ad for 5K off MSRP for the 04. For no work at all, this is still a lot better than my deal the other night. Anybody have recent price quotes for California?

[6t7goat]

455HOGT37, first of all not all dealers are morons. I've worked for the same one for the past 11 years. Our GTO's have no additional mark up and we do negotiate. I sold 6 in september and have four in stock with three remaining to be shipped. This is the extent of my 04's. My district manager for PMD tells me not to expect the 05 till at least feb or march.

[455HOGT37]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by michael c:
455HOGT37, first of all not all dealers are morons... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

...And not all cops, lawyers and politicians are crooked, not all HMO's are in it for the money, not all union workers are lazy and overpaid...

In all seriousness, next in line for responsibility for poor sales (after the lousy marketing by GM) has to be the dealers. You may have a stellar dealership, but clearly the overall experience has been negative. How else can you explain the poor sales of an otherwise fine product? Marketing and price.

Thanks for the info though. Do you have a comment about the FY vs CY accounting question?

[juliod]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Also, do the corporations use the Fiscal Year (FY) or Calendar Year (CY) accounting? GM offered that 72mo/0% financing to boost the September numbers. Was that to coincide with the end of FY04, or can we expect more of the same at the end of every month for the remaining 04 units? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I don't think they use either for sales and marketing. Model years can start or end at any point. And incentives can be offered at any time of year. There is no apparent pattern, as far as I can tell. For example, GM offered 0% on Corvettes in May of 2003. That's when I bought my Z06. It was a record month for Corvette sales.

DanZ

[MarkII]

There is another thing you guys need to remember, and I am not saying this is good or bad, but this is how it is.

If the GTO is built in Australia your new model year is tied to ours. Now they have moved the '05 Monaro closer to the GTO in spec (fuel filler/tank, headlights, grrrr.... - engine, exhaust, not so grrr...) you will get new models when we do. The '05 Monaro was officially released last week. September is spring in Oz and new-model time - Ford just released their new cars, too.

The GTO/Monaro is part of the Commodore production line and the new '05 VZ 4-doors have just been released end of August. What happens then is the rest of the line changes over - luxo cars, commercials, HSV 4-doors (due for release this month), then the niche cars like the AWD and coupes, Monaro and HSV GTO/GTS.

The VZ seems to be well-accepted so far and Holden is meeting demand for rental and fleet buyers, so do not be surprised if '05s don't make it to the US before next year. This is conjecture on my parts, but Holden has a bit of an embarrassment of riches at present.

There was a late surge on '04 Monaros, and Holden was building them much later than planned in September according to an insider. The limited Pulse red Monaro CV8-R/GTOs were also finished later than thought and have only just appeared here.

Apparently test cars are now in the hands of US mags - going on last year that means late December for customer cars.

[stonebreaker]

Went to Fusz Pontiac in St Louis and was told they are getting two pulse reds in sometime later this year, probably November. He also said that the '05's won't be out until mid-year, probably April around here. I suppose GM is trying to get rid of all the '04's it can. Good news was that he was willing to look into becoming a Magnacharger dealer (as soon as the mechanics' strike is over, anyway) and factoring the supercharger into the financing. Not sure if his boss will go for it, but you never know...

[GTO_2004]

do the incentives and rebates continue , or was it only for a short period ?

[HUMBLER]

3500 thru Nov 1st at the moment.

[455HOGT37]

I guess when the $3,500 goes away Nov 1, then the best deal that is out there is invoice price. It'll be interesting to see how that hurts the final numbers for the month. I'll bet we see even more agressive rebates and financing options near the end of the 4th quarter (I guess I did bet, since I walked from the last deal).

[HUMBLER]

I'm just saying it is posted until Nov 1st not saying it will go away, I imagine it will stay 3500 till they are gone or 05 hits...

[455HOGT37]

GM is not clear on that... I took it as if it was going to expire. Hope you're right. The Christmas holiday season doesn't seem like the best time to be selling any cars, let alone leftovers.

[HUMBLER]

it is going to expire but it expires every month and then either changes or gets carried voer to the next month.

No to mention the 05 will hit dead of winter just like the 04's, bad, bad, bad.