April/YTD sales numbers

Ford:..........3/05........YTD
Ranger........11793......38405
F-Series......71367....260775
Exped...........9460.....35756
Excursion......1237.......4669

GM............3/05.......YTD
Colorado/
Canyon......16054......57001
Silverado/
Sierra........72161.....282351
Tahoe/
Yukon........14684......62675
Suburban/
Yukon XL.....9391......38810

Ford Sales Link

GM Sales Link

The horse race continues.

 

April/YTD sales numbers

Ford:..........3/05........YTD
Ranger........11793......38405
F-Series......71367....260775
Exped...........9460.....35756
Excursion......1237.......4669

GM............3/05.......YTD
Colorado/
Canyon......16054......57001
Silverado/
Sierra........72161.....282351
Tahoe/
Yukon........14684......62675
Suburban/
Yukon XL.....9391......38810

Ford Sales Link

GM Sales Link

The horse race continues.

 

A few thoughts here- pickup sales are holding up fairly well, which I expected, but big SUV sales got hit pretty hard. Little SUV's, though, are doing fine. Ford's Escape gave up a little ground, but I think the Freestyle has a lot to do with that. Chevy's Equinox probably took quite a few Trailblazer sales too.

Of course, the import juggernaut continues, with a number of Japanese/Korean manufacturers posting record months.

 

People still love there trucks the way it looks. Cant blame them. I have a car and a truck and I still love to drive my truck even though it costs me more to do it. Thanks polarbear for the numbers.

 

And Japanese had record month... What ford and GM should do?

 

What should the Big Three to do?
Short-term---->REBATES
Long-term--->Better reliability and more inovation

The more competition the better it is for the consumers. I hope the Japanese comes out heavyduty trucks in the few years to come. Honda and Toyota needs full-size trucks.
They all need to come out with diesels.
This will make the Big Three to get off their butt.
It's a win-win for all of us. The strong and innovative companies will survive while the weak ones will lose...

I like choices.....

 

The rebates and 17 new models in the past two years (I think I am correct on that one) is starting to back-fire on GM...They are having a tuff time right now...hate to see this. Any of the three having a hard time is ALL about our economy.

 

I agree the economy is really down right now whether the numbers say it or not. We are about to go back like the economy was in the 1980's and have a stagnent economy with inflation and interest rates through the roof to try and keep inflation down. Greenspan still doesn't know how to get us out of this rut. I think this is all driven by the high fuel prices.

I think the foreign companies will do better in the short run with high gas prices, but once people get use to it, I think the economy will turn around and the SUV's will be top sellers again. I really think people are just trying to avoid getting screwed by the oil companies.

Tim, I hope this responce didn't break the forum rules for politics, I don't think it did, but you my delete it if it is unfit.

 

I've heard a few of the big three's executives talk about higher fuel prices "affecting" SUV sales. Once they publicly admit there's some difference in sales, you know they are already taking it seriously...

Those people, like me, who actually use their truck for more than carrying kids (although I do bring them to school in it), will continue to buy big trucks, just be more careful about fuel.

"Regular" consumers will certainly start moving to smaller/lighter vehicles and definitely take more time deciding on the V6 than the V8 or something bigger ...

Like said above, I see a big drop in housing prices soon, rising interest rates, and all the other "80's" stuff...

 

I doubt we'll ever see fuel prices hit $1.50 ever again.

 

It became a fire sale mantality. Everyone is waiting for the next fire sale. It was like the price wars for the airlines. The kind that run huge corporations into the ground, no pun intended. They really sold their souls with those huge rebates and 0 percent interest. They were attracting buyers that were going to be for the year or two ahead. The problem is that sooner or later you run out of customers. Then you have a 2 year dry spell. Which hits really hard due to the excessive profit slashing. I really dont know what they were thinking. All it does is artificially inflate sales figures for a year or two. Minus the profits that go along with the sales.

They shot themselves in the foot before the big race.

 

One note of cheer is that DC increased sales. You have to make a product someone wnats to buy. GM and Ford's latest offerings stunk up the place. The
Ford 500 missed the boat by a gang plank. All the new Chebbie cars looked like a design 10 years old. Blame the UAW or stupid management - but you have to have a product that is better than thr competitors - Duh.

Blind followers like F150 and others are not enough to keep a company afloat.

 

I don't find much to cheer about there- we don't own a Chrysler store (thankfully- I'm not a fan). And it's Daimler Chrysler...the barbarians are at the gate.

 

Where is the incentive to build a better product? In my opinion, its the blind followers/brand loyal that is causing this. Until sales stop, the manufactor is not going to start adding incentives like, increased performance, better fuel economy, 6 speed transmissions etc....

DC increased sales even without even a Dodge sedan to market. 20,000 orders so for the Charger. Those numbers are higher than those for the Chrysler 300 sedan, which had the strongest first-year sales for any Chrysler Group vehicle in years. Also the fact that chrysler is getting back into the police car business should also increase sales. The Charger in my opinion is going to be a big hit and may even surpass the 300C in sales for the first year.

Also, chrysler has announced that MDS will become standard on all models with the 5.7L Hemi, by the 2006 model year. This is a big plus and should push out more vehicals. Still waiting to see any decisions on a 6 speed transmission.

 

Reason GM cars look like crap is because they're designed by committee who just picks and chooses parts from "GM's vast global parts bin".

They don't actually design anything new, because that would cost money.

You can't make money without thinking. That's GM's problem.