Employee Discount Program News **GM extends program through Sept. (page 3)**
07-05-2005, 12:54 PM
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Employee Discount Program News **GM extends program through Sept. (page 3)**
GM Extends Employee Discount Program - - By Olivia Munoz, Associated Press Writer - - Source: biz.yahoo.com
GM Extends Discount Program Offering Employee Price to All Buyers Until Aug. 1
DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors Corp. on Tuesday announced it was extending its discount program that allows customers to buy cars and trucks at the employee rate and helped the automaker's sales soar last month.
GM has given the same discount it provides to employees to anyone buying most new GM cars or trucks since June 1. The promotion, which was set to expire Tuesday, will remain in effect until Aug. 1.
The current promotion includes all 2005 GM vehicles except the Chevrolet Corvette, Pontiac GTO and GMC medium duty trucks.
DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group has said it will match GM's incentive starting Wednesday with an employee discount program of its own. On Friday, when monthly sales figures were released, Ford Motor Co. declined to match GM.
A message seeking comment was left Tuesday with a Ford spokesman.
In June, GM saw its sales soar 41 percent to their highest monthly total in nearly 19 years thanks to the heavily promoted discount.
GM sold 550,829 vehicles last month, up from 374,970 in June 2004. That's an increase of 41.3 percent after accounting for differences in the number of selling days, a sharp contrast from the single-digit growth the company has posted so far this year.
Almost all of the growth came from light truck sales, which jumped 69.2 percent to 375,092 vehicles. The Colorado, Equinox, Tahoe and Trailblazer models posted some of the largest sales increases.
In late-morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange, shares of GM rose 12 cents to $34.77.
DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors Corp. on Tuesday announced it was extending its discount program that allows customers to buy cars and trucks at the employee rate and helped the automaker's sales soar last month.
GM has given the same discount it provides to employees to anyone buying most new GM cars or trucks since June 1. The promotion, which was set to expire Tuesday, will remain in effect until Aug. 1.
The current promotion includes all 2005 GM vehicles except the Chevrolet Corvette, Pontiac GTO and GMC medium duty trucks.
DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group has said it will match GM's incentive starting Wednesday with an employee discount program of its own. On Friday, when monthly sales figures were released, Ford Motor Co. declined to match GM.
A message seeking comment was left Tuesday with a Ford spokesman.
In June, GM saw its sales soar 41 percent to their highest monthly total in nearly 19 years thanks to the heavily promoted discount.
GM sold 550,829 vehicles last month, up from 374,970 in June 2004. That's an increase of 41.3 percent after accounting for differences in the number of selling days, a sharp contrast from the single-digit growth the company has posted so far this year.
Almost all of the growth came from light truck sales, which jumped 69.2 percent to 375,092 vehicles. The Colorado, Equinox, Tahoe and Trailblazer models posted some of the largest sales increases.
In late-morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange, shares of GM rose 12 cents to $34.77.
07-05-2005, 12:56 PM
#2
Engineer
hmm i wonder who will be next to follow suit... dodge/chrysler was hinting towards it last week i believe...
07-05-2005, 01:05 PM
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Originally Posted by savage
hmm i wonder who will be next to follow suit... dodge/chrysler was hinting towards it last week i believe...
DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group has said it will match GM's incentive starting Wednesday with an employee discount program of its own.
07-05-2005, 01:40 PM
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The sizzle in the Steak
...waiting for Chrysler to fire the next shot...
07-05-2005, 02:58 PM
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No surprise on this. I also thought that it was rather intelligent of GM to wait until today (the day it was expiring) to extend it. That way they could rope more buyers into buying over the July 4th holiday weekend...
07-05-2005, 03:09 PM
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Ford is also getting in on the employee discount game too...http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/pro...705&ID=4941486
Trending Topics
07-05-2005, 04:59 PM
#10
I feel the need...
Ford Matches GM, Chrysler With Employee-Discount Plan (Update4)
2005-07-05 16:42 (New York)
By Bill Koenig and Jeff Green
July 5 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co. matched General Motors
Corp. in offering all buyers the same discounts to employees after
the incentives helped GM record its best sales month in 18 years
in June.
The program, called the ``Ford Family Plan,'' will begin
tomorrow and apply to 2005 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models,
spokesman David Reuter said in an interview. Earlier today, GM
said that its plan, which sparked a 47 percent increase in June
U.S. sales, will be extended to Aug. 1. DaimlerChrysler AG's
Chrysler begins its version of GM's program tomorrow.
``GM is forcing the others to roll it out, and it just
stresses the competitive pressures that have been brought to bear
in the market,'' said Wil Stith, a portfolio manager at MTB
Investment Advisors in Baltimore, who helps manage about $2
billion in fixed-income assets including Ford and GM debt. ``The
gains could be fleeting, but it was a good ploy from GM.''
GM and Ford, the two biggest U.S. automakers, have tried
several new programs this year to reverse market share losses to
competitors such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. Ford
has lost U.S. market share for 28 straight months, and declining
sales prompted Ford to twice lower its earnings forecast this
year, most recently on June 21. Ford's first-quarter profit fell
38 percent.
The company now expects full-year profit, excluding some one-
time costs, of $1 to $1.25 a share compared with a forecast of
$1.75 to $1.95 in January. Ford, of Dearborn, Michigan, doesn't
make forecasts for net income. On May 5, Standard & Poor's cut its
ratings on Ford debt to junk status, BB+.
Toyota, Nissan and Honda Motor Co. spokesman today said the
Japanese-based companies wouldn't match the U.S. automakers'
plans. Asian automakers' U.S. market share fell in June for the
first time since August 2004.
Mustangs Not Included
Under the Ford plan, customers will be offered reduced prices
and cash rebates. For example, the XLT version of the Ford Escape
sport-utility vehicle will have a discounted price of $23,335
compared with the normal $26,070, Reuter said. Customers will be
offered an additional $2,000 off, putting their final cost at
$21,335, he said.
Dealers are being told today of the plan's details, and
advertisements will begin tomorrow, Reuter said. The program
doesn't apply to Ford Mustang and GT cars and the hybrid gasoline-
electric Escape SUV, he said. Ford's Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover and
Aston Martin brands also aren't covered.
GM's June employee-discount offer helped lift U.S. industry
sales for the month to an annual rate of about 17.5 million cars
and trucks, from 15.4 million in June 2004 and 16.7 million in
May, according to Autodata Corp. of Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.
Ford's sales in June rose 0.7 percent. Its U.S. market share
fell to 17.2 percent from 19.8 percent a year earlier. In 2000,
Ford claimed 24 percent of all U.S. sales.
`Bloodshed' Inevitable
``No war transpires without bloodshed,'' said Sasha Kamper,
who helps manage $86 billion in debt at Principal Global Investors
in Des Moines, Iowa, including GM and Ford bonds. ``For those
companies competing solely on price, future margins are the likely
casualties.''
GM began offering all buyers the same discount it gives to
employees on June 1 after its U.S. sales through May fell 6.7
percent and inventories of unsold vehicles climbed while GM cut
production. Detroit-based GM had a first-quarter loss of $1.1
billion, and its U.S. market share had fallen to an 80-year low
while Toyota and other Asian rivals posted market-share records.
``It's like `Keep America Rolling' was in '01 -- let's keep
it going as long as it works,'' Argus Research analyst Kevin Tynan
in New York said in an interview. ``Keep America Rolling'' was
GM's initial offer of no-interest financing made shortly after the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Biggest Since 1986
The discount, which was to expire today, helped lift GM's
June sales to 558,092 vehicles, 47 percent above a year earlier
and the highest for any month since September 1986. GM's U.S.
market share for the month reached 33 percent, more than seven
points higher than its share through May.
``It was inevitable that the others followed,'' said Maryann
Keller, an auto analyst with Maryann Keller & Associates in
Greenwich, Connecticut. ``This was a very successful and
compelling promotion on GM's part. GM was able to garner a huge
market share in June.''
Found and Lost
GM has a history of giving up market share gained from big
incentive programs, UBS analyst Rob Hinchliffe said in a report
today. In September 1986, the automaker's incentive-fueled market
share rose to 44.6 percent, Hinchliffe said. By the end of that
year, the share had dropped back to 35 percent. GM had 1 million
fewer U.S. sales in 1987 than in 1986, he said.
The Chrysler offer also allows buyers to combine the employee
discount with other rebates, Chrysler sales chief Gary Dilts said
on a conference call July 1.
``Right now there's no move under way to do that,'' Toyota
spokesman Xavier Dominicis said in response to the employee-
pricing plans. ``We just had a price increase.''
Toyota on July 1 announced price increases on 2006 model
Camry sedans and coupes averaging $150 per vehicle, or about 0.7
percent. The price of RAV4 compact SUVs will go up by $300, or an
average of 1.5 percent, and Prius hybrids will cost an additional
$300, or 1.4 percent more, Toyota said.
``We're looking at the long-term picture and sustainable
growth,'' Dominicis said after Toyota sales rose 14.4 percent in
June. Honda, which had an 8.9 percent increase in June, also won't
match, spokesman Andy Boyd said today.
``Only GM and Nissan gained market share last month,'' said
Fred Standish, a spokesman for Nissan, whose U.S. sales rose 19
percent in June. ``We did that without breaking from our effort to
hold our incentive spending as low as possible.''
GM shares rose 12 cents to $34.77 at 4:16 p.m. in New York
Stock Exchange composite trading. They have fallen 13 percent this
year. Ford rose 9 cents to $10.40 and has dropped 29 percent this
year. Stuttgart, Germany-based DaimlerChrysler's U.S. shares fell
38 cents to $40.10.
Kind of like the last finale of fireworks...
2005-07-05 16:42 (New York)
By Bill Koenig and Jeff Green
July 5 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co. matched General Motors
Corp. in offering all buyers the same discounts to employees after
the incentives helped GM record its best sales month in 18 years
in June.
The program, called the ``Ford Family Plan,'' will begin
tomorrow and apply to 2005 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models,
spokesman David Reuter said in an interview. Earlier today, GM
said that its plan, which sparked a 47 percent increase in June
U.S. sales, will be extended to Aug. 1. DaimlerChrysler AG's
Chrysler begins its version of GM's program tomorrow.
``GM is forcing the others to roll it out, and it just
stresses the competitive pressures that have been brought to bear
in the market,'' said Wil Stith, a portfolio manager at MTB
Investment Advisors in Baltimore, who helps manage about $2
billion in fixed-income assets including Ford and GM debt. ``The
gains could be fleeting, but it was a good ploy from GM.''
GM and Ford, the two biggest U.S. automakers, have tried
several new programs this year to reverse market share losses to
competitors such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. Ford
has lost U.S. market share for 28 straight months, and declining
sales prompted Ford to twice lower its earnings forecast this
year, most recently on June 21. Ford's first-quarter profit fell
38 percent.
The company now expects full-year profit, excluding some one-
time costs, of $1 to $1.25 a share compared with a forecast of
$1.75 to $1.95 in January. Ford, of Dearborn, Michigan, doesn't
make forecasts for net income. On May 5, Standard & Poor's cut its
ratings on Ford debt to junk status, BB+.
Toyota, Nissan and Honda Motor Co. spokesman today said the
Japanese-based companies wouldn't match the U.S. automakers'
plans. Asian automakers' U.S. market share fell in June for the
first time since August 2004.
Mustangs Not Included
Under the Ford plan, customers will be offered reduced prices
and cash rebates. For example, the XLT version of the Ford Escape
sport-utility vehicle will have a discounted price of $23,335
compared with the normal $26,070, Reuter said. Customers will be
offered an additional $2,000 off, putting their final cost at
$21,335, he said.
Dealers are being told today of the plan's details, and
advertisements will begin tomorrow, Reuter said. The program
doesn't apply to Ford Mustang and GT cars and the hybrid gasoline-
electric Escape SUV, he said. Ford's Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover and
Aston Martin brands also aren't covered.
GM's June employee-discount offer helped lift U.S. industry
sales for the month to an annual rate of about 17.5 million cars
and trucks, from 15.4 million in June 2004 and 16.7 million in
May, according to Autodata Corp. of Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.
Ford's sales in June rose 0.7 percent. Its U.S. market share
fell to 17.2 percent from 19.8 percent a year earlier. In 2000,
Ford claimed 24 percent of all U.S. sales.
`Bloodshed' Inevitable
``No war transpires without bloodshed,'' said Sasha Kamper,
who helps manage $86 billion in debt at Principal Global Investors
in Des Moines, Iowa, including GM and Ford bonds. ``For those
companies competing solely on price, future margins are the likely
casualties.''
GM began offering all buyers the same discount it gives to
employees on June 1 after its U.S. sales through May fell 6.7
percent and inventories of unsold vehicles climbed while GM cut
production. Detroit-based GM had a first-quarter loss of $1.1
billion, and its U.S. market share had fallen to an 80-year low
while Toyota and other Asian rivals posted market-share records.
``It's like `Keep America Rolling' was in '01 -- let's keep
it going as long as it works,'' Argus Research analyst Kevin Tynan
in New York said in an interview. ``Keep America Rolling'' was
GM's initial offer of no-interest financing made shortly after the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Biggest Since 1986
The discount, which was to expire today, helped lift GM's
June sales to 558,092 vehicles, 47 percent above a year earlier
and the highest for any month since September 1986. GM's U.S.
market share for the month reached 33 percent, more than seven
points higher than its share through May.
``It was inevitable that the others followed,'' said Maryann
Keller, an auto analyst with Maryann Keller & Associates in
Greenwich, Connecticut. ``This was a very successful and
compelling promotion on GM's part. GM was able to garner a huge
market share in June.''
Found and Lost
GM has a history of giving up market share gained from big
incentive programs, UBS analyst Rob Hinchliffe said in a report
today. In September 1986, the automaker's incentive-fueled market
share rose to 44.6 percent, Hinchliffe said. By the end of that
year, the share had dropped back to 35 percent. GM had 1 million
fewer U.S. sales in 1987 than in 1986, he said.
The Chrysler offer also allows buyers to combine the employee
discount with other rebates, Chrysler sales chief Gary Dilts said
on a conference call July 1.
``Right now there's no move under way to do that,'' Toyota
spokesman Xavier Dominicis said in response to the employee-
pricing plans. ``We just had a price increase.''
Toyota on July 1 announced price increases on 2006 model
Camry sedans and coupes averaging $150 per vehicle, or about 0.7
percent. The price of RAV4 compact SUVs will go up by $300, or an
average of 1.5 percent, and Prius hybrids will cost an additional
$300, or 1.4 percent more, Toyota said.
``We're looking at the long-term picture and sustainable
growth,'' Dominicis said after Toyota sales rose 14.4 percent in
June. Honda, which had an 8.9 percent increase in June, also won't
match, spokesman Andy Boyd said today.
``Only GM and Nissan gained market share last month,'' said
Fred Standish, a spokesman for Nissan, whose U.S. sales rose 19
percent in June. ``We did that without breaking from our effort to
hold our incentive spending as low as possible.''
GM shares rose 12 cents to $34.77 at 4:16 p.m. in New York
Stock Exchange composite trading. They have fallen 13 percent this
year. Ford rose 9 cents to $10.40 and has dropped 29 percent this
year. Stuttgart, Germany-based DaimlerChrysler's U.S. shares fell
38 cents to $40.10.
Kind of like the last finale of fireworks...
07-05-2005, 05:27 PM
#11
I feel the need...
Question: Why do old people go to church more often than young people?
Answer: Because they're cramming for their final.
FoMoCo: Finally gets religion...
Ford's Padilla, Chasing Toyota on Quality, Bets on Mazda Design
2005-07-05 00:03 (New York)
By Bill Koenig
July 5 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co. President Jim Padilla
meets a different group of employees almost every week to discuss
what he terms his ``vital few priorities.''
He shows them a diagram that lists his top two aims as: 1)
Improve Quality. 2) Improve Quality.
``This business is not about big bangs,'' Padilla, 59, tells
employees in a conference hall in Dearborn, Michigan, where Ford,
the world's No. 3 automaker, is based. The company needs constant
improvements over time, he says.
Time may not be on his side. Padilla already faces declining
sales and a loss of market share to companies such as Toyota Motor
Corp. In response, he has sped up the introduction of new models
by basing three sedans on an existing design from an affiliate,
Japan's Mazda Motor Corp. More inspections helped Ford cut
customer complaints 22 percent in three years. Yet Toyota is
improving on complaints, too, so Padilla is taking his quality
message to plants worldwide.
``It finally dawned on them that `We have to fix the
process,''' says James Womack, 56, president of the Lean
Enterprise Institute in Brookline, Massachusetts, which advises
companies on how to boost efficiency. ``The difficulty is the
lateness of the day and the time it takes to get this right. Once
the ship sinks below the water to a certain point, it's just
pretty rough.''
Declining sales prompted Ford to twice lower its earnings
forecast this year, most recently on June 21. The company now
expects full-year profit, excluding some one-time costs, of $1 to
$1.25 a share compared with an original forecast of $1.75 to $1.95
in January. Ford doesn't make forecasts for net income.
`Refine It'
Ford shares have declined 30 percent this year, compared with
a 14 percent drop by Detroit-based General Motors Corp., the
world's largest automaker by sales. Toyota City, Japan-based
Toyota surpassed Ford as the No. 2 automaker in 2003.
Padilla says Toyota serves as an example of how to make
winning models.
``Toyota doesn't hit home runs every time at bat,'' he says
during an interview in the executive dining room. ``When they
don't hit a home run, they go back and refine it.''
While the quality of Ford's vehicles is improving, it still
lags behind Toyota, says Dennis Virag, president of Automotive
Consulting Group Inc. in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
``Ford is improving, but Toyota is a moving target,'' Virag
says. ``For a person knowledgeable about cars, they marvel at the
pain Toyota takes to make sure the car is right.''
Ford began Japanese-style quality efforts under chief
executive officers Philip Caldwell and Donald Petersen, who
together oversaw the automaker throughout the 1980s. Ford ran
advertisements with the slogan ``Quality is Job 1'' from 1979 to
1997.
Camry, Accord
Under Petersen, Ford introduced the Taurus sedan, which was
the No. 1-selling car in the U.S. from 1992 to 1996 before being
eclipsed by Toyota's Camry and Tokyo-based Honda Motor Co.'s
Accord.
Ford's quality efforts later faltered. In 2001, Ford finished
last among seven automakers with multiple brands in a J.D. Power &
Associates quality survey that measures consumer complaints about
new vehicles. The company rose to fifth place the following year
and remained there in 2004. The surveys show Ford improved to 127
complaints per 100 vehicles in 2004 from 162 in 2001.
Toyota finished first in each year, dropping to 101
complaints per 100 vehicles in 2004 from 115 in 2001.
This year, J.D. Power altered the survey, reporting only
results for individual brands. Ford's Jaguar luxury brand, with 88
complaints, finished second to Toyota's Lexus, with 81. The next
best for Ford was its Lincoln U.S. luxury brand, which ranked No.
14 with 113 complaints per 100 vehicles.
Below Average
The company's other U.S. brands, Ford and Mercury, finished
worse than the industry average of 118 complaints. Mercury had 120
and Ford 127.
Padilla's effort to constantly make small improvements is the
right approach, says Sasha Kamper, who helps manage $86 billion in
fixed income at Principal Global Investors in Des Moines, Iowa,
including Ford bonds.
``Auto companies are behemoths,'' she says. ``The thing to do
is set a strategy and figure out small steps to make that strategy
work.''
Born in Detroit of Mexican and Irish descent and the third of
11 children, Padilla joined Ford in 1966. He rose to oversee
production of models including the Escort and Taurus sedans.
Padilla also was director of engineering and manufacturing at
U.K.-based Jaguar from 1992 to 1994, a time when Ford was trying
to trim losses at the unit it purchased in 1989.
Outside the Mold
Padilla's manufacturing background contrasts with such former
senior executives as Harold Poling, chairman and CEO from 1990 to
1993, who was a finance specialist, and Lee Iacocca, Ford's
president from 1970 to 1978, whose expertise was in marketing.
Executives can damage quality by demanding late changes to
new models, Padilla says. Executives such as Iacocca, who later
became Chrysler Corp.'s chairman and CEO, ordered last-minute
changes in styling at Ford, causing engineers and suppliers to
make quick fixes shortly before production was slated to begin.
Padilla, who became Ford's chief operating officer in early
2004 before adding the title of president in February, says
executives should express opinions but not issue last-minute
mandates.
``One person shouldn't do that,'' he says. ``We have
tremendous talent, people who are in tune with the marketplace.''
Padilla says he expresses his thoughts about models while
still giving leeway to designers and engineers.
Extra Inspections
To improve quality and prevent early recalls, Ford added
extra inspections of new car and truck models in recent years. In
December, Louise Goeser, then Ford's top quality executive, said
in an interview that the company had already managed to cut annual
warranty costs by about $1 billion since 2001.
Padilla has conducted 15 plant reviews worldwide since
becoming chief operating officer, the No. 2 position at Ford, last
year. Each review lasts as long as a full day and quality issues
take up at least one hour, Ford spokesman Ron Iori says. The plant
reviews also include town-hall-style meetings and slides of how
the factory compares with ``best in class'' competitors, he says.
Target Abandoned
It hasn't prevented slow sales. In April, Ford said its
automotive unit would break even at best this year and abandoned a
target, first set in January 2002, of generating $7 billion in
pretax profit next year.
On May 5, Standard & Poor's cut its ratings on Ford debt to
junk status, BB+. At the same time, it also lowered GM's debt
below the investment-grade category.
Since then, investors have driven up the bonds of both
companies. The yield on Ford's 7 percent bond due in 2013 fell to
7.66 percent on July 1 from 8.61 percent on the day the ratings
cut was announced, while the price rose to 96 cents on the dollar
from 90.5 cents.
On June 21, Ford said its profit outlook for North America
had worsened as vehicle sales weakened.
CEO William Clay Ford Jr., 48, says he plans to boost profit
by introducing new models and cutting costs. His success to date
has been mixed. While net income rose to $3.49 billion in 2004
from $495 million in 2003, more than 80 percent of last year's net
income came from making loans to buyers of Ford cars and trucks.
The $7 billion target for 2006 depended on the company making
most of its profit from auto sales.
28-Month Decline
Ford's share of the U.S. market, the company's largest, has
declined for 28 straight months. During the first six months,
Ford's market share slid to 18.8 percent from 20 percent a year
earlier.
The biggest success has been the redesigned Mustang, whose
sales increased 31 percent through June from a year earlier. Those
gains have been more than offset by declining sales of mid- and
large-sized sport-utility vehicles, or SUVs, such as the Explorer
and Expedition, because of rising gasoline prices.
``It's an incredibly difficult industry right now,'' says Dan
Poole, vice president at Cleveland-based National City Corp., who
helps manage $34 billion, including Ford shares.
``You're going to be selling fewer Explorer SUVs at $60-a-
barrel oil than at $30-a-barrel oil,'' Poole says.
Ford's sales of mid- and large-sized SUVs fell 20 percent in
the U.S. in the first half of the year.
Padilla says the company might have made the 2006 target if
it had cut some new models. ``We're not going to do that,'' he
says. At an April news conference, Bill Ford said the best chance
to boost market share would be the introduction of the three
Mazda6-based sedans -- the Fusion, Milan and Zephyr -- in October.
`Design for Assembly'
One of Padilla's initiatives has been to ensure that new
models are designed with easy assembly in mind.
``You don't let product development design whatever they
want,'' says Ford Group Vice President Phil Martens, 45, who is in
charge of product development. ``You design for assembly.''
Toyota isn't the only Japanese carmaker Padilla says is worth
following. Ford owns one-third of the shares of Hiroshima-based
Mazda and is using the Japanese affiliate's know-how to get new
models to market sooner. Mazda re-uses more existing components in
new models than Ford, enabling it to reduce development time and
costs.
``They do things consistently over time,'' Padilla says.
By basing its three new sedans on the Mazda6, Ford cut the
time from design to production to 37 months from about 50, Martens
says.
`An Opportunity'
Ford needs to re-use more parts, such as seat frames and
controls for moving windows up and down, when it comes out with
new or redesigned models, National City's Poole says.
``This should have been done 40, 50 years ago,'' he said.
``This is where I see an opportunity.''
Since his days at Jaguar, Padilla has held positions with
responsibility for South America, North America, global
manufacturing and quality. He is still most at home on the factory
floor, says David Cole, 67, chairman of the Center for Automotive
Research in Ann Arbor.
``His real comfort zone is a plant,'' said Cole, who has
known Padilla since he was in charge of South America from 1996 to
1998.
Padilla says his strategy is to tap everyone from executives
to assembly workers and information-technology experts for their
know-how on how to improve production.
``I never end any conversation without a discussion of the
process,'' he says. ``We've got to fix the processes.''
Touting the Milan
Ford is making progress with its new products, he says,
calling the Milan sedan ``the best execution of what a Mercury
should be.''
Mercury, founded in 1939, is a brand with prices between the
company's mass-market namesake brand and its Lincolns. Last year,
Mercury's U.S. sales totaled 193,534, down from a high of 579,498
in 1978.
The introduction of the midsize Fusion, Milan and Zephyr will
test Ford's ability to revive passenger-car sales, says Virag of
Automotive Consulting Group.
``It's critical they have a smooth launch with no quality
glitches,'' he says.
--Editors: Jarvie, Horvitz, Henry, Todd.
Answer: Because they're cramming for their final.
FoMoCo: Finally gets religion...
Ford's Padilla, Chasing Toyota on Quality, Bets on Mazda Design
2005-07-05 00:03 (New York)
By Bill Koenig
July 5 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co. President Jim Padilla
meets a different group of employees almost every week to discuss
what he terms his ``vital few priorities.''
He shows them a diagram that lists his top two aims as: 1)
Improve Quality. 2) Improve Quality.
``This business is not about big bangs,'' Padilla, 59, tells
employees in a conference hall in Dearborn, Michigan, where Ford,
the world's No. 3 automaker, is based. The company needs constant
improvements over time, he says.
Time may not be on his side. Padilla already faces declining
sales and a loss of market share to companies such as Toyota Motor
Corp. In response, he has sped up the introduction of new models
by basing three sedans on an existing design from an affiliate,
Japan's Mazda Motor Corp. More inspections helped Ford cut
customer complaints 22 percent in three years. Yet Toyota is
improving on complaints, too, so Padilla is taking his quality
message to plants worldwide.
``It finally dawned on them that `We have to fix the
process,''' says James Womack, 56, president of the Lean
Enterprise Institute in Brookline, Massachusetts, which advises
companies on how to boost efficiency. ``The difficulty is the
lateness of the day and the time it takes to get this right. Once
the ship sinks below the water to a certain point, it's just
pretty rough.''
Declining sales prompted Ford to twice lower its earnings
forecast this year, most recently on June 21. The company now
expects full-year profit, excluding some one-time costs, of $1 to
$1.25 a share compared with an original forecast of $1.75 to $1.95
in January. Ford doesn't make forecasts for net income.
`Refine It'
Ford shares have declined 30 percent this year, compared with
a 14 percent drop by Detroit-based General Motors Corp., the
world's largest automaker by sales. Toyota City, Japan-based
Toyota surpassed Ford as the No. 2 automaker in 2003.
Padilla says Toyota serves as an example of how to make
winning models.
``Toyota doesn't hit home runs every time at bat,'' he says
during an interview in the executive dining room. ``When they
don't hit a home run, they go back and refine it.''
While the quality of Ford's vehicles is improving, it still
lags behind Toyota, says Dennis Virag, president of Automotive
Consulting Group Inc. in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
``Ford is improving, but Toyota is a moving target,'' Virag
says. ``For a person knowledgeable about cars, they marvel at the
pain Toyota takes to make sure the car is right.''
Ford began Japanese-style quality efforts under chief
executive officers Philip Caldwell and Donald Petersen, who
together oversaw the automaker throughout the 1980s. Ford ran
advertisements with the slogan ``Quality is Job 1'' from 1979 to
1997.
Camry, Accord
Under Petersen, Ford introduced the Taurus sedan, which was
the No. 1-selling car in the U.S. from 1992 to 1996 before being
eclipsed by Toyota's Camry and Tokyo-based Honda Motor Co.'s
Accord.
Ford's quality efforts later faltered. In 2001, Ford finished
last among seven automakers with multiple brands in a J.D. Power &
Associates quality survey that measures consumer complaints about
new vehicles. The company rose to fifth place the following year
and remained there in 2004. The surveys show Ford improved to 127
complaints per 100 vehicles in 2004 from 162 in 2001.
Toyota finished first in each year, dropping to 101
complaints per 100 vehicles in 2004 from 115 in 2001.
This year, J.D. Power altered the survey, reporting only
results for individual brands. Ford's Jaguar luxury brand, with 88
complaints, finished second to Toyota's Lexus, with 81. The next
best for Ford was its Lincoln U.S. luxury brand, which ranked No.
14 with 113 complaints per 100 vehicles.
Below Average
The company's other U.S. brands, Ford and Mercury, finished
worse than the industry average of 118 complaints. Mercury had 120
and Ford 127.
Padilla's effort to constantly make small improvements is the
right approach, says Sasha Kamper, who helps manage $86 billion in
fixed income at Principal Global Investors in Des Moines, Iowa,
including Ford bonds.
``Auto companies are behemoths,'' she says. ``The thing to do
is set a strategy and figure out small steps to make that strategy
work.''
Born in Detroit of Mexican and Irish descent and the third of
11 children, Padilla joined Ford in 1966. He rose to oversee
production of models including the Escort and Taurus sedans.
Padilla also was director of engineering and manufacturing at
U.K.-based Jaguar from 1992 to 1994, a time when Ford was trying
to trim losses at the unit it purchased in 1989.
Outside the Mold
Padilla's manufacturing background contrasts with such former
senior executives as Harold Poling, chairman and CEO from 1990 to
1993, who was a finance specialist, and Lee Iacocca, Ford's
president from 1970 to 1978, whose expertise was in marketing.
Executives can damage quality by demanding late changes to
new models, Padilla says. Executives such as Iacocca, who later
became Chrysler Corp.'s chairman and CEO, ordered last-minute
changes in styling at Ford, causing engineers and suppliers to
make quick fixes shortly before production was slated to begin.
Padilla, who became Ford's chief operating officer in early
2004 before adding the title of president in February, says
executives should express opinions but not issue last-minute
mandates.
``One person shouldn't do that,'' he says. ``We have
tremendous talent, people who are in tune with the marketplace.''
Padilla says he expresses his thoughts about models while
still giving leeway to designers and engineers.
Extra Inspections
To improve quality and prevent early recalls, Ford added
extra inspections of new car and truck models in recent years. In
December, Louise Goeser, then Ford's top quality executive, said
in an interview that the company had already managed to cut annual
warranty costs by about $1 billion since 2001.
Padilla has conducted 15 plant reviews worldwide since
becoming chief operating officer, the No. 2 position at Ford, last
year. Each review lasts as long as a full day and quality issues
take up at least one hour, Ford spokesman Ron Iori says. The plant
reviews also include town-hall-style meetings and slides of how
the factory compares with ``best in class'' competitors, he says.
Target Abandoned
It hasn't prevented slow sales. In April, Ford said its
automotive unit would break even at best this year and abandoned a
target, first set in January 2002, of generating $7 billion in
pretax profit next year.
On May 5, Standard & Poor's cut its ratings on Ford debt to
junk status, BB+. At the same time, it also lowered GM's debt
below the investment-grade category.
Since then, investors have driven up the bonds of both
companies. The yield on Ford's 7 percent bond due in 2013 fell to
7.66 percent on July 1 from 8.61 percent on the day the ratings
cut was announced, while the price rose to 96 cents on the dollar
from 90.5 cents.
On June 21, Ford said its profit outlook for North America
had worsened as vehicle sales weakened.
CEO William Clay Ford Jr., 48, says he plans to boost profit
by introducing new models and cutting costs. His success to date
has been mixed. While net income rose to $3.49 billion in 2004
from $495 million in 2003, more than 80 percent of last year's net
income came from making loans to buyers of Ford cars and trucks.
The $7 billion target for 2006 depended on the company making
most of its profit from auto sales.
28-Month Decline
Ford's share of the U.S. market, the company's largest, has
declined for 28 straight months. During the first six months,
Ford's market share slid to 18.8 percent from 20 percent a year
earlier.
The biggest success has been the redesigned Mustang, whose
sales increased 31 percent through June from a year earlier. Those
gains have been more than offset by declining sales of mid- and
large-sized sport-utility vehicles, or SUVs, such as the Explorer
and Expedition, because of rising gasoline prices.
``It's an incredibly difficult industry right now,'' says Dan
Poole, vice president at Cleveland-based National City Corp., who
helps manage $34 billion, including Ford shares.
``You're going to be selling fewer Explorer SUVs at $60-a-
barrel oil than at $30-a-barrel oil,'' Poole says.
Ford's sales of mid- and large-sized SUVs fell 20 percent in
the U.S. in the first half of the year.
Padilla says the company might have made the 2006 target if
it had cut some new models. ``We're not going to do that,'' he
says. At an April news conference, Bill Ford said the best chance
to boost market share would be the introduction of the three
Mazda6-based sedans -- the Fusion, Milan and Zephyr -- in October.
`Design for Assembly'
One of Padilla's initiatives has been to ensure that new
models are designed with easy assembly in mind.
``You don't let product development design whatever they
want,'' says Ford Group Vice President Phil Martens, 45, who is in
charge of product development. ``You design for assembly.''
Toyota isn't the only Japanese carmaker Padilla says is worth
following. Ford owns one-third of the shares of Hiroshima-based
Mazda and is using the Japanese affiliate's know-how to get new
models to market sooner. Mazda re-uses more existing components in
new models than Ford, enabling it to reduce development time and
costs.
``They do things consistently over time,'' Padilla says.
By basing its three new sedans on the Mazda6, Ford cut the
time from design to production to 37 months from about 50, Martens
says.
`An Opportunity'
Ford needs to re-use more parts, such as seat frames and
controls for moving windows up and down, when it comes out with
new or redesigned models, National City's Poole says.
``This should have been done 40, 50 years ago,'' he said.
``This is where I see an opportunity.''
Since his days at Jaguar, Padilla has held positions with
responsibility for South America, North America, global
manufacturing and quality. He is still most at home on the factory
floor, says David Cole, 67, chairman of the Center for Automotive
Research in Ann Arbor.
``His real comfort zone is a plant,'' said Cole, who has
known Padilla since he was in charge of South America from 1996 to
1998.
Padilla says his strategy is to tap everyone from executives
to assembly workers and information-technology experts for their
know-how on how to improve production.
``I never end any conversation without a discussion of the
process,'' he says. ``We've got to fix the processes.''
Touting the Milan
Ford is making progress with its new products, he says,
calling the Milan sedan ``the best execution of what a Mercury
should be.''
Mercury, founded in 1939, is a brand with prices between the
company's mass-market namesake brand and its Lincolns. Last year,
Mercury's U.S. sales totaled 193,534, down from a high of 579,498
in 1978.
The introduction of the midsize Fusion, Milan and Zephyr will
test Ford's ability to revive passenger-car sales, says Virag of
Automotive Consulting Group.
``It's critical they have a smooth launch with no quality
glitches,'' he says.
--Editors: Jarvie, Horvitz, Henry, Todd.
07-05-2005, 10:18 PM
#14
The sizzle in the Steak
...any word on the Chrysler exclusions?
07-05-2005, 11:28 PM
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Originally Posted by cob3683
Waiting for Porsche to come up with their own employee discount program 
LOL
Instead they raised prices recently.
07-06-2005, 11:47 AM
#18
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Originally Posted by gavriil
Instead they raised prices recently.
With the way the dollar is valued against the euro, it's making it tougher for the euro car makers to stay competitive...
07-06-2005, 11:53 AM
#19
Race Director
But for their good sales, I would have voted for Nissan to be next to offer their VPP for everyone.
This was GMs way to get rid of excess stock, but now that they're hooked on it they're gonna smoke it for all its worth.
This was GMs way to get rid of excess stock, but now that they're hooked on it they're gonna smoke it for all its worth.
07-06-2005, 01:32 PM
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Originally Posted by Moog-Type-S
...any word on the Chrysler exclusions?
http://money.cnn.com/2005/07/06/Auto...reut/index.htm
Dubbed "Employee Pricing Plus," the discount program does not include the hot-selling Chrysler 300 sedan, the Dodge Magnum wagon or the all-new Dodge Charger, a Chrysler spokesman said.
He said the Dodge Viper sports car and vehicles from Chrysler's SRT performance line were also excluded from the discount program.
He said the Dodge Viper sports car and vehicles from Chrysler's SRT performance line were also excluded from the discount program.
07-06-2005, 04:27 PM
#22
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Originally Posted by Ashburner
Damn... I got my GTO just in time. I knew they were selling them as soon as they came in.
Two of my friends got theirs new for about $20k five months ago.
One of them is already trading it back for something else, he's had too many problems with it. I hope you have better luck with yours.
07-07-2005, 09:59 AM
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Originally Posted by GreenMonster
You can't blame any of the european companies for raising their prices...
With the way the dollar is valued against the euro, it's making it tougher for the euro car makers to stay competitive...
With the way the dollar is valued against the euro, it's making it tougher for the euro car makers to stay competitive...
07-07-2005, 10:00 AM
#24
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Originally Posted by SiGGy
Two of my friends got theirs new for about $20k five months ago.
One of them is already trading it back for something else, he's had too many problems with it. I hope you have better luck with yours.
One of them is already trading it back for something else, he's had too many problems with it. I hope you have better luck with yours.
07-07-2005, 10:34 AM
#25
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Originally Posted by gavriil
Right but when Porsche announced price increases the Euro was on a decline for some time against the dollar. That decline continues to this day. It's below 1.20 now.
07-14-2005, 10:35 AM
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GM Sales Blowout Pulled Forward Sales, Power Says - - Source: The Car Connection
The 47-percent boost in sales at General Motors last month didn't pull in as many customers from other automakers as GM hoped, according to new information from J.D. Power and Associates' Power Information Network (PIN). GM's employee-discount program pulled forward customers who would have otherwise waited to buy a new GM product, rather than customers who shopped other brands, the PIN study of GM sales data suggests. Some 63.1 percent of vehicles traded in for new GM products during the month were other GM vehicles; in May, the figure was 64 percent, according to the Detroit News. The paper adds that GM doesn't agree with the Power assessment, offering that so-called "conquest" sales (those coming from customers shopping other brands) rose by 50 percent in the month, pulling in more than 150,000 new customers. Since GM announced its employee-discount offer for all customers, Ford and Chrysler Group have matched the deals.
07-14-2005, 10:39 AM
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I think this is significant news. It's also significant because GM disagrees with JD Power. If this program did not do anything to potential customers who were thinking of buying a competitor's vehicle, then one can derive that the sales boost GM saw was just a temporary spike. It will not continue in the future.
07-14-2005, 11:19 AM
#31
The sizzle in the Steak
Originally Posted by phipark
This is what our the dealers were afriad of before GM executed this program. They were afraid the following months sales would go down the toilet.
What's GM gonna do early winter when the sales go down the drain? Like stated earlier short-term fix that will hurt them in the long run.
07-14-2005, 11:27 AM
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Originally Posted by Moog-Type-S
What's GM gonna do early winter when the sales go down the drain? Like stated earlier short-term fix that will hurt them in the long run.
07-14-2005, 11:30 AM
#33
The sizzle in the Steak
Originally Posted by gavriil
They are trying to find band aids to their problems until the 900 trucks come out. THEY think that the 900s will save the day, sales-wise. Let's see.
07-14-2005, 02:26 PM
#35
Burning Brakes
Originally Posted by Moog-Type-S
What's GM gonna do early winter when the sales go down the drain? Like stated earlier short-term fix that will hurt them in the long run.
07-18-2005, 05:51 PM
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GM program cut margins - - By Jason Stein - - Source: Automotive News
Automotive News / July 18, 2005
DETROIT -- Dealers in June shouldered most of the incentive load of General Motors' employee pricing program, Edmunds.com says.
The information service says the discount from GM's average sticker price increased $952, from $6,455 in May to $7,407 in June. But the cost to GM increased only $136 based on the average transaction price of vehicles sold. Dealers picked up the $816 difference.
DETROIT -- Dealers in June shouldered most of the incentive load of General Motors' employee pricing program, Edmunds.com says.
The information service says the discount from GM's average sticker price increased $952, from $6,455 in May to $7,407 in June. But the cost to GM increased only $136 based on the average transaction price of vehicles sold. Dealers picked up the $816 difference.
07-18-2005, 05:53 PM
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Also:
Pontiac: GM's party pooper - - Source: Automotive News
Pontiac: GM's party pooper - - Source: Automotive News
Dealers blame car-heavy lineup, me-too products
Last month, Pontiac missed the party. During General Motors' blowout summer sale, seven GM brands enjoyed sales increases, ranging from Buick's 36.4 percent to Hummer's incredible 210.5 percent. Pontiac sales fell 14.1 percent. Dealers blame Pontiac's vague brand image, a car-heavy lineup and me-too vehicles that resemble other GM products.
Last month, Pontiac missed the party. During General Motors' blowout summer sale, seven GM brands enjoyed sales increases, ranging from Buick's 36.4 percent to Hummer's incredible 210.5 percent. Pontiac sales fell 14.1 percent. Dealers blame Pontiac's vague brand image, a car-heavy lineup and me-too vehicles that resemble other GM products.
07-19-2005, 09:28 AM
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Pontiac's sales continue to struggle despite employee pricing promotion - - JAMIE LAREAU | Automotive News - - Source: AUtoweek
DETROIT -- Last month, Pontiac missed the party.
During General Motors' blowout summer sale, seven GM brands enjoyed sales increases, ranging from Buick's 36.4 percent to Hummer's incredible 210.5 percent. Pontiac sales fell 14.1 percent.
Company officials blame the decline on a decision to cut fleet sales. But disappointed dealers blame Pontiac's vague brand image, a car-heavy lineup and me-too vehicles that resemble other GM products.
"The product is too much like what GM already has," says an Ohio dealer who asked to not be identified. "It's still a good-quality product; it's just not as exciting as it used to be."
Pontiac also depends heavily on car sales, with division partner GMC getting most of the trucks. Trucks were big sellers in June, but Pontiac could not take advantage.
Pontiac has struggled all year.
In a low point for Pontiac, GM Vice Chairman Robert Lutz implied that it was a "damaged brand" in comments to analysts at the New York auto show in March.
Through June, total Pontiac sales are down 17 percent compared with the first six months of last year.
3-prong strategy
John Larson, general manager of Buick, Pontiac and GMC, says there are three key elements in the plan to rebuild Pontiac's image and its sales. GM will:
1. Promote its channel strategy to group Pontiac, Buick and GMC brands into single dealerships. To avoid overlapping products, GM will eliminate vehicles from the three brands.
2. Trim Pontiac's aging product lineup. Weak sellers such as the Bonneville sedan, Aztek sport wagon and Sunfire compact die after the 2005 model year.
3. Revive Pontiac's traditional performance image with the Solstice roadster, which debuts this fall. Pontiac also gets the Torrent sport wagon, which is based on the Chevrolet Equinox.
Pontiac executives say retail sales for June actually rose 17 percent compared with June 2004, Larson says. He blames lower fleet sales for last month's sales decline.
Larson says Pontiac sold 126,309 retail units through June, compared with 145,183 in the first six months of last year - a 13 percent drop. GM would not release retail and fleet breakdowns for its other brands.
'The toughest sale on earth'
Some frustrated dealers say the brand needs better marketing.
"Pontiac right now is the toughest sale on earth," says a Florida dealer who asked not be identified.
"We can't even get anyone to consider a Pontiac. If you get them to drive a G6, they come back impressed, but I don't think we've ever had anyone come in and ask about the G6."
A Detroit-area dealer who asked to not be named says Pontiac buyers tend to prefer trendy new products. So that buyer will cross-shop Pontiac with rivals such as Mazda, Honda, Toyota and even Chevrolet, regardless of incentives.
One marketing expert questions some of Pontiac's moves. Although Pontiac gave away 276 G6s last September on Oprah Winfrey's TV talk show, the car still has poor product recognition, says Gordon Wangers, CEO of Automotive Marketing Consultants Inc. in Marina del Rey, Calif.
Many people do not know the G6 replaced the Grand Am, he adds.
"Pontiac should have retained the name Grand Am," Wangers says. "It'd be easier to recreate the image of the Grand Am than to create new name recognition for the G6."
No summer Solstice
Likewise, Pontiac placed the new Solstice roadster on the April 14 episode of "The Apprentice" reality TV show. But the car still is not in dealer showrooms, the Florida dealer says. The Solstice was scheduled to arrive in dealerships by mid-summer but was delayed because of production problems.
"There's a train of thought at GM of, 'Gosh, we need to tell them about it so they don't go look at Toyota or a Honda,' " says the dealer. "What they don't understand, because they've never stood in a showroom, … is how people feel when they come to look for a vehicle and it's not there."
Larson says sales will look brighter in the 2006 model year, when Pontiac will have its full G6 lineup.
G6 sales have been hampered because the division is only selling the sedan with a 3.5-liter V-6. This fall it will add the 2.4-liter four-cylinder coupe and sedan as entry-level models, which should boost volume. And a 3.9-liter V-6 GTP performance version also is scheduled to appear in the fall.
Pontiac plans to launch the G6 retractable hardtop in the first quarter of next year. Pontiac began building the 2006 models in April.
Says Larson: "Just getting the availability of the G6 products will help us tremendously."
During General Motors' blowout summer sale, seven GM brands enjoyed sales increases, ranging from Buick's 36.4 percent to Hummer's incredible 210.5 percent. Pontiac sales fell 14.1 percent.
Company officials blame the decline on a decision to cut fleet sales. But disappointed dealers blame Pontiac's vague brand image, a car-heavy lineup and me-too vehicles that resemble other GM products.
"The product is too much like what GM already has," says an Ohio dealer who asked to not be identified. "It's still a good-quality product; it's just not as exciting as it used to be."
Pontiac also depends heavily on car sales, with division partner GMC getting most of the trucks. Trucks were big sellers in June, but Pontiac could not take advantage.
Pontiac has struggled all year.
In a low point for Pontiac, GM Vice Chairman Robert Lutz implied that it was a "damaged brand" in comments to analysts at the New York auto show in March.
Through June, total Pontiac sales are down 17 percent compared with the first six months of last year.
3-prong strategy
John Larson, general manager of Buick, Pontiac and GMC, says there are three key elements in the plan to rebuild Pontiac's image and its sales. GM will:
1. Promote its channel strategy to group Pontiac, Buick and GMC brands into single dealerships. To avoid overlapping products, GM will eliminate vehicles from the three brands.
2. Trim Pontiac's aging product lineup. Weak sellers such as the Bonneville sedan, Aztek sport wagon and Sunfire compact die after the 2005 model year.
3. Revive Pontiac's traditional performance image with the Solstice roadster, which debuts this fall. Pontiac also gets the Torrent sport wagon, which is based on the Chevrolet Equinox.
Pontiac executives say retail sales for June actually rose 17 percent compared with June 2004, Larson says. He blames lower fleet sales for last month's sales decline.
Larson says Pontiac sold 126,309 retail units through June, compared with 145,183 in the first six months of last year - a 13 percent drop. GM would not release retail and fleet breakdowns for its other brands.
'The toughest sale on earth'
Some frustrated dealers say the brand needs better marketing.
"Pontiac right now is the toughest sale on earth," says a Florida dealer who asked not be identified.
"We can't even get anyone to consider a Pontiac. If you get them to drive a G6, they come back impressed, but I don't think we've ever had anyone come in and ask about the G6."
A Detroit-area dealer who asked to not be named says Pontiac buyers tend to prefer trendy new products. So that buyer will cross-shop Pontiac with rivals such as Mazda, Honda, Toyota and even Chevrolet, regardless of incentives.
One marketing expert questions some of Pontiac's moves. Although Pontiac gave away 276 G6s last September on Oprah Winfrey's TV talk show, the car still has poor product recognition, says Gordon Wangers, CEO of Automotive Marketing Consultants Inc. in Marina del Rey, Calif.
Many people do not know the G6 replaced the Grand Am, he adds.
"Pontiac should have retained the name Grand Am," Wangers says. "It'd be easier to recreate the image of the Grand Am than to create new name recognition for the G6."
No summer Solstice
Likewise, Pontiac placed the new Solstice roadster on the April 14 episode of "The Apprentice" reality TV show. But the car still is not in dealer showrooms, the Florida dealer says. The Solstice was scheduled to arrive in dealerships by mid-summer but was delayed because of production problems.
"There's a train of thought at GM of, 'Gosh, we need to tell them about it so they don't go look at Toyota or a Honda,' " says the dealer. "What they don't understand, because they've never stood in a showroom, … is how people feel when they come to look for a vehicle and it's not there."
Larson says sales will look brighter in the 2006 model year, when Pontiac will have its full G6 lineup.
G6 sales have been hampered because the division is only selling the sedan with a 3.5-liter V-6. This fall it will add the 2.4-liter four-cylinder coupe and sedan as entry-level models, which should boost volume. And a 3.9-liter V-6 GTP performance version also is scheduled to appear in the fall.
Pontiac plans to launch the G6 retractable hardtop in the first quarter of next year. Pontiac began building the 2006 models in April.
Says Larson: "Just getting the availability of the G6 products will help us tremendously."
07-19-2005, 03:20 PM
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I agree with Wangers 100%. They really should have kept the Grand AM name. It defintiely would have been easier to improve the cars image than with the introduction of the "First ever G6," which was a crappy slogan anyway, IMO.
07-19-2005, 09:31 PM
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Whoa it says pontiacs look like other GM cars?!
I think that it's the second most distinct line GM has (among itself)(cadillac being the most distinct) The G6 really doesn't look like a malibu or a lacrosse, the grand prix doesn't look like an impala or a lacrosse ( i don't know where the lacrosse fits in, that's why i used it 2x)
The GTO doesn't look like a vette...or anything else...a sunfire looks like a cavalier but who cares really?
Hmm now that I think about it, pontiac should be up, at least in my book. They have a fresh lineup (minus the sunfire(if they still even make that) and OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH the bonniville is kinda old...but I didnt think that they had enough sales anyways that a decrease would make a difference...
maybe it's marketing, the first ever G6, maybe the market has to warm up to it...like an old guy slippin into a hot bath...idk