Sports car sales
02-12-2004, 03:32 PM
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Sports car sales
Sport Cars: Lots Now, More Coming
Jerry Flint, 02.10.04, 4:41 PM ET
Once a year I like to look at the competition in the sports car market. What's amazing is how many sports cars are on sale and how few are actually sold.
More From Jerry Flint
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Car companies, particularly foreign manufacturers, just love to build sports cars. Those companies are generally run by men with engineering or automotive backgrounds. They are "car guys." American companies are usually controlled by men from the finance department, and they just can't understand why they should build such low volume specials. I can remember the day that General Motors (nyse: GM - news - people ) even thought about killing the Corvette.
But times are changing and even our American companies are getting the fever. General Motors promises a new, low-priced, two-seat roadster, the Pontiac Solstice, as a 2006 model. What's low priced? Figure a list of $20,000 plus $4,000 to $5,000 more for options. Ford Motor (nyse: F - news - people ) has its low-volume, high-price GT coming this year, and the Chrysler division of DaimlerChrysler (nyse: DCX - news - people ) just showed a "super car," the ME Four-Twelve, which it hints will be built in addition to the Dodge Viper and the Chrysler Crossfire sports cars.
The sporty Pontiac Solstice.
Manufacturers offer a lot of different models for a market that totals around 200,000 units per year in the U.S.
Let me explain a few of the numbers in my table.
I didn't list exotics like Ferrari, Lamborghini and Lotus because these nameplates sell only a handful of cars in the U.S. each year. And I didn't count some sporty coupes or convertibles--such as the Toyota (nyse: TM - news - people ) Solara and the Chrysler Sebring--because these cars are traditional coupes or convertibles, not sport cars.
As you can see from the table, the Nissan (nyse: NSANY - news - people ) Z has been resurrected and is hot. The Corvette numbers are down because a new 2005 model is coming and everybody knows it. The BMW Z4 came out at the end of 2002 so that's why you see that big gain for 2003. The Ford Thunderbird isn't a true sports car, but it's a two-seater and sporty as get out so I put it on my list.
What's changing is that sales are dropping for the old reliables, such as the Mazda Miata, the Honda (nyse: HMC - news - people ) S2000, the Audi TT and the Toyota MR2 Spyder.
These cars compete in the edgiest part of the market. In the old days sports cars didn't have to change; they could last forever and keep selling. But today change must come sooner in order to thwart off a decline in sales.
This list of sports cars sold in the U.S. is likely to grow. This year Mercedes will launch a sleeker SLK and the SLR super car; a new Corvette has already been shown; a punchier Porsche Boxster S goes on sale this spring; and you can still buy a BMW Z8 if you've got $130,000 or so. The Chrysler Crossfire convertible comes out in May and Ford is thinking about building a new Shelby Cobra. The Lotus Elise is expected to come to the U.S. this year; Volkswagen's roadster is due in three years.
Ford's new GT.
The best news, though, is the Pontiac Solstice coming next year. And the Solstice may be just the beginning of sportier but lower-priced cars at GM. Executives there make it clear they expect low volume for the Solstice--between 20,000 and 30,000 per year. In order to spread out the costs of the new Kappa platform, upon which the Solstice is based, GM management wants annual sales of at least 100,000 vehicles. So there will be other racy models following the Solstice. One Kappa derivative that GM might bring to market is a version of the Chevy Nomad two-door sporty wagon, a show car that GM put on display at the January auto shows.
Other Kappa possibilities are a Saturn coupe or convertible, such as the Curve show car and maybe a Chevy roadster. All I can say at this point: Count on three to five more Kappa derivatives over the next few years.
If GM is successful with this project, will Ford be far behind?
It's the low-priced idea that I like. Too often these cars are launched with somewhat affordable price tags--say low or middle $30,000s, like the BMW Z or the Mercedes SLK or Audi TT. But before long six-cylinder engines are replacing the fours and the prices run past $40,000.
The Europeans and Asians have an easier time building sports cars because they also build for export markets. Up until now, American manufacturers have been at a disadvantage because such models have had limited success cracking foreign markets.
But sport cars still excite auto writers much more than sedans or SUVs or minivans. These cars get the publicity and the magazine covers. If they don't earn their keep in the balance sheet, they may earn it in publicity and good will.
Jerry Flint, 02.10.04, 4:41 PM ET
Once a year I like to look at the competition in the sports car market. What's amazing is how many sports cars are on sale and how few are actually sold.
More From Jerry Flint
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Car companies, particularly foreign manufacturers, just love to build sports cars. Those companies are generally run by men with engineering or automotive backgrounds. They are "car guys." American companies are usually controlled by men from the finance department, and they just can't understand why they should build such low volume specials. I can remember the day that General Motors (nyse: GM - news - people ) even thought about killing the Corvette.
But times are changing and even our American companies are getting the fever. General Motors promises a new, low-priced, two-seat roadster, the Pontiac Solstice, as a 2006 model. What's low priced? Figure a list of $20,000 plus $4,000 to $5,000 more for options. Ford Motor (nyse: F - news - people ) has its low-volume, high-price GT coming this year, and the Chrysler division of DaimlerChrysler (nyse: DCX - news - people ) just showed a "super car," the ME Four-Twelve, which it hints will be built in addition to the Dodge Viper and the Chrysler Crossfire sports cars.
The sporty Pontiac Solstice.
Manufacturers offer a lot of different models for a market that totals around 200,000 units per year in the U.S.
Let me explain a few of the numbers in my table.
I didn't list exotics like Ferrari, Lamborghini and Lotus because these nameplates sell only a handful of cars in the U.S. each year. And I didn't count some sporty coupes or convertibles--such as the Toyota (nyse: TM - news - people ) Solara and the Chrysler Sebring--because these cars are traditional coupes or convertibles, not sport cars.
As you can see from the table, the Nissan (nyse: NSANY - news - people ) Z has been resurrected and is hot. The Corvette numbers are down because a new 2005 model is coming and everybody knows it. The BMW Z4 came out at the end of 2002 so that's why you see that big gain for 2003. The Ford Thunderbird isn't a true sports car, but it's a two-seater and sporty as get out so I put it on my list.
What's changing is that sales are dropping for the old reliables, such as the Mazda Miata, the Honda (nyse: HMC - news - people ) S2000, the Audi TT and the Toyota MR2 Spyder.
These cars compete in the edgiest part of the market. In the old days sports cars didn't have to change; they could last forever and keep selling. But today change must come sooner in order to thwart off a decline in sales.
This list of sports cars sold in the U.S. is likely to grow. This year Mercedes will launch a sleeker SLK and the SLR super car; a new Corvette has already been shown; a punchier Porsche Boxster S goes on sale this spring; and you can still buy a BMW Z8 if you've got $130,000 or so. The Chrysler Crossfire convertible comes out in May and Ford is thinking about building a new Shelby Cobra. The Lotus Elise is expected to come to the U.S. this year; Volkswagen's roadster is due in three years.
Ford's new GT.
The best news, though, is the Pontiac Solstice coming next year. And the Solstice may be just the beginning of sportier but lower-priced cars at GM. Executives there make it clear they expect low volume for the Solstice--between 20,000 and 30,000 per year. In order to spread out the costs of the new Kappa platform, upon which the Solstice is based, GM management wants annual sales of at least 100,000 vehicles. So there will be other racy models following the Solstice. One Kappa derivative that GM might bring to market is a version of the Chevy Nomad two-door sporty wagon, a show car that GM put on display at the January auto shows.
Other Kappa possibilities are a Saturn coupe or convertible, such as the Curve show car and maybe a Chevy roadster. All I can say at this point: Count on three to five more Kappa derivatives over the next few years.
If GM is successful with this project, will Ford be far behind?
It's the low-priced idea that I like. Too often these cars are launched with somewhat affordable price tags--say low or middle $30,000s, like the BMW Z or the Mercedes SLK or Audi TT. But before long six-cylinder engines are replacing the fours and the prices run past $40,000.
The Europeans and Asians have an easier time building sports cars because they also build for export markets. Up until now, American manufacturers have been at a disadvantage because such models have had limited success cracking foreign markets.
But sport cars still excite auto writers much more than sedans or SUVs or minivans. These cars get the publicity and the magazine covers. If they don't earn their keep in the balance sheet, they may earn it in publicity and good will.
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