[bharabs]

Originally Posted by merlin803

"Top GM exec sees continued strong auto sales in 2016"

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/...2016/87772530/

"And even though demand for cars is weaker throughout the industry, some are still selling at premiums compared with the models they replaced.

The Camaro is selling for $3,700 more on average than its predecessor"

Profits....not number of Camaro's sold vs Mustang (Ford by the way missed their 2nd quarter profit marks..)

No mention of impending doom or even disappointment in Camaro sales.

Rage on though.

Just think of the sales number if they stick to 5th gen profit margin. $3500 off the current prices and it would be a no brainer for anyone in the market for a muscle car. $3500 is exactly which makes 6th gen overpriced.

But then GM decides to charge $3500 more from Camaro loyalists

Also, note that its selling for $3700 more, which doesn't mean GM is making $3700 more per car sold.

[aestil]

First, they didn't say it was selling for that much of an increased profit. Secondly they went bankrupt before, so maybe it's a good thing they are selling products for a better margin, as is the goal of all businesses. Or did you want GM to be a non-profit from now on?

[shaffe]

Originally Posted by SS 1LE

...this is part of the problem. Most people don't special order their cars. So when they see all these fully loaded 2SS's on lots they get sticker shock.

This will give a lot of people sticker shock

http://www.billkaychevrolet.com/inve...fd3ds5h0105200


http://www.billkaychevrolet.com/inve...fh3d74h0111229


a 48K V6 drop top and a 60K drop top SS

[hotlap]

Originally Posted by merlin803

"Top GM exec sees continued strong auto sales in 2016"

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/...2016/87772530/

"And even though demand for cars is weaker throughout the industry, some are still selling at premiums compared with the models they replaced.

The Camaro is selling for $3,700 more on average than its predecessor"

Profits....not number of Camaro's sold vs Mustang (Ford by the way missed their 2nd quarter profit marks..)

No mention of impending doom or even disappointment in Camaro sales.

Rage on though.

Meanwhile at Ford...

Ford's darkest day in 5 years
Stock plunged 8 percent, down 10 percent for year

Second-quarter profits were dented by expensive incentives to lure customers

Ford's credit arm also stumbled amid concerns about auto loan deterioration. Profits at Ford Credit slumped 21% during the quarter due to rising defaults, higher delinquencies and lower resale values in auctions.

[FastCarFanBoy]

a profit over sales strategy has led to the demise of some of the biggest retailers...its a proven horrible business strategy

[Thor142]

The only thing I've heard so far that makes sense is that GM is planning to move the C8 (mid engine vette) into the super car territory and make it's base price well over 100k while they move the camaro into the current Vette slot. They better have the cash to ride this plan out if it is indeed whats going on cause it's going to be like moving a mountain.

[Richard0nee]

Originally Posted by hotlap

Meanwhile at Ford...

Ford's darkest day in 5 years
Stock plunged 8 percent, down 10 percent for year

Second-quarter profits were dented by expensive incentives to lure customers

Ford's credit arm also stumbled amid concerns about auto loan deterioration. Profits at Ford Credit slumped 21% during the quarter due to rising defaults, higher delinquencies and lower resale values in auctions.

OUCH!

[Hylton]

I have a beard now.

[Dudie7]

Originally Posted by CapeCruisin

Looks like they got it right to me. Pricing on the other hand, is a little steep.

That certainly is impressive! With all THAT going for it, it surely has to be flying off dealer lots. No? Hmmmm, so what gives? Perhaps there's more to making a car great than performance numbers (which is easily remedied in the aftermarket) and pricing is only one of the issues. Just a thought...

[JaxChris]

Originally Posted by SS 1LE

Wow, my Chevrolet dealer doesn't have one SS in stock. The other local Chevrolet dealer, which is the highest volume in the southeast only had five SS' in stock last time I checked...

Who do you think has the largest volume?

I live a few miles from Stingray Chevy (owned by Classic Chevy in Texas -- aka the Hurley family) and they have 120 new Camaros on the lot. Out of that, 25 are 2SS Coupes & 6 2SS Convertibles. They have the largest inventory in the southeast.

Then Brandon Ford is the largest Ford dealer in the southeast. They have 90 Mustangs on their front and back lot. Of those 90, 49 are GT's.

Chevy moving the prices "upmarket" have done nothing but benefit Ford. The high prices on even 2LT's are making GT's and Ecoboost premiums prices look really attractive -- that is why Ford has a nearly 2:1 sales volume right now.

Separately:

A company that moves a higher volume, at a lower margin, is a better economic engine than a company that purposely cancels sales, lowers production and increases margins to obtain the same money in the bank. Employing less because you are producing less will cause a shrink in macro economy and lead to less possible buyers.

Since the domestic auto industry is a key component of the US economic engine, we don't want them doing what GM is doing. That is just selling out to Wall Street analysts for the good of fund managers.

It might look good right now on paper if you only focus on the profit per unit numbers, but GM is setting up a dark period ahead for everyone. All of US retail will suffer if these large engines continue to spin themselves down.

[ChevyRules]

Originally Posted by FastCarFanBoy

a profit over sales strategy has led to the demise of some of the biggest retailers...its a proven horrible business strategy

And I am sure GM's previous volume over profit strategy worked out for them......

As other have said, it's a balance. If selling ~5K Camaro's makes GM more money than selling them for less money getting ~7-8K sales volume, then it isn't a bad strategy. But as one member pointed out, that is assuming GM is keeping everything balanced which right now it seems they are not because they are producing Camaro's at a faster rate than they are selling. Though I am sure GM would love to sell 7-8K at the current price too.

We can speculate all we want. But we do not have GM's internal figures to what they need to sell to keep Camaro a profitable vehicle. It's getting tiring to read every month of the same people posting the same thing. "It's the looks!" "It's the price!".

This will be my last post in these sales threads. Go out and just enjoy your Camaro already!

[Dudie7]

Originally Posted by Thor142

Seems you bought the right car then. Congrats.

I think the car is outstanding, just too expensive. I'll probably still get one but I can see why the general public is turned off.

Thanks so much! Im sure I picked well also. The Camaro is an outstanding performer.....

[nvrsatisfied]

Originally Posted by Dudie7

That certainly is impressive! With all THAT going for it, it surely has to be flying off dealer lots. No? Hmmmm, so what gives? Perhaps there's more to making a car great than performance numbers (which is easily remedied in the aftermarket) and pricing is only one of the issues. Just a thought...

I'll explain it. People bought the Mustang because it was cheaper. When they try to trade them in, they are upside down even though they put 4K down payment. The mustang trade value is low because of the incentives Fotd offered. Since they cant trade in the mustang and they can't afford to roll the negative equity into the Camaro, they are stuck with the Mustang. Ford is trying to help them by selling tune packages to increase the performance.

[ChefBorOzzy]

Originally Posted by JaxChris

It might look good right now on paper if you only focus on the profit per unit numbers, but GM is setting up a dark period ahead for everyone. All of US retail will suffer if these large engines continue to spin themselves down.

"GM is setting up a dark period ahead for everyone" is a stretch.. Big stretch.. Auto sales will be going down sooner than later and it's not because of how they priced their Camaro.