[hotlap]

Originally Posted by aestil

The issue here is that without a doubt if the price of an item goes up, fewer of that item will sell. That is just the way of things. So with the price of the Camaro increasing from $2k to $7k per car, depending on configuration, I 100% guarantee that GM/Chevy was expecting to sell fewer units. In fact, this is self evident. They raised the price, and so there is no way a reasonable business person would expect to sell as many as was sold for a less expensive version.

Yet people in this thread keep comparing it to sales of the previous, and much less expensive generation and assuming that these sales numbers are a failure. While that may be the case, the assumption that selling as many as the less expensive Mustang or less expensive previous generation is just not reasonable.

Look for all we know the overall net on the Camaro is MORE than it used to be on the 5th gen.

It's insane that people keep predicting the end of Camaro based on these sales with almost no indication from GM that they are unsatisfied with the number of units sold.

The year over year sales figures are not very informative. What was the ASP of a Camaro last year versus this year? When you combine the fact that the whole market is down overall, with the fact that the GM entry into the segment is more expensive, then I suspect sales are in line with expectations.

Of course this is as much conjecture as anyone else best guess.

Chevy chose to option and content the Camaro this way. It wasn't an oversight and the expensive, hard tonneau convertible top cover is more evidence that positioning upmarket was their aim.

Originally Posted by Bassment

GM has recently repeatedly stated they are going for margin. They decreased fleet sales. They are also going for higher resale value, and targeting a more upscale market. They are a publicly traded company, all their financials are readily available to look at.

Similar to Cadillac whose sales are slumping. Aim and priced to move up market as discussed in the following article. It appears to be GM's long term strategy but only they know if they are meeting early expectations. Transforming a brand is a long term thing.

Expanding Cadillac’s reach is the task of Johan de Nysschen, the South African native who became Cadillac’s boss in 2014. The former Infiniti and Audi executive and BMW dealer persuaded GM’s brass to move Caddy’s headquarters to New York’s SoHo district last year, to “be closer to trendsetters.” He’s also a beneficiary of GM’s decision to shell out $6 billion in the next few years on 11 new or revised Cadillac models. The biggest need: crossovers. The luxury marque is adding one this year—the midsize XT5, which replaces the aged SRX. More are coming, but not until 2018.

Cadillac also has just introduced a flagship sedan, the CT6. Reflecting de Nysschen’s strategy of keeping prices high to polish the brand’s image, a well-equipped model can list for $70,000; a loaded one, $90,000. “I don’t want Cadillacs in every driveway. I’d rather have them in the right driveways," he says.

That strategy has cost Caddy some sales, but fattened the bottom line. TrueCar says the average realized price in February for a Cadillac bought via its service was $57,949 after incentives, 10.3% higher than a year earlier.That left Cadillac behind Mercedes-Benz, but ahead of BMW, Audi, and Lexus.

De Nysschen aims for Cadillac’s global sales, which rose 7.5%, to 277,868, last year, to surpass 300,000 in 2016. He asserts that 750,000 is possible by the end of 2025, as its models cover 90% of the luxury market—from crossovers to convertibles—versus 50% now.

http://www.barrons.com/articles/gene...ide-1460781730