05 announcement = low sales
Rebates + deals = high sales


Combination?

I have seen a post somewhere, where a Pontiac person felt the month was on track for 1,100 deliveries. Which would make it the best month yet. The GTO boards have lots of posts from new owners this month. So it could be deals=high sales that win.

August deliveries : 967

Year to date : 5,551

Am I correct in that Pontiac expected to sell 18,000 GTO's for 2004?

Before they started production that was their expectation.

And it was missed big time. I wonder how many were produced ie not sold yet?

Originally posted by JCS30TH@Sep 2 2004, 11:09 AM
And it was missed big time. I wonder how many were produced ie not sold yet?
Yes. Is there any way of finding out how many new unsold 2004 GTO's are in the U.S.?

Right now they can't give them away here in Cincinnati. All of our lots are overflowing. :(

The dealer up the street has 8 sitting in a half moon on his lot. They haven't budged. They have been like that for 6 months now. I know I could work a fantastic deal on one, but with the prospect of the LS2 in 05 it taints it either way. Yeah it could be a steal, but it won't be satisfying watching all those other GTO's tooling around with the beautiful 6.0 badges on the back. Just like right now is the time if anyone wanted a new C5. All the owners holding their money for the C6 should make for some AWESOME C5 deals. You just have to be able to cope with the perception of driving a "lesser" car. Not that any C5 isn't still a fantastic car. It just isn't everything they have packaged into the C6. If you can deal with that it would be worth it.

Going LS2 is the most logical choice for me. I'm drooling just thinking of all the goodies that the GTO and C6 ~might~ share. A few minor styling cue improvments. All they need now is a SUNROOF option. ~Flex~ be ****ed. :(

I thought 30% of GTO's were preordered? What happened to that?

Originally posted by Branden@Sep 13 2004, 10:21 PM
I thought 30% of GTO's were preordered? What happened to that?
i bet most dealers gouged the pricing and the buyers backed out when the cars showed up.

When they first came out here in Little Rock they had a sticker price of 40K.

Originally posted by stoker@Sep 15 2004, 03:27 PM
When they first came out here in Little Rock they had a sticker price of 40K.
Thats what is causing poor sales RIGHT there, it was bad enough they came in the winter, but with 8K mark ups, the dealers ruined the car's launch for GM.

True That!

Originally posted by stoker@Sep 15 2004, 03:27 PM
When they first came out here in Little Rock they had a sticker price of 40K.
i can't believe some of these dealers :angry:

I'll bet a lot of buyers with orders and deposits backed out like I did. After waiting for nearly 9 months from pre-order until delivery, I gave up and bought the CTS-V. The best part was that it took an additional 3 months after that for the GTO to arrive. The made my wait a full year. The heart can wander in a year.

love the cts v
wish it was a lil cheaper
but thats caddy

Originally posted by vbrulz@Sep 3 2004, 07:04 AM
Right now they can't give them away here in Cincinnati. All of our lots are overflowing. :(

The dealer up the street has 8 sitting in a half moon on his lot. They haven't budged. They have been like that for 6 months now. I know I could work a fantastic deal on one, but with the prospect of the LS2 in 05 it taints it either way. Yeah it could be a steal, but it won't be satisfying watching all those other GTO's tooling around with the beautiful 6.0 badges on the back. Just like right now is the time if anyone wanted a new C5. All the owners holding their money for the C6 should make for some AWESOME C5 deals. You just have to be able to cope with the perception of driving a "lesser" car. Not that any C5 isn't still a fantastic car. It just isn't everything they have packaged into the C6. If you can deal with that it would be worth it.

Going LS2 is the most logical choice for me. I'm drooling just thinking of all the goodies that the GTO and C6 ~might~ share. A few minor styling cue improvments. All they need now is a SUNROOF option. ~Flex~ be ****ed. :(
DUDE!

Comparing the C5 to the C6 and the 04 to the 05 GTO is not even the same sport. I will admit I will most likely be like "I should have waited" but I can tell you at 24K I am glad I did not. The 10K I saved in Cost is going towards my Forced Induction :0) -- I see 10-11's coming really soon.

But that is just my .02 worth :woot:

Originally posted by Nocturn@Sep 15 2004, 04:32 PM
Thats what is causing poor sales RIGHT there, it was bad enough they came in the winter, but with 8K mark ups, the dealers ruined the car's launch for GM.
That basically sums it up!

a "friend of mine" works for gm... told me there was a big time battle inside gm on the price of the new gto. a large faction wanted to see the car priced at 29,995 with a "scionesque" price fix- which would not have allowed dealers to gouge. the dealers won that battle....now with incentives the price is 29,995...and they are selling about 1000 a month hmm...

A small correction is in order. GM announced that their maximum production capacity was 18,000 units per year.

If they had sold everything they could have produced, the GTO would have been wildly successful. Can you think of any other GM car that is in maximum production? The ONLY car I can think of is the Toyota Prius (or maybe Ferrari).

The bigger question is whether the GTO program is operating at a margin higher or lower than GM's other models. If it is, then it counts as a success for Mr. Lutz and team. Note that for automobiles, the fixed costs are so high that volume (for most makers) is the key to profitability.

Given that the tooling for the body was already amortized in Australia and that the drive train is lifted whole-hog from the Corvette, GM's investment to bring this car to the United States was modest, hence that breakeven point in sales was low and the risk was low.

At the modest but increasing sales rates, the GTO looks like a good business decision for Lutz.