Vibe outsells Buick in August...

[panchess]

..at least the Vibe is going out with increased sales, up 38% in August. The Vibe outsold the entire Buick division, 8,640 to 8,612, in the month.There is some logic somewhere why GM kept Buick and got rid of Pontiac. Where, I don't know.

[Kincaid]

I think it's the fire sale mentality (and fire sale offers). If I could have used my $4300 in GM Mastercard points on any GM product I might well have bought a Chev Colorado.Still, would be nice if GM rethought it and kept NUMMI open making Chevrolet Vibes!

[djb383]

Quote, originally posted by panchess »..at least the Vibe is going out with increased sales, up 38% in August. The Vibe outsold the entire Buick division, 8,640 to 8,612, in the month.There is some logic somewhere why GM kept Buick and got rid of Pontiac. Where, I don't know.+1, that's the logic that got them in the shape they're in. Here's some more GM logic......I kinda like the '10 Chevy Equinox but need the V6 engine option for the 3500 lb tow capacity. The V6 is only available if you also get (required) chrome wheels and 8 speaker stereo. What do wheels and radios have to do with engines?????? Again, more GM logic. It's incredible to me to think that some way overpaid people at GM sit around a big conference table and dream this kind of crap up.

[stuffbyduff]

One reason GM won't kill Buick right away is its success in Asia http://www.autoblog.com/2009/0...hina/

[Old Tele man]

...unfortunately, Asia isn't "bailing out GM," it's OUR tax-money that's being used.

[star_deceiver]

And Pontiac was the one that was killed...

[tnpartsguy]

Quote, originally posted by stuffbyduff »One reason GM won't kill Buick right away is its success in Asia http://www.autoblog.com/2009/0...hina/ GRRRRR.... Buick in Asia and Buick in the US are 2 totally different vehicles!!!The so-called Chinese Buick is an Chinese built Daewoo (OK, let's call it what we call it here A CHEVROLET AVEO) with a tri-shield badge instead of a nerdy bowtie!!If I seem angry....I am.... GM kept the dumpy divisions... GMC & Buick, and destroyed history by cancelling Pontiac. Now they are firmly on their way to making Cadillac a sporty luxury car.....*sighs* at one time Cadillac was the luxury division, now it's just another expensive rebadged Chevy with unrealiable powertrains.GM sucks btw, after next year, Buick will be a 3 car pony again, as the Lucurne is on the chopping block... (guess it's too much like a Caddy?) The new Lacrosse (Allure to our Canadian Freinds {which is another off topic, why do we get stuck with Lacrosse, which is a slang term for a sexual act in French-speaking Canada, while they get Allure, which is a sensible name??) in 2012 the Enclave gets a redesign, and the Regal will reappear (as a smaller, entry-level Buick).

[IMakeVibes]

Quote, originally posted by Kincaid »Still, would be nice if GM rethought it and kept NUMMI open making Chevrolet Vibes!Myself and many other employees couldn't agree more...if only that would make a difference. I don't understand who does the thinking for GM, but they sure don't make sense most of the time. I have a Pontiac myself (and a Toyota). Its not a Vibe, but it is a great little fun car. It saddens me to know it will be my last one. Probably my last GM vehicle as well. I like the concept behind the Volt, but I would wait a while until it has proven itself before getting one. I think this will be just the beginning of many more vehicles of this type.

[panchess]

A problem the former Pontiac dealers have is product (most Pontiac dealers also sell Buick, it was the pairing preferred by GM). With Pontiac disappearing by the end of this year (they said 2010, but they aren't building any Pontiacs, so as a practical manner the inventory should be gone this fall and winter), what do these dealers have to sell? Two cars and an SUV whose sales fell by over half in one year. Ouch. I heard the complaints at all four dealerships I went to when I bought our new Vibe last month.If I was the head of GM, I would have re-badged the Vibe (renamed Skylark), G8 (renamed Wildcat) and Aura (renamed Regal) as Buicks, and got rid of the Luzerne. That would make Buick more of a "world car" or "world luxury" brand, different from Chevy or Cadillac. Buick used to sell Opel anyway, so this would mark a return to some of their roots while allowing for world brand expansion.

[Old Tele man]

...the little "baby Corvette" Opel GT was cool!...re-introduce it in fiberglass with a 1.4L turbo and 6 spd tranny and instant EF/go-power.

[Kincaid]

Quote, originally posted by panchess »If I was the head of GM, I would have re-badged the Vibe (renamed Skylark), G8 (renamed Wildcat) and Aura (renamed Regal) as Buicks, and got rid of the Luzerne.Good thinking!

[bondo123]

"Still, would be nice if GM rethought it and kept NUMMI open making Chevrolet Vibes!"i agree 100%, seems vibe is the only shining star in the whole pontiac lineup, why not keep a good thing going.....on the other hand i suspect vibe would otherwise be a slow seller if not for the heavy incentives and c4c, i was tracking the local inventory there were plenty up till c4c, and within the first week, all the 1.8L were gone

[panchess]

Perhaps, though with approximately 60,000 sales per year, the Vibe was a good seller for Pontiac. Dealers will tell you (if you look like you know what you are talking about) if a vehicle is a good seller or not. All of the ones I talked to are sad the Vibe is going.

[Kincaid]

I can only imagine they think people will move up to the Equinox because the mpg is comparable now?That's quite a big jump in $$ over the Vibe.

[Vibe_dude]

Has anyone thought about how much $ GM actually gets per vibe.....after all most of the $ that GM gets for a vibe sale goes to toyota.That is why Buick is here and the vibe is history.

[panchess]

All of GM was unprofitable except SUV's in the "old days," that is why they went bankrupt.Having said that, getting a finished car from NUMMI that they could actually sell at a fair price (only at the end did the Vibe have big rebates. Most of the time the Vibe rebates were less than the Cavalier/Cobalt, though the car price was higher)at a fixed price was probably better for the bottom line than GM's small car line was during the same time period.

[vibolista]

Quote, originally posted by Kincaid »I can only imagine they think people will move up to the Equinox because the mpg is comparable now?That's quite a big jump in $$ over the Vibe.If the new Equinox could reach 40 mpg like my Vibe just surprised me with at a fill up on my way home tonight... they might have a real winner/Vibe replacement. The 2.4l Equinox might approach the mpg numbers that a 2.4l automatic Vibe can muster, but in won't get you a tank full at an average rate of 40 mpg, unless you can find a way to drive it downhill with a nice tail wind all the time. Let me know when someone figures out how to get around the physics. The head boys at the top of GM have been running on empty for quite a long time, especially when it comes to well thought out planning and execution. In my view, the top end of GM never quite seemed to behave like car guys. They were always more like big money people in charge of a colossally large car building company. They did a great job at the helm, and it shows. Buick over Pontiac, anyone? Give me a break. Of course, other car companies can also have some wierd quirky thinking spells. How about a 4 door Porsche, as just one small example. But, secretly, I can't wait until they do a wagon version of the 4 door with the vinyl wood on the sides!

[Vibe_dude]

I think I would still take a Buick over a Pontiac anyday..if I had the $$ to pay for a Buick.lol....The only Pontiac I really would love to have is the G8,and that is moving over to Chevy.

[jake75]

Quote, originally posted by Vibe_dude »I think I would still take a Buick over a Pontiac anyday..if I had the $$ to pay for a Buick.lol....The only Pontiac I really would love to have is the G8,and that is moving over to Chevy.Uh - Lutz put the cart before the horse - also his foot in his mouth. The latest news is that the G8 is going nowhere. You will just have to move to Australia if you want a G8.