GM Cutting Prices eff. 1-11-06; Vibe included???

[jake75]

"DETROIT -- General Motors Corp. on Tuesday announced plans to slash prices on most of its models as part of an effort to more accurately reflect what consumers are willing to pay and move away from the heavy incentives that confuse buyers and take a bite out of the auto maker's profits.GM is trimming sticker prices across the board on its top-selling Chevrolet brand, as well as on vehicles produced under the GMC and Buick names. Prices will also be slashed on certain vehicles produced by the company's Pontiac and Cadillac divisions. In total, 57 of GM's 76 models will be eligible for discounts.The average price reduction on eligible vehicles will be $1,300, with cuts as high as $3,000 on some vehicles, Mark LaNeve, head sales and marketing for GM, said at a press conference. He said that incentives will still be offered, but that they are expected to be lower than what is currently available."Wonder if the Vibe will be among the "certain Pontiac" vehicles?My guess is that these cuts include a further narrowing of the spread beteen MSRP and wholesale prices so the extent of the price cut that the consumer will actually experience is not as great as might appear just looking at the old and the new MSRP. This has been the trend in the past several years for most if not all auto companies.

[pianomansam]

Hard to say... seeing that GM doesn't like advertising our toyota with pontiac skin, i don't know what to think. The article I first saw it in says Quote »GM is lowering prices on all 2006 and 2007 Chevrolet, Buick and GMC vehicles and most Pontiac vehicles http://www.businessweek.com/ap...an=dbThe most in the quote leaves room that they won't lower it. Oh, the life of a Vibe, the forgotten GM sibling.

[mcgusto82]

Ohh well the vibe near future should be secured enough. It sells like pancake. ALL auto collaborations must come to an end. I wonder when they plan on the vibe and trix to go their seperate ways.

[jake75]

Quote, originally posted by mcgusto82 »Ohh well the vibe's near future should be secured enough. It sells like pancakes. ALL auto collaborations must come to an end. I wonder when they plan on the vibe and trix to go their seperate ways.The Prizm and the Corolla never went their separate ways - the Prizm just went away. Of course that was after GM abandoned the separate "GEO" nameplate so the now Chevrolet Prizm was competing against the Chevrolet Cavalier I believe. I can't remember if there was a time when Nummi was just cranking out Toyotas and nothing for GM.

[ColonelPanic]

Found hereQuote »General Motors Corp. is taking a major step in reducing its dependence on eye-popping rebates by slashing sticker prices up to $2,500 on 57 of 76 new vehicle models sold in North America.The move -- affecting every Chevrolet, Buick and GMC model as well as most Pontiac cars and trucks and select Cadillac vehicles -- is fraught with risks for the world's largest automaker.While it could establish a more sustainable pricing strategy, it could backfire if deal-conscious consumers look elsewhere. GM's previous attempts over the past year to lower vehicle prices and drop incentives have failed to draw buyers.GM believes the cuts, which will average $1,300, will help win over the growing number of consumers who use the Internet to comparison-shop among vehicles. The automaker's discounts -- which can run as high as $4,000 -- aren't always reflected on new model prices quoted on online shopping sites, making many GM vehicles appear substantially more expensive than rival models."The idea is to make sure that if you want to buy one of our cars, you don't have to wait for a deal; it's there every day," GM Chairman Rick Wagoner said Tuesday.While analysts generally viewed the new strategy as a positive step, they said GM will face challenges by lowering or eliminating discounts and trying to convince consumers its cars and trucks can stand with the best in the world."They're going to have a tough time making that argument against the imports," said Richard Gentile, associate director of auto products at Consumer Reports, which recommends only 13 of GM's nearly 80 models to its readers.The cuts, first reported in The Detroit News last week, are another move by the automaker to stem huge financial losses -- $4.8 billion in the first nine months of 2005 in North America -- and declining sales. While big rebates can boost sales in the short term, they eat into profits and can erode a brand's value.GM's U.S. market share is hovering at an all-time low of 26 percent and some Wall Street analysts say the automaker may be forced to seek bankruptcy protection within several years without deeper restructuring moves.After a rally Monday, GM's stock price Tuesday fell 1.5 percent to $22.06 per share in New York Stock Exchange trading.Ad campaign starts todayGM will begin touting the reductions in an advertising campaign beginning today. The automaker will show it has the lowest-priced vehicle in every category and, in some cases, offers more standard features than competitors.Through a special partnership also announced Tuesday, GM will steer customers to auto-shopping Web site Edmunds.com, where they will be able to click on a banner labeled "head2head" and compare vehicles for themselves.GM said the strategy comes at the urging of dealers, who wanted to shift attention from the automaker's financial troubles and make pricing more transparent for customers confused by shifting rebate programs."It's hard for us to know the full list of incentives, let alone a consumer," said Richard Genthe, a Chevrolet dealer in Southgate, who believes price reductions will help raise resale values of GM vehicles over time.The cuts will be on a range of models that account for about 80 percent of GM's total U.S. sales. In addition to all Chevy, Buick and GMC models, GM will slash stickers on the Cadillac CTS sedan and SRX crossover vehicle, as well as the Saturn Relay minivan.GM also plans to continue offering new models closer to levels consumers will actually pay, as it has done with the Chevy HHR wagon, Pontiac Solstice and other vehicles.To make the point, GM said Tuesday the redesigned 2007 Chevy Tahoe LS SUV will be $33,900, or $2,000 less than its predecessor.Rebates to be 'less visible'Mark LaNeve, vice president of marketing for GM North America, said cash incentives will still be used to sell vehicles but will be smaller and "less visible" than before. But the company will have to work hard to ensure it doesn't backslide by offering large incentives if the new strategy doesn't immediately yield results."We're going to have to have a little stick-with-it-ness on this program," LaNeve told reporters Tuesday.Advocates contend doing so would be good not only for GM, but also for U.S. car buyers, who have become conditioned to expect fat discounts in recent years."By moving to everyday low prices, consumers know that the consumer that came in front of them or after them is going to pay about the same price," said Mike Jackson, chief executive officer of AutoNation Inc., a publicly traded auto dealership chain based in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. "And they like that fairness."GM's moves also could prompt Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group to take similar moves, as happened last summer when GM offered employee-style discounts.But neither company said it had immediate plans to counter with a program of its own."What they announced today is no different than what we've been trying to do," said George Murphy, Chrysler's senior vice president for global marketing, referring to Chrysler's practice of launching vehicles with more realistic sticker prices."The promise of a more rational pricing is a good thing for the industry," said Jon Harmon, a Ford spokesman. "We want to sell on the strength of our products and not on the size of the deal."Will others follow move?Yet it may be difficult for GM's competitors to let the new strategy go unchallenged."I have a feeling that other brands are going to have to figure out what to do," said Jim Sanfilippo, industry analyst with AMCI Inc. in Detroit.Even if other automakers wanted to match GM's cuts or launch a rival program, they won't be able to do it overnight. GM said the program has been a massive undertaking, with millions of new sticker prices being mailed to dealers. "People won't be able to follow us rapidly because it's a pretty hard thing to do to go back and change all your prices," Wagoner said.But there are no guarantees the new strategy will work for GM. The automaker saw sales rise with new incentive programs last year only to fall when they were discontinued."Is it without risk?" Wagoner said. "No. But we think it's the right move."

[NSimkins]

Quote, originally posted by pianomansam »The most in the quote leaves room that they won't lower it. Oh, the life of a Vibe, the forgotten GM sibling.I did hear that the GTO is not included in this price cut (as well as Hummer and Saab lines). That *may* be where the "most Pontiac" portion came from, but I'm not 100%.

[zionzr2]

there have been calls from major GM investors to slash the dividends and dramatically cut the GM line up....Axing SAAB, HUMMER, and BUICK!!

[jake75]

"Ad Campaign Starts Today"Yeh - I saw double page color spread for Chevrolet in the Columbus Dispatch and the Wall St Journal today. Multiply that by all the major (and some not so major) newspapers in the U.S. and you've p-ssed away an awful lot of money.Not really any specific information either. They direct you to "click on headtohead at edmunds.com. Good idea,but when I went to edmunds.com I didn't see any headtohead link.

[mcgusto82]

Quote, originally posted by zionzr2 »there have been calls from major GM investors to slash the dividends and dramatically cut the GM line up....Axing SAAB, HUMMER, and BUICK!!yeah, saab isn't making any money for GM. maybe they should axe it, but it will take some heritage with it. Hummer is actually making money with the H3.

[Baltovibe]

Quote, originally posted by jake75 »when I went to edmunds.com I didn't see any headtohead link.It is there now at http://www.edmunds.com

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[jake75]

But when you follw that link do you see the "new" MSRP's?

[pianomansam]

Quote, originally posted by jake75 »"Ad Campaign Starts Today"Yeh - I saw double page color spread for Chevrolet in the Columbus Dispatch and the Wall St Journal today. Multiply that by all the major (and some not so major) newspapers in the U.S. and you've p-ssed away an awful lot of money.Not really any specific information either. They direct you to "click on headtohead at edmunds.com. Good idea,but when I went to edmunds.com I didn't see any headtohead link. shout out for another person in central ohio