Voltz Production Terminated

[ragingfish]

http://www.detnews.com/2003/au...9.htmQuote »Toyota to halt Voltz production at U.S. plant due to poor salesAssociated Press TOKYO -- Toyota Motor Co.p. said Wednesday it will halt production of the Voltz, a sport utility vehicle manufactured jointly with General Motors Corp. at its U.S. plant, because of poor sales. Production of the Voltz, which has been based in Freemont, Calif., will be terminated next spring, said Toyota spokesman Taro Takada. Toyota, the country’s top automaker, had released the Voltz exclusively for the Japanese market in August 2002 hoping for sales of 1,500 units per month. In November, aggregate sales totaled 8,802 -- far short of its expected 24,000 sales, Takada said. The Voltz was the first full-fledged model jointly developed between Toyota and Detroit-based GM. Despite the halt, Takada said there will be no change in cooperation between the two automakers. Toyota’s Corolla and Tacoma models and GM’s Pontiac Vibe are also made at the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. in Freemont for the North American market.

[NSimkins]

Quote »In November, aggregate sales totaled 8,802 -- far short of its expected 24,000 sales, Takada said. Wow, very interesting news. I wonder what the halt of production of the Voltz will have on the production of the Vibe in regards to the possibility of more Vibes being built and easier availability and less wait time when ordered.

[ragingfish]

Quote, originally posted by NSimkins »Wow, very interesting news. I wonder what the halt of production of the Voltz will have on the production of the Vibe in regards to the possibility of more Vibes being built and easier availability and less wait time when ordered.I also wonder if this will slow down the development and release of aftermarket parts?

[Vibe Rater]

There has never been, and never will be, a successful launch of any vehicle from North America in Japan. They don't buy North American built vehicles. Never have, never will. It was a boneheaded move by GM/Toyota to even try and expect to sell 24,000 vehicles/year. Meanwhile, Canadians were forced to wait 6 months for a VIBE. Typical GM markketing. The entire marketing department should be flogged and fired.

[NSimkins]

Let's just hope something positive can become of this development for North American consumers.

[joatmon]

Quote, originally posted by silverawd26 »Maybe and maybe not. If the sales of the Vibe drop for a couple months in a row, they might axe it too (GM that is).Uh-oh, looking at http://www.genvibe.com/html/news/headlines.shtml, it shows a consistent fewer Vibe sales for the last three months compared to the same time last year:September 2003: 3117September 2002: 3924October 2003: 3794October 2002: 6509November 2003: 3372November 2002: 3617ANy viber wannabe's better get yours fast, and any lurkers out there better sign up here right now so that GM will see the support for this vehicle and keep it around!just kidding, I doubt if the vibe is at risk. Respectable sales numbers. Too bad about the Voltz though,

[ragingfish]

If they kept the aztek this long as a failing model, they won't off the vibe so fast...

[NSimkins]

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »just kidding, I doubt if the vibe is at risk. Respectable sales numbers. Correct, a big - I've been told the Vibe will be around for awhile, so let's not get worried. As mentioned above, sales figures show and insider information states sales are close to what was expected if not more.Quote, originally posted by silverawd26 »... how the Aztek is doing badly, but I am curious to see what the sales are overall for the last couple yearsComplete GM sales figures:http://media.gm.com/news/sales/index.htmlCheck it out - good info

[NSimkins]

Quote, originally posted by silverawd26 »Looks like 2002 was a good year for the Azteks, but 2003 was a killer. Too bad they are getting rid of it, I am sure if they restyle it a bit, the sales will be saved. I see a lot of Azteks around Metro Detroit. Yeah, I think one of the only things that helped sell most of the Azteks during 03 were the insanely large rebates and special finance rates... I see them all over here too. Thankfully the Vibe outsold the Aztek this year. I'd rather see more Vibes than Azteks.You'd also have to wonder if Toyota were to release the Voltz using the Matrix skin rather than the Vibe skin if it may have done better.

[joatmon]

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mer...4.htmQuote, originally posted by "Mercury News" »NUMMI to halt Voltz output hereBy Michele ChandlerMercury NewsNew United Motor Manufacturing Inc. will halt production of the Toyota Voltz at its Fremont plant in the spring because of slow sales in Japan.The shutdown won't result in fallout for the plant's 5,700 employees, NUMMI spokeswoman Rhonda Rigenhagen said. Most NUMMI workers help build three other vehicles that have seen increasing demand from North American consumers -- the Toyota Corolla, Pontiac Vibe and Tacoma pickup.Cutting production of the Voltz ``will enable us to better meet that demand,'' Rigenhagen said, adding that the few employees dedicated to the Voltz's production will be transferred to other jobs at the plant.The Voltz is the right-hand-drive version of the Pontiac Vibe sport wagon. Toyota sells the Voltz exclusively in Japan. NUMMI is a Toyota-General Motors joint-venture auto plant run by Toyota. The two automakers began building the Voltz 18 months ago. It was the first car built at the Fremont plant to be sold in Japan.Rigenhagen, said the vehicle's quality did not factor into Toyota's decision to quit building the car. ``The quality is high, but the market demand for the vehicle isn't there,'' she said. ``Toyota has 25 or 30 different products in Japan, so there is a lot to chose from.''Toyota, Japan's top automaker, had released the Voltz exclusively for the Japanese market in August 2002 hoping for sales of 1,500 cars a month. Sales peaked at 1,346 in September 2002 but fell below 500 in both January and February of this year.In November, aggregate sales totaled 8,802, far short of the expected 24,000 target, Toyota spokesman Taro Takada told the Associated Press in Tokyo.Even though the Voltz will no longer be produced, there will be no change in cooperation between the two automakers, Takada said.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------"The shutdown won't result in fallout for the plant's 5,700 employees"

[ArcsVibe]

Actually my brother said that GM is still pleasantly surprised about the Vibes sales...they never thought it would be that strong!

[ragingfish]

Just wait until they bring out the GXP...I bet they'll never imagine how popular THAT will be...

[kaybeejay]

Quote, originally posted by Vibe Rater »There has never been, and never will be, a successful launch of any vehicle from North America in Japan. They don't buy North American built vehicles. Never have, never will. It was a boneheaded move by GM/Toyota to even try and expect to sell 24,000 vehicles/year. Meanwhile, Canadians were forced to wait 6 months for a VIBE. Typical GM markketing. The entire marketing department should be flogged and fired.I somewhat agree. 24,000 vehicles per year in a market that competitive is a tall order. In the US, the Vibe is an "SUV alternative" with few competitors. In Japan, every other car has Voltz like features and the consumers have many more choices.However, it was a wise choice for Toyota to team up with a domestic company. Think demographics!! There are people out there who would NEVER step foot into an import showroom. Similarly, there are people who would NEVER step foot into a domestic showroom. GM and Toyota shared the R&D, share the manufacturering costs and are able to reach TWO completely different demographics.There are owners on genvibe.com who have had their Vibes for over a year and many of them don't even know they are actually driving a Toyota. They think they are driving a GM product (which is true too) In fact, some even admit that this is the first time they have ever owned an Import. The only way they would buy an import is if it were sold as a domestic. (admit it, there are people who think like that) The Vibe is acting as an ambassador to those domestic diehards and its GREAT PR for Toyota!!The basic demographic of Vibe owners is very different than Matrix owners. Matrix owners tend to be younger, and more concerned with speed modifications. Owners of Vibes tend to be older, and are more concerned with whether or not a childseat will fit in the back. TWO very different demographics are served with a one time R&D investment. Sounds like good business to me.This is nothing new. The Suzuki Metro was sold in the US as the Geo Metro. The Toyota Corolla was sold here as the Geo Prizm. The Chevy Cavalier was sold in Japan as a Toyota. The Mitsubishi Eclipse was rebadged an Eagle Talon. The Dodge Stealth is really a Mitsubishi 3000GT. The Ford Tauras SHO has a Yamaha Engine. The Mazda B-series pick up trucks are really Ford Rangers.The Japanese market is really tough. They don't have a market for larger SUV's over there, so the competition for the compacts are really really really tight. Over here there are really only a few competitors with the Vibe/Matrix - so they sell much better here. It's no surprise that the Voltz didn't do well over there. That doesn't mean that the Matrix is a superior vehicle. In fact, there is a good chance that the Matrix would have failed over there too - that's the market over there.Also think about the culture over there. Anything "American" gets attention. Levi's, baseball, whatever. If the Matrix was sold over there - it would not have much distinction from other Toyota's. Since they brought over the Voltz, with "american style" - it had something different which separated it from the others.The Voltz was a historic vehicle. It was the first vehicle (either EVER or in a long long time) that was produced in an American Factory which was EXPORTED to Japan.The fact that the Voltz had a place in automotive history sure does add some validity to Toyota/GM making the decision to try and sell it in Japan.

[kaybeejay]

Quote, originally posted by NSimkins »Wow, very interesting news. I wonder what the halt of production of the Voltz will have on the production of the Vibe in regards to the possibility of more Vibes being built and easier availability and less wait time when ordered.Yes. Nummi now will have less burden to produce two versions of the same car. The assembly lines will work faster now that they don't have to make those right hand drive conversions.Expect new Vibe availablilty to increase.

[Vibe Rater]

Quote, originally posted by kaybeejay »The Suzuki 'Metro' was sold in the US as the Geo Metro. (Suzuki 'Swift')All good points. The Japanese market is tough to crack for sure. They are a very loyal market and buy Japanese. It's ironic that the Suzuki Swift is back in Suzuki N/A showrooms, but it is a Korean bulit car. Most of the old Swifts were Canadian bulit.

[AKLGT]

Quote, originally posted by kaybeejay »There are owners on genvibe.com who have had their Vibes for over a year and many of them don't even know they are actually driving a Toyota. They think they are driving a GM product (which is true too) In fact, some even admit that this is the first time they have ever owned an Import. The only way they would buy an import is if it were sold as a domestic. (admit it, there are people who think like that) The Vibe is acting as an ambassador to those domestic diehards and its GREAT PR for Toyota!!and there are many people here that also knew the vibe was a toyota and bought it for that reason. i for one, bought my gt only because i knew it was a toyota product. otherwise, i would have bought something else.... another japanese (most likely toyota) product.

[Stang2Vibe]

Quote, originally posted by silverawd26 »Exactly. Toyota has one of the best reputations for reliability. Honda is starting to lose in this category atleast with the Pilot. Also, VW is having problems with their Toureg. It is a nice looking vehicle, but it is breaking really easy. Toyota has more than one vehicle that can compete with the Pilot. I am somewhat surprised when looking through Toyota's North American lineup that they have so many SUV's. If they develop a V8 that can make similar power and torque numbers to American trucks, GM and Ford better hold on for a rough ride. The new Toyota trucks are very nice, just are still a bit on the small side and aren't putting out the power to match the American competition. As for the Toureg, I think it is a bit funky looking and it's no surprise that it has reliability issues. VW has been mass-producing many overpriced unreliable cars for years now. They just can't seem to iron out electrical problems that have been plaguing them for years.

[kaybeejay]

Toyota needs to build a full sized v8 truck. The Tundra has been a joke in the full sized truck community for years. Its simply not enough.Nissan has stepped up with the V8 Titan. It should give the new F-150 some competition.I would not trust anything from Honda that is supposed to be a truck or an SUV. Honda doesn't have any experience in making trucks/SUV's or making big torquey engines. They are VERY successful in the 4-banger econo/family/sporty cars.Toyota has history in the racing world, the truck world, the off-road world and the commerical truck world. They got all the bases covered pretty well.