GM cautious on production plans for Sky & Solstice

[kostby]

Quote »GM to employ cautious production plan for upcoming Saturn, Pontiac niche cars JASON STEIN | Automotive News | Posted Date: 1/20/05Don't expect a glut of Saturn Skys or Pontiac Solstices on dealership lots in 2005 - at least not because of overproduction.And don't expect to see a load of additional vehicles off General Motors' Kappa architecture that will be used on the Solstice and Sky roadsters.GM CEO Rick Wagoner said the automaker will use a cautious production plan for its new line of niche vehicles after seeing other halo vehicles sit on dealership lots."We are going to be pretty tough about how many we produce," Wagoner said at the Detroit auto show. "We're going to be very disciplined about increasing production, because while it seems like we make decisions that don't look very smart, we do learn from them."Wagoner said GM "probably overproduced" the Chevrolet SSR and Pontiac GTO in 2004.Wagoner said GM will gauge the market more closely when it comes to niche vehicles in the immediate future.That includes new products from Pontiac and Saturn.He added: "We should play those for what the market wants." Link to full Autoweek article --> http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=101622

[drunkenmaxx]

hmm, a lot full of 30 and $50k cars. overproduced? i guess you could say that.

[Mr. Poopypants]

Well, maybe a shortage is a good thing, that will drive up demand.

[damronjr]

Quote, originally posted by Mr. Poopypants »Well, maybe a shortage is a good thing, that will drive up demand. Then it will be like those other cars a few years back that had to be special ordered and a 6 month wait to get in.

[Mr. Poopypants]

Like Vibes and the ever-so-awkward looking PT Cruiser.

[damronjr]

Quote, originally posted by Mr. Poopypants »Like Vibes and the ever-so-awkward looking PT Cruiser.I thought it was the PT that was like that when it came out. Didn't know the Vibe was the same.

[Mr. Poopypants]

I think it all depended on where you lived, I had 3 to pick from, that's it, but I bought mine shortly after it came out. I know there were a few people who had to wait awhile.

[drunkenmaxx]

it was definitely silly to stock the lots w/ssr's and gto's. they are expensive. would they stock the lot full of corvettes? hell no! now, stocking up on affordable cars, that could be a strategy. "oh, we have several models to choose from in that price range..."

[damronjr]

Quote, originally posted by drunkenvibe »it was definitely silly to stock the lots w/ssr's and gto's. they are expensive. would they stock the lot full of corvettes? hell no! now, stocking up on affordable cars, that could be a strategy. "oh, we have several models to choose from in that price range..."I would think that if you were going to spend that kind of $$ you would probably want to special order it anyways.

[Raven]

I'd be happy if there was even 1 GTO on a lot here. If they made too many, why didn't they make them legal for sale in Canada!

[ColonelPanic]

Quote, originally posted by Mr. Poopypants »Well, maybe a shortage is a good thing, that will drive up demand. Absolutely! It's not a good idea to saturate the market with something the customers probably won't want. That's pretty good financial sense for the manufacturer.But on the flip side, for the customer I suppose that could get 'em ripped off. Looking at how dealers try to screw their customers over with thousands of bucks tacked on top of MSRP, or insane deposits,etc on the rare cars. I'd say the crap someone wanting a Prius has to go through is a pretty good example. The manufacturer is benefiting by reduced production/inventory and increased profits for all involved... But the customer can get screwed, and may end up looking elsewhere. So even this way, I would think there's still a good chance they'll still have inventory the dealers can't rid themselves of.So either way, nobody really ever wins.

[Psychobroker]

Quote, originally posted by Mr. Poopypants »I think it all depended on where you lived, I had 3 to pick from, that's it, but I bought mine shortly after it came out. I know there were a few people who had to wait awhile.All I know is that they're EVERYWHERE now ...at least out here in SoCali

[Z600]

The SSR was just a bad idea, period. A design that caters to the redneck NASCAR fans (truck + racecar + retro styling), then slap on a $40,000+ pricetag where they can't afford it? Doesn't make sense to me. It's an overhyped El-Camino! Its politically correct for me to use the redneck term, BTW. I come from a long line of 'em! They're my peeps!~ Z600