murphman72

Got this from www.theautochannel.com with a post date of 10/1/04. I wonder how much of the September sales were for 2004 models and how much for the new 2005...


GM Reports September 2004 Sales of 458,799, Up 20 Percent

Divisional Highlights

Chevrolet - Chevrolet sales in September were up 36 percent (283,264), led by very strong truck sales (193,476), which improved 37 percent. In addition to Equinox and TrailBlazer, Silverado sales were up 46 percent (77,007), a new September record. Colorado posted its best sales since its introduction (12,493). Chevrolet car sales were solid in September with 89,788 deliveries, a 35 percent improvement over last year. In addition to strong Malibu sales, Aveo posted 6,195 deliveries and Corvette set a new monthly sales record (3,705).

Chevrolet's third-quarter sales were up 8 percent compared to year-ago levels (795,918). Car sales increased 20 percent (264,648) in the third quarter.

curvesman

WOW! Dave should get a real big bonus!

StanNH

But haven't we been hearing from some of our favorite trolls that the new C6 wasn't selling? Aren't hundreds of unsold C6's supposed to be collecting dust on the dealers' lots? Won't dealers have to start discounting heavily to move all this unsold inventory?

This is all so confusing.

Stan

SuperChevyICM

0Rick @ Les Stanford

The sky is falling The sky is falling.

Vette_DD

Hope the trolls don't see this. They might have a heart attack.

NOVAVETTE

murphman72

Rick commented already. I'll just repeat my muse as to how many of the 3,705 reported sales included 2004s and how many were 2005s. I would hope a lot more of the latter than the former.

JoesC5

I'll bet that 60% + were C5's. The deals were to good to pass up for many. I would guess that there are ~1500 or more unsold C6's in dealers showrooms.

John George

As you say, these are guesses. Is there any factual base for making these statements or did you pull them out of the RDB?

JoesC5

No, but what I did do is pull up dealer inventories on GMBUYPOWER. I can sit at home and view unsold inventories at any location in the US by plugging in different zip codes. I made sure I wasn't seeing overlapping areas to ensure that Vettes were not counted more then once. That's most likely more research then you have done to support your position.

John George

I didn't state an opinion.

JoesC5

Sorry John, but when you questioned my post, I assumed you were taking the opposite position of my post. I thought you had some "facts" that proved that my "guess" was incorrect. Apparently you don't.

0Rick @ Les Stanford

In 1997 the plant only built a little opver 9000 C5s for the first year. We are over half of that for the C6 in just the first 2 months. Its compairing apples to oranges. I assure you the C6 is selling VERY WELL. We are into the third month of production and we still do not have an unsold C6 here at Les Stanford and we have the #2 allocation in the nation. Get over it folks the C6 is a BIG WINNER.

2005_C6

John George

No, I was just interested in what you had based it on. I bought a C6 but I don't have any preference as to whether it sells well now, later or not at all. I am just curious about how the 2 gens do compare in introducion sales. I had a C5 also but didn't buy it until 1999. I ordered the car then as well because I wanted a base car and there were none on the lot where I found an allocation for what I wanted. So I really don't know how strong C5 sales were at the time I bought mine.

Sully C5

This debate of which sold better is somewhat foolish. Economic conditions are significantly different now than they were is the C5 heyday. In the last two weeks, I have been to 4 dealers & have seen 7 C6's sitting there...two dealers were list+...two were at list. Personally, I hope C6 sales excel; otherwise, GM will not put the $$$ in to development.

John George

This is a good point. So I have to change my previous statement. I do prefer to see strong C6 sales for the reason quoted above.

JoesC5

On June 20, 1996 the last C4, a white coupe, was built. On Sept 3, 1996, parts to built 17 pre-pilot C5's were going down the line when the first C5 frame members were fitted to the welding jigs. The first pilot C5 was built on October 1, 1996. The C5 was introduced at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit (and also in Los Angeles) January 6, 1997. 1997 production ended in June 1997. They produced 9707 C5's in approx 5 months of production, not a years production that you stated. The first 1997 C5 I saw unsold in a dealers showroom was in June 1997(with a $10,000 market adjustment). The first unsold C6 (2 of them) I saw was Aug 31, 2004 , at the same dealer (the largest dealer out side of kansas City and St. Louis). I went to Bloomington in June of 1997 and saw approx two dozen C5's. I went to Eureka Springs, Arkansas ( a much smaller Corvette meet drawing vettes from OK, TX, AR, 7 MO) this past weekend and saw 6 C6's. Today, I can drive within a 220 mile radius of Springfield, MO and view 29 C6s sitting unsold in (approx 24) dealers showrooms. In Aug 1997, when I was looking for a C5, I called over four dozen dealers looking for one in stock, I found a green C5 (a color I was NOT going to purchase) at Bud's on Ohio. I called as far away as 1200 miles from Springfield, MO. I ended up ordering one in Aug, 1997 from a large Corvette dealer in Tulsa and took Delivery Nov 19,1997. During that time, a couple of unsold C5's showed up at several local dealers but were sold very quickly. Sorry, I just don't see that happening with the C6's. And, in 1997 model year, like now, they were only producing coupes. The verts weren't available until Aug of 1997, so I don't see part of the problem of the C6's slow sales as being caused by people waiting for the verts. The early C5 buyers were also waiting for the verts. Maybe your sales of the C6's are doing well, but that dosen't explain why there are so many unsold C6's in dealers showrooms across the country.

0Rick @ Les Stanford

Because they are building a lot more C6s per month than they did the C5 so more are showing up at dealers lots. 9700 built in 5 months = 1940 per month. We are at about 5000 C6s built in a little over 3 months and the plant is up to about 160 a day. 160 times 22 days per month is 3520. Simple math to me.

The same people that are saying that the C6 is not selling well and the dealers need to start heavy discounts will be the same ones that are crying next year that the resale value is not good. Go figure.