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Vic Smith

On Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:50:56 -0500, wrote:

On 17 Nov 2008 15:08:02 -0600, Dave wrote:

On Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:12:45 -0500, said:

Total, unmitigated baloney. If costs are the problem, why are Chevys
so much cheaper to buy than Toyotas? Are they selling them for less
than they cost to make?

I suspect so in many cases. Thanks to the enviros, they are required to sell
a bunch of cars the people don't want to buy in order to be able to sell
enough of the larger cars that people do want. To get people to buy they
have to drop the price on the ones no one wants to buy in order to get them
sold.

More baloney. Toyota is obviously making cars that people want, and
they have to meet all the same standards as Chevy and everybody else.
Toyota is selling more cars, despite charging substantially more for
similarly sized and equipped models. Please explain how that is
possible. They may be paying their labor less money, but they sure
aren't competing on price, so labor costs are obviously not a factor.

Psychological factors, especially "brand loyalty, play a large role in
auto sales. For YTD sales of light vehicles through October, see
below.
GM by itself outsells Toyota when trucks are included. How many
Silverado owners would maintain brand loyalty and switch to
Impalas/Malibus/Cobalts because of high gas prices is anybody's guess,
but Impala sales aren't too far behind Camry, and one could argue GM
is hardly trying.
I understand Impala sales were actually up 9% last month.
High gas prices hit GM particularly hard, knocking their light truck
sales down sharply.
GM's main problem has been not concentrating on keeping brand loyalty
in the auto sector by emphasizing quality and customer service.
And longevity of models. Think about it.
They have nothing with the continuous improving history of the
Camry/Corolla/Accord/Civic.
Instead of improving their competing models, they go to a new model
every 10-12 years or so.
Their management is very short-sighted.
But labor/legacy costs must also be a big factor in their
profitability.

http://wardsauto.com/keydata/USSalesSummary0810.xls

--Vic