Gojirra99

Please stop the personal comments, both of you.

plex

iTrader: (11)

Corvette's only represent a small percentage of GM Sales. As someone else noted Toyota sells a lot of Camry's which represents a bigger percentage so what does GM have to compare to the Camry. GM>Toyota in sports cars yes maybe trucks for now. Toyota>GM in every other class which represents the majority of buyers.

TRDFantasy

Don't be jumping to conclusions just yet. For all we know, the LF-A could wipe the floor with the Z06, especially at high speeds, where the Z06 has unpredictable handling.

Speculating at this point is useless, as we barely know anything at all about the LF-A.

TRDFantasy

The Corvette (and also the Solstice) both are are very value-packed cars, but you DO get what you pay for.

The Corvette, with it's unbeatable price/performance ratio suffers when it comes to refinement, and when it comes to having a decent interior. The Solstice also has a dissapointing interior, and a lot of owners are unhappy with the quality of their Solstice.

Toyota would never do something like the Corvette, simply because the Corvette is an all-out performance machine, and great compromises are made in other areas. Toyota always likes to make well rounded cars, with as little compromises as possible.

The LF-A is going to be an all-out no compromise machine. It will be the flagship halo car for the company, and Toyota is sparring no expense in making it an amazing machine. The rumoured Toyota sports car is also likely to have few compromises.

MrG4Life

iTrader: (14)

They had a picture in the NY Daily News today of Godzilla (Toyota) with a GM car in his mouth and another two in his hands.

mmarshall

I agree with your wait-and-see attitude, but Threxx has a point. The Z06, from a purely performance basis, and especially considering its official sticker price (actual dealer pricing, of course, is another matter), is one of the best sports cars in the world, notwithstanding its less-than-perfect fit-and-finish and typically cheap GM interior (still a big improvement over previous models). I, myself, when I reviewed the regular Corvette C6 in December of 2005, noticed a big difference in build quality and engineering between the C6 and previous generations.

The LF-A, to say the least, is going to have its work cut out for it.

TRDFantasy

Again, the value of the Corvette and the Z06 is simply amazing from a price-performance standpoint. But that's about it. The Corvette is not, and never was an "all-around" sports car. It was always though a good value from a performance standpoint. The Porsche 991 Turbo is a well rounded sports car, and rightfully so, it costs more than a Z06.

The LF-A likely will have a top notch interior, with refinement surpassing that of a Z06.

Performance is the wild card. The Z06 has over 500HP, just like the LF-A is rumoured to have 500+ HP. The LF-A is rumoured to be as light, or possibly even lighter than a Z06, if the carbon fiber body rumours are true. And Toyota is dead serious about the performance of the LF-A. Just like the Corvette, the LF-A has a front mid-mounted engine, and the transmission in the rear. It also has rear radiators. I am just talking about the LF-A concept here, but chances are the production car will stay largely the same.

mmarshall

Remember, though.......the Z06, at dealerships, typically sells for more than list.

PhantomZX

Don't forget that GM only gets paid invoice minus holdback and incentives for each car regardless of how much the dealers sell them for.

-J-P-L-

A nice article from MSNBC:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18286221/


Note the graph comparing Toyota and GM sales since '95.

Talk about growth!!

spwolf

i would think thats another problem as well...

GS69

GM Back Ahead of Toyota
Strong China sales for GM, drop in U.S. sales for Toyota in third quarter allow U.S. automaker to move back ahead of Japanese rival in race to be global auto leader.
By Chris Isidore, CNNMoney.com senior writer
October 22 2007: 4:00 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors, which fell behind Toyota in global sales for the first time in the first three months of this year, has edged narrowly ahead of its Japanese rival in terms of 2007 sales.

Toyota (Charts) global sales for the first nine months of the year hit 7.05 million vehicles, up 7 percent from a year ago, the Japanese automaker announced early Monday. GM (Charts, Fortune 500) released figures last week that showed global sales of 7.06 million, which was up just over 2 percent from a year ago.

The assembly line of a GM joint venture in China. Strong sales gains in China, coupled with a drop in Toyota's U.S. sales in the third quarter, allowed the U.S. automaker to move back ahead of its Japanese rival in global sales.

The gap in third quarter sales was slightly larger, as GM sold 2.387 million vehicles, up 4 percent, while Toyota sold 2.237, which also represented a 4 percent gain.

In the first quarter Toyota moved ahead of GM in global sales for the first time. It was slightly behind GM in the second quarter, but it still had the lead in year-to-date global sales for the first six months of the year.

Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco had no comment on the comparison to GM sales. GM spokesman John McDonald also said the company wasn't particularly concerned with whether it was in first or second place in the sales count.

"We're not focused on being No. 1 and who's No. 2," said McDonald. "We like being No. 1. We've been No. 1 for 76 years on an annual basis. But while it's a real interesting story to the media, I don't know a single customer who uses that criteria when making the decision on where to buy a vehicle."

Tom Libby, senior director of industry analysis for J.D. Power, said that the fact that GM moved back ahead in the race for No. 1 does not mean its competitive challenge from Toyota is behind it.

"This may very well go back and forth from quarter to quarter," he said. "It's obviously a very competitive situation. To draw any major conclusion after a quarter or even three quarters is premature."

GM was helped by particularly strong sales gains in China, which is the fastest growing market for new car sales in the world. Its sales in the Asia Pacific region were up nearly 16 percent in the third quarter, helped by a 21 percent rise in sales of its Chinese joint venture.

Meanwhile Toyota has depended on growth over the years from the United States and North America, the largest market for its vehicles. But as auto sales softened industry wide in the United States in the quarter, Toyota posted a rare year-over-year drop in U.S. sales in the month, seeing its sales decline nearly 5 percent in the United States in the period.

"It is at least partly a geographic story," said Libby. "There are all these different markets growing at different rates."

Libby also said the drop in Toyota sales is a sign that it faces tougher prospects for continued U.S. growth going forward.

"A lot of Toyota's increases in the past were because of going into new segments," said Libby. "But that type of action is pretty much over with. They're now pretty much in every segment of the market. They're now going to have to make the gains in segments they are already in, and that's harder."

Toyota also has to protect against damage to its reputation in the U.S. market. Earlier this month, the influential Consumer Reports survey dropped the Toyota brand from first to fifth place, placing it behind Honda Motor's (Charts) Honda and Acura brands, as well as Toyota Motor's Scion brand and Subaru - in average vehicle reliability.

GM has seen even larger declines in U.S. and North American sales in the the third quarter than Toyota, as sales in both its home country and region were off 6 percent in the quarter compared to a year ago. That's partly because GM has made a deliberate effort to cutback on fleet sales, particularly to rental car companies, which in the past made up a significant portion of the sales in those markets.

A cutback in fleet sales at Ford Motor (Charts, Fortune 500) also allowed Toyota to move ahead of the traditional No. 2 U.S. automakers in terms of U.S. sales during the quarter. It marked the first time that Ford has ever dropped below the No. 2 position in terms of U.S. sales.

One thing that did not affect GM sales in the period was a two-day strike in the quarter. The company had ample supply so the short disruption in production was never a factor at dealerships.

Libby agreed with McDonald that there is limited significance to which automaker is No. 1 in global sales and which is No. 2. But he said that the fact that GM moved back in front of Toyota is a sign that it was wrong for many industry experts to write it off earlier this year because of past problems.

"GM has shown by what they've done in global sales results that they are not going to just roll over," he said. "(GM Chairman) Rick Wagoner is a serious competitor and they are not just ceding the fight. A while back, I didn't think it would be this close." Top of page

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

oh noes beaten by 10,000 vehicles (7.05 vs 7.06)

Trexus

Makes me just want to go buy a Toyota...