January 2009 Automobile Sales
02-03-09, 10:10 PM
#76
TL is doing so bad, a $399 lease deal nationwide is here for it already. Dealers painting grills can't save it. The design is horrid, period and not responding with consumers, ESPECIALLY since people bought the last TL based on looks alone. The LS did double the S-class amount. Since LS leases are usually bad, it leads me to believe people BUY them too. The new 7 should be here by the spring as the new Z4 roadster.
Lexus has sprinted out ahead in January and I felt it was the predicting month of how this year was going to go.
Lexus has sprinted out ahead in January and I felt it was the predicting month of how this year was going to go.
i do also think a lot of people buy the ls460. the year end deals on the car was pretty amazing, specially for all the 08 leftover. and like you said lexus lease deals aren't as attractive, so buying is usually a better options
on the other hand, i know mb has been pretty aggressive on the s class lease deals too.
02-03-09, 10:15 PM
#77
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ooops, my bad, i thought the new 7 is in the dealership already. that makes sense, when the new 7 is here i expect their sales to go up quite a bit
i do also think a lot of people buy the ls460. the year end deals on the car was pretty amazing, specially for all the 08 leftover. and like you said lexus lease deals aren't as attractive, so buying is usually a better options
on the other hand, i know mb has been pretty aggressive on the s class lease deals too.
i do also think a lot of people buy the ls460. the year end deals on the car was pretty amazing, specially for all the 08 leftover. and like you said lexus lease deals aren't as attractive, so buying is usually a better options
on the other hand, i know mb has been pretty aggressive on the s class lease deals too.
Benz believe it or not, will suffer for being Benz! BMW could hurt too. Audi's ads attacking others might not be the right approach right now.
Lexus has always kind of been the "smart" choice. Its luxury but not so much "hey I'm big daddy" luxury. Infiniti had such a great chance here but I think outside the G37, the products they have won't do it. I really really think they had a chance to take it to the next level if they had made the right decisions but they didn't.
The new FX is horrid to look at, the EX makes no sense. The new M37/50 should help once it looks decent.
02-03-09, 10:29 PM
#78
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Feb 3, 2009
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking...ry_333823.html
German car sales fall 14%
German car sales fall 14% in January: trade
FRANKFURT - THE German car market contracted for the sixth month running in January, with sales tumbling 14 per cent on a 12-month basis, the main auto federation VDA said on Tuesday.
A total of 189,400 vehicles were bought in the biggest European market, a statement said.
Export and production figures were even more alarming, with annual drops of 39 per cent and 34 per cent to 222,700 and 314,000 vehicles, respectively.
VDA president Matthias Wissmann said '2009 will be a tough year for exports even though we will gain some market share'. German automakers have already cut back on production with Opel, Volkswagen, Daimler (Mercedes) and BMW drastically curtailing output through extended year-end pauses and annual leave, along with partial unemployment measures.
VDA expected the German market to shrink by more than 6.0 per cent this year to around 2.9 million vehicles, following a decrease in 2008 of 2.0 per cent to 3.09 million vehicles.
Last year saw the weakest sales since Germany was reunited in 1990.
The picture is much the same elsewhere in the world, with Japan new car sales down 28 per cent to their lowest level in 41 years, with falls of 41.6 per cent, 32.6 per cent and 7.9 per cent reported by Spain, Italy and France. -- AFP
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking...ry_333823.html
German car sales fall 14%
German car sales fall 14% in January: trade
FRANKFURT - THE German car market contracted for the sixth month running in January, with sales tumbling 14 per cent on a 12-month basis, the main auto federation VDA said on Tuesday.
A total of 189,400 vehicles were bought in the biggest European market, a statement said.
Export and production figures were even more alarming, with annual drops of 39 per cent and 34 per cent to 222,700 and 314,000 vehicles, respectively.
VDA president Matthias Wissmann said '2009 will be a tough year for exports even though we will gain some market share'. German automakers have already cut back on production with Opel, Volkswagen, Daimler (Mercedes) and BMW drastically curtailing output through extended year-end pauses and annual leave, along with partial unemployment measures.
VDA expected the German market to shrink by more than 6.0 per cent this year to around 2.9 million vehicles, following a decrease in 2008 of 2.0 per cent to 3.09 million vehicles.
Last year saw the weakest sales since Germany was reunited in 1990.
The picture is much the same elsewhere in the world, with Japan new car sales down 28 per cent to their lowest level in 41 years, with falls of 41.6 per cent, 32.6 per cent and 7.9 per cent reported by Spain, Italy and France. -- AFP
02-03-09, 11:16 PM
#79
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The TL though is a disaster. 
02-04-09, 12:37 AM
#80
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The Q5 is another SUV that needs to be added to the equation. There were 31 Q5s sold in January which is a pretty low number. Perhaps we will see better numbers next month.
02-04-09, 12:37 AM
#81
the tl is a totally different story. my neighbor bought the new rl, my wife saw the car and she immediately said wtf is that crap. i told her just wait till you see the new tl in person
02-04-09, 12:48 AM
#82
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What happened to the GS in January? I hope the next generation will be on par in terms of numbers with the 5 and the E.
02-04-09, 12:51 AM
#83
Thanks Henry. Now another theory is Benz being the most "HEY I'VE ARRIVED/MADE IT" brand (and others) may suffer MORE b/c people simply do not want to advertise their wealth and how well they are doing in todays climate. Thus cars like the CC/Genesis/Maxima will do well. The Acura powerless beak styling is also at the wrong time (besides the fact its ugly) as its says "hey look at me" when no one wants that extra attention.
Benz believe it or not, will suffer for being Benz! BMW could hurt too. Audi's ads attacking others might not be the right approach right now.
Lexus has always kind of been the "smart" choice. Its luxury but not so much "hey I'm big daddy" luxury. Infiniti had such a great chance here but I think outside the G37, the products they have won't do it. I really really think they had a chance to take it to the next level if they had made the right decisions but they didn't. The new FX is horrid to look at, the EX makes no sense. The new M37/50 should help once it looks decent.
Benz believe it or not, will suffer for being Benz! BMW could hurt too. Audi's ads attacking others might not be the right approach right now.
Lexus has always kind of been the "smart" choice. Its luxury but not so much "hey I'm big daddy" luxury. Infiniti had such a great chance here but I think outside the G37, the products they have won't do it. I really really think they had a chance to take it to the next level if they had made the right decisions but they didn't.
The new FX is horrid to look at, the EX makes no sense. The new M37/50 should help once it looks decent.it's hard for benz to take away their current image. it's their reputation period. they are stuck with it and they have to continue, otherwise they burn their last currency. for bmw i have a mixed feeling. performance i have no doubt on them, but on the luxury side they have been on and off and i kind of feel a bit slowdown in the past few years.
i really think audi is the new star here, and so far i love what they have done. the r8, the a5, the updated a4, now the new a6 and q5. they are attacking the market pretty well so far and we can see it on their positive sales trend. they are so "fresh" to everyone out there, imho that's part of the reason why they are selling well. this translates to potentially short term effect, they need something more than the led DRL and the slick body lines in order to grow further, especially to take on mb and bmw further. one thing i really like about audi is their finance structure. they control their quantity, keep up the rates, and make sure they are profitable. they don't just go after numbers blindly like bmw and mb. i admire them for that, that's the right way to do business in the long term.
infiniti continues to struggle, that's how i see it. the g37 will continue to sell, i have no doubt. but it's pretty clear the fx and ex are both disaster, that means no coverage on the suv side. the mid size m37/50 will need to be done right, they need this car to really compete with the 5 and the e class in order to be in the game (notice i didn't mention the gs, coz' i still think it's a failure for lexus). and infiniti need to get back a real flagship. the longer they delay that, they closer they get themselves to acura.
on the overall sales structure, i think mb and bmw are still both tasting their own medicine. they continue to produce big number of inventory, and with that pressure, they lower prices (making msrp a pretty pointless topic) and at the same time playing number games to boost numbers. i think they need to start seriously control the inventory to balance out the supply and demand
looking at the january numbers, i am interested in seeing the numbers again in 3-4 months, when "spring" and "summer" around the corner. i want to see the overall sales % raise/drop and also how they match up with each other. in today's horrible economy time, it's a real test to see how solid the manufacturers are
02-04-09, 05:29 AM
#86
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As I said the new TL will fail, its horrid,period. This is a brand new 09 model that can't outsell its own smaller brother who has nearly half the sales goal. The older ES AND IS outsold the TL as well as most anything else that matters.
The CC and Genesis are doing well at 1k last month. The Genesis does that solid it seems. MAxima sales are good too as its the price of entry level luxury cars.
THankfully the IS has the "C" coming. The G37 has the convertible coming.
This is just bad. Wow
The CC and Genesis are doing well at 1k last month. The Genesis does that solid it seems. MAxima sales are good too as its the price of entry level luxury cars.
THankfully the IS has the "C" coming. The G37 has the convertible coming.
This is just bad. Wow
It’s the economy plain and simple. I know Acura is supposed to be immune to any and everything but just about every luxury car is down this month and will continue to go down. Why anyone would expect Acura to somehow beat sales records or even reach initial sales goals in this economy is beyond me. All things considered the new TL is actually doing okay.
Also considering the hype, 1x sales for the Genesis and CC is failure IMO.
02-04-09, 07:03 AM
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Doing bad, compared to what? The TL is outselling the redesigned Audi A4, new Hyundai Genesis, new VW CC, and the redesigned Mazda6, a mainstream sedan, is barely outselling it. Shouldn’t these new/redesigned cars be outselling the new TL by a large margin since they look 10x better?
It’s the economy plain and simple. I know Acura is supposed to be immune to any and everything but just about every luxury car is down this month and will continue to go down. Why anyone would expect Acura to somehow beat sales records or even reach initial sales goals in this economy is beyond me. All things considered the new TL is actually doing okay.
Also considering the hype, 1x sales for the Genesis and CC is failure IMO.
It’s the economy plain and simple. I know Acura is supposed to be immune to any and everything but just about every luxury car is down this month and will continue to go down. Why anyone would expect Acura to somehow beat sales records or even reach initial sales goals in this economy is beyond me. All things considered the new TL is actually doing okay.
Also considering the hype, 1x sales for the Genesis and CC is failure IMO.
its sale number indicates it is doing OK, not great but still OK.
TL has lots of decent features.
02-04-09, 08:34 AM
#88
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Doing bad, compared to what? The TL is outselling the redesigned Audi A4, new Hyundai Genesis, new VW CC, and the redesigned Mazda6, a mainstream sedan, is barely outselling it. Shouldn’t these new/redesigned cars be outselling the new TL by a large margin since they look 10x better?
It’s the economy plain and simple. I know Acura is supposed to be immune to any and everything but just about every luxury car is down this month and will continue to go down. Why anyone would expect Acura to somehow beat sales records or even reach initial sales goals in this economy is beyond me. All things considered the new TL is actually doing okay.
Also considering the hype, 1x sales for the Genesis and CC is failure IMO.
It’s the economy plain and simple. I know Acura is supposed to be immune to any and everything but just about every luxury car is down this month and will continue to go down. Why anyone would expect Acura to somehow beat sales records or even reach initial sales goals in this economy is beyond me. All things considered the new TL is actually doing okay.
Also considering the hype, 1x sales for the Genesis and CC is failure IMO.
-Acura said they STILL expect to sell 70k TLs this go round
-There is now 2 TL models instead of one
-The TSX has a sales goal of 40k
-Genesis sales goals are 25k
-CC sales goals I am unsure of but not high volume. Its a niche product built off the Passat
For the first time I can remember the TSX OUTSOLD the TL. The fact is the TL is Acuras Volume sedan. So basically a car expected to sell 40k a year outsold a car expected to sell 70k a year. That is not good at all. Even during bad times when the TL was older, it still sold over 4k units a month easy. The TL is their bread and butter as the MDX and both are in the dumps.
You cannot bring cars up with lesser sales goals. There is no production capacity to build more. The Genesis is not expected to sell that well.
The older ES and IS outsold the TL. Compared to what? The Tl was the 8th best selling car in its class AND its the NEWEST. The Maxima also outsold it. The ES is Lexus volume sedan. The IS will never outsell it b/c its not meant to sell as much.
There is nothing wrong with saying "you know what, Acura really fudged up this time with the TL".
Is the economy partially to blame? Yup for the TL and everyone. However, the economy is not the sole reason it selling so low. Its other poor/average merits are (which we have gone in detail in other threads).
Acura sales were already down 2 years in a row BEFORE last year. Last year made it 3 years in a row. This year will make it 4 years in a row. Mind you they have a pretty fresh lineup.
Last edited by DaveGS4; 02-11-09 at 03:49 PM. Reason: inappropriate - name calling
02-04-09, 08:41 AM
#89
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interesting analogy. i honestly think it's two folds to all the companies about what they do. lexus has forever been conservative, imho that's why they grow steadily, but at the same time why over the years they are still more or less stuck with the same image. not saying it's a bad thing, but if they want to leap forward more, they need a change.
it's hard for benz to take away their current image. it's their reputation period. they are stuck with it and they have to continue, otherwise they burn their last currency. for bmw i have a mixed feeling. performance i have no doubt on them, but on the luxury side they have been on and off and i kind of feel a bit slowdown in the past few years.
i really think audi is the new star here, and so far i love what they have done. the r8, the a5, the updated a4, now the new a6 and q5. they are attacking the market pretty well so far and we can see it on their positive sales trend. they are so "fresh" to everyone out there, imho that's part of the reason why they are selling well. this translates to potentially short term effect, they need something more than the led DRL and the slick body lines in order to grow further, especially to take on mb and bmw further. one thing i really like about audi is their finance structure. they control their quantity, keep up the rates, and make sure they are profitable. they don't just go after numbers blindly like bmw and mb. i admire them for that, that's the right way to do business in the long term.
infiniti continues to struggle, that's how i see it. the g37 will continue to sell, i have no doubt. but it's pretty clear the fx and ex are both disaster, that means no coverage on the suv side. the mid size m37/50 will need to be done right, they need this car to really compete with the 5 and the e class in order to be in the game (notice i didn't mention the gs, coz' i still think it's a failure for lexus). and infiniti need to get back a real flagship. the longer they delay that, they closer they get themselves to acura.
on the overall sales structure, i think mb and bmw are still both tasting their own medicine. they continue to produce big number of inventory, and with that pressure, they lower prices (making msrp a pretty pointless topic) and at the same time playing number games to boost numbers. i think they need to start seriously control the inventory to balance out the supply and demand
looking at the january numbers, i am interested in seeing the numbers again in 3-4 months, when "spring" and "summer" around the corner. i want to see the overall sales % raise/drop and also how they match up with each other. in today's horrible economy time, it's a real test to see how solid the manufacturers are
it's hard for benz to take away their current image. it's their reputation period. they are stuck with it and they have to continue, otherwise they burn their last currency. for bmw i have a mixed feeling. performance i have no doubt on them, but on the luxury side they have been on and off and i kind of feel a bit slowdown in the past few years.
i really think audi is the new star here, and so far i love what they have done. the r8, the a5, the updated a4, now the new a6 and q5. they are attacking the market pretty well so far and we can see it on their positive sales trend. they are so "fresh" to everyone out there, imho that's part of the reason why they are selling well. this translates to potentially short term effect, they need something more than the led DRL and the slick body lines in order to grow further, especially to take on mb and bmw further. one thing i really like about audi is their finance structure. they control their quantity, keep up the rates, and make sure they are profitable. they don't just go after numbers blindly like bmw and mb. i admire them for that, that's the right way to do business in the long term.
infiniti continues to struggle, that's how i see it. the g37 will continue to sell, i have no doubt. but it's pretty clear the fx and ex are both disaster, that means no coverage on the suv side. the mid size m37/50 will need to be done right, they need this car to really compete with the 5 and the e class in order to be in the game (notice i didn't mention the gs, coz' i still think it's a failure for lexus). and infiniti need to get back a real flagship. the longer they delay that, they closer they get themselves to acura.
on the overall sales structure, i think mb and bmw are still both tasting their own medicine. they continue to produce big number of inventory, and with that pressure, they lower prices (making msrp a pretty pointless topic) and at the same time playing number games to boost numbers. i think they need to start seriously control the inventory to balance out the supply and demand
looking at the january numbers, i am interested in seeing the numbers again in 3-4 months, when "spring" and "summer" around the corner. i want to see the overall sales % raise/drop and also how they match up with each other. in today's horrible economy time, it's a real test to see how solid the manufacturers are
they just won't ever sell better in America. For years I've said there is only room for 3 Tier 1 brands. BMW/Benz/Lexus. Its not like any of those 3 are losing sight of the game so that continues to make it tougher for Audi. The 3 series outsold Audi!!! That is crazy!!! Sad b/c they make a great product. BMW raised prices and they have changed the strategy from trying to beat Lexus in sales with leases. So sales should go down as they try to create more profit.
You see times like these are a great time for someone to sneak in. I think Hyundai with the Genesis really is perfect. Its a fantastic luxury vehicle without the badge, which is what many people want now. I was really rooting for Infiniti here but they missed the boat.
We will only see consolidation in the future. Saab might be gone. Sadly maybe even Volvo. Lincoln is hanging on.
With the economic climate not changing and consumer confidence in the toilet, I really don't expect much to change at all.
One thing is CPO cars are selling like hotcakes!
02-04-09, 08:43 AM
#90
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I fully expect the 4GS to resemble the 2GS in execution and taking things to another level. Lexus is fully aware the current model was a double and not a home run.