The Big 3 have used their employee discount programs to gain market share. So you'd think import dealers would be waiting for the pain to end.
Not true. Import dealers report that good times continue, despite the Big 3's huge discounts and hefty sales increases.
Dealers say the discounts are bringing more shoppers to all stores and that transaction prices remain solid. The lone trouble spot is used vehicles.
Prices are dropping as new-vehicle prices fall and inventories of trade-ins rise.
The employee discounts have "not affected my (new-vehicle) transaction prices," says Hugh Hall, owner of Performance Kia and Performance Nissan in Everett, Wash. "It has brought people into the market. It's got people out shopping. The only real effect it has had on us is we're obviously looking very hard at how we value any of the Big 3 domestic trade-ins. It's clearly affecting the resale value of those cars."
Business has been so good that he lacks parking spots to store trade-ins. "I just made an offer for a new lot for used cars," Hall says.
June figures show that sales at import dealerships remained strong. Toyota Division sales rose 12.1 percent in June from the year-ago month. Honda Division sales rose 7.8 percent, and Nissan Division was up 18.9 percent.
"All employee pricing has done is stir up buyers," says Peter Butterfield, president of Kia Motors America Inc. "Employee pricing hasn't taken away customers from Kia."
In June, Kia sales fell 2.0 percent from June 2004.
A Nissan dealer in Los Angeles says employee discounts have hurt sales of the Titan full-sized pickup and Armada SUV, which compete directly with similar Big 3 vehicles.
"When you put a GM truck out there with a price that's essentially $10,000 off, that's significant," says Joe Sage, executive vice president of Sage Automotive Group in Los Angeles.
The group owns Universal City Nissan, Glendale Nissan and Glendale Infiniti.
Al Gossett, president of Gossett Motor Cars in Memphis, Tenn., says his used-car sales are down about 6 percent since the employee discount programs began. But his sales of new vehicles are up 25 percent. His stores sell Mitsubishi, Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Bentley, Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles.
He believes the real test of the employee discount programs will come this fall: "Because if GM's September and October sales fall, then you can probably argue that they just pulled ahead their own sales."
Import dealers say new-vehicle transaction prices are holding steady in part because the Big 3's discounts haven't persuaded import owners to switch to domestics.
"I don't think people who are buying Toyotas are jumping to GM," says Cliff Findlay, owner of Findlay Toyota in Henderson, Nev. "I think GM, Ford and Chrysler are fighting over the same customer."
From the AP
>>>For Sale? Clicky!<<<
-----The orginal Mr.Goodwrench on the JBO since 11/99-----
looks like mostly kia did alright
of course they are cheap to begin w/
we will see what happens
Mr.Goodwrench-G.T. wrote:
"I don't think people who are buying Toyotas are jumping to GM," says Cliff Findlay, owner of Findlay Toyota in Henderson, Nev. "I think GM, Ford and Chrysler are fighting over the same customer."
From the AP
sums it up in a nutshell.
Not knocking on anyone with a domestic, but personally it will be a while before i go back to one. Aside from a handfull of cars, there aren't many domestics which get me excited or that i would even look at to buy. Trucks and SUV's are a different story, but car wise, not much.
This is pure BS. Why? In this area, EVERY dealer is jumping on the "employee" or "supplier" price bandwagon. Almost every Nissan dealer in the valley was advertising their own supplier pricing, same goes with many of the Mazda and Toyota dealers. Probably the only brand that I DIDN'T see advertising such a promo this past weekend was Honda.
So the truth is the reason the imports are still doing strong is they are doing their own promos to counteract the employee pricing of the Big 3.
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about
the former." - Albert Einstein
Dave wrote:This is pure BS. Why? In this area, EVERY dealer is jumping on the "employee" or "supplier" price bandwagon. Almost every Nissan dealer in the valley was advertising their own supplier pricing, same goes with many of the Mazda and Toyota dealers. Probably the only brand that I DIDN'T see advertising such a promo this past weekend was Honda.
So the truth is the reason the imports are still doing strong is they are doing their own promos to counteract the employee pricing of the Big 3.
Not that its quite the same thing but I have seen more than a few Honda Cleareance commercials.
i would never buy a car outside the big 3
1989 Turbo Trans Am #82, 2007 Cobalt SS G85
Rodimus Prime wrote:i would never buy a car outside the big 3
i feel bad for you then....
same here.
closed-mindedness is NEVER a good thing.
pirates kick ninja asses, f00
i have little reason to ever buy outside the GM umbrella, due to many reasons, cost, availibility of spare parts, and i have a good bit of knowledge now on how to work on them
1989 Turbo Trans Am #82, 2007 Cobalt SS G85
...
that depends on the motor, doesn't it? i seem to remember hearing you say that you didn't need to know about ... er ... i think it was the V6 cavs, because you didn't own one?
i could be wrong, but i recall hearing you say something along those lines...that you didn't need to know about a particular cavalier motor because you don't have it...
pirates kick ninja asses, f00
furthermore...
you say you wouldn't own something made by the big 3, then you say you wouldn't buy outside of the GM umbrella.
you realize Toyota's within that umbrella(to a degree), right? i thought you said imports were inferior?
not trying to be a shrew - only looking for answers here. you seem to have contradicted yourself.
pirates kick ninja asses, f00
yeah i dont have any problems with domestic cars...hell i had my sunflower for 3 years. But like subaru25gt said, very few domestic cars do anything for me. The styling and quality in some aspects just arent up to par with some imports. The cobalt ss is pretty nice. I liked it but after being in an RSX...i woundnt go for a cobalt. Domestics are getting better..but still have a little ways to go. As for repairs and parts prices on imports vs domestic, after working in a garage for a while, ive leared they really arent that far apart. and the domestics that are cheap to fix ive noticed we see more often...and the imports that cost a lot too fix we dont see nearly as often. So it probably all works out pretty even.
"Custom cars, custom problems."-me
i would never purchase more than a 4 cylinder for any car, i dont tow anything i dont need it and yes I dont study up on much other than ecotec stuff because I dont own anything else, the motor is but a tiny bit of the whole picture of things on a car that need replaced over time, 3rd gens for the most part do not differ much in parts, i dont care to work on 2nd gens or own one, too old for my taste
1989 Turbo Trans Am #82, 2007 Cobalt SS G85
Dave wrote:This is pure BS. Why? In this area, EVERY dealer is jumping on the "employee" or "supplier" price bandwagon. Almost every Nissan dealer in the valley was advertising their own supplier pricing, same goes with many of the Mazda and Toyota dealers. Probably the only brand that I DIDN'T see advertising such a promo this past weekend was Honda.
So the truth is the reason the imports are still doing strong is they are doing their own promos to counteract the employee pricing of the Big 3.
Actually there is a Honda Dealership in the area that was offering Employee Pricing this weekend.
Well, my frame of reference in this case was the Phoenix area. I'm sure there was much of the same in any other major metro area.
As for "only buying from the big 3", there's so much wrong with that I don't even know where to begin. For example, though I bought a Pontiac (Vibe) this weekend, that car is mostly a Toyota. The Saturn Vue has a Honda engine. Many domestics are made in other countries (Mexico is a large producer for Ford, and to a lesser extent, GM), and many imports are actually made in the US (Toyota and Honda, I believe heading up that list). There are cars such as the Pontiac Vibe and Toyota Matrix, Mitsubishi Eclipse and Chrysler Sebring, or even most of the truck/suv lineups from Mazda and Isuzu. Limiting options is a bad way to go.
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about
the former." - Albert Einstein
Quote:
(Toyota and Honda, I believe heading up that list).
Hyundai now, too with that huge plant they built for the 2006 Sonata.
Personally, I judge the worthiness of a vehicle on that vehicle's merits only. I really don't care where it was made or where the company makes its headquarters. If I don't know a particular engine or chasis of a vehicle I'm buying, I can learn it. Limiting yourself to who made a car, or where it was made, seems silly to me. But that's just me.
Quote:
As for repairs and parts prices on imports vs domestic, after working in a garage for a while, ive leared they really arent that far apart. and the domestics that are cheap to fix ive noticed we see more often...and the imports that cost a lot too fix we dont see nearly as often. So it probably all works out pretty even.
I, too, found this to be true back when I was working in a garage!!
-John
Dave wrote:Well, my frame of reference in this case was the Phoenix area. I'm sure there was much of the same in any other major metro area.
As for "only buying from the big 3", there's so much wrong with that I don't even know where to begin. For example, though I bought a Pontiac (Vibe) this weekend, that car is mostly a Toyota. The Saturn Vue has a Honda engine. Many domestics are made in other countries (Mexico is a large producer for Ford, and to a lesser extent, GM), and many imports are actually made in the US (Toyota and Honda, I believe heading up that list). There are cars such as the Pontiac Vibe and Toyota Matrix, Mitsubishi Eclipse and Chrysler Sebring, or even most of the truck/suv lineups from Mazda and Isuzu. Limiting options is a bad way to go.
not to mention the opposite side of this... how many imports are made in the us?
Emor8t wrote:Dave wrote:Well, my frame of reference in this case was the Phoenix area. I'm sure there was much of the same in any other major metro area.
As for "only buying from the big 3", there's so much wrong with that I don't even know where to begin. For example, though I bought a Pontiac (Vibe) this weekend, that car is mostly a Toyota. The Saturn Vue has a Honda engine. Many domestics are made in other countries (Mexico is a large producer for Ford, and to a lesser extent, GM), and many imports are actually made in the US (Toyota and Honda, I believe heading up that list). There are cars such as the Pontiac Vibe and Toyota Matrix, Mitsubishi Eclipse and Chrysler Sebring, or even most of the truck/suv lineups from Mazda and Isuzu. Limiting options is a bad way to go.
not to mention the opposite side of this... how many imports are made in the us?
OWNED BY DAVE!!
...and to answer the imports made in US question...quite a few are. just like quite a few "domestics" are made out of the US.
pirates kick ninja asses, f00
Quote:
not to mention the opposite side of this... how many imports are made in the us?
A HUGE chuck of Toyotas are made within 3 hours of each other in the Midwest. Georgetown, Kentucky has a massive plant which turns out Camrys and Solaras, while the rapidly expanding Princeton, Indiana plant churns out Tundras and Sequoias.
As for the costs of repair for import vs domestic, there are some import vehicles where parts costs are outrageous. Mitsubishi and Mazda are the first that come to mind. However, for common parts, such as steering items, brake pads/shoes or engine gaskets, the bill for an Impala or Taurus won't be any more or any less than for a Camry or Accord.
Dave wrote:Well, my frame of reference in this case was the Phoenix area. I'm sure there was much of the same in any other major metro area.
As for "only buying from the big 3", there's so much wrong with that I don't even know where to begin. For example, though I bought a Pontiac (Vibe) this weekend, that car is mostly a Toyota. The Saturn Vue has a Honda engine. Many domestics are made in other countries (Mexico is a large producer for Ford, and to a lesser extent, GM), and many imports are actually made in the US (Toyota and Honda, I believe heading up that list). There are cars such as the Pontiac Vibe and Toyota Matrix, Mitsubishi Eclipse and Chrysler Sebring, or even most of the truck/suv lineups from Mazda and Isuzu. Limiting options is a bad way to go.
I would have to agree with Dave on this one. It is pretty dumb to be brand loyal these
days. And this is coming from a guy who has family in the Big 3, and lives in the home
of the Biggies...
Even now I see more imports here...so everybody is still selling cars. I'm not going to
let loyalty slap me blind. If I want a Kia, then I'll get a Kia. Pisses others off?... oh well
I only buy for myself and family's needs.
Chances are going I'll still own a big 3 car (my wife wants a Vibe), but I would make no
promises other than that...
The only thing that bothers me about the Imports is that many of the parts made for the
car are made elsewhere....for a GM car about 75-80% of the parts are made here,
compared to about 40-45% for the imports...now if the imoprts made more of their
parts here..then it wouldn't even make a difference what car you bought...
Getting abck to the subject....that article was BS...everyone was ofering it here...
Honda clearance out the butt....camrys going for as low as 15 grand.....lots
going on around here...
There are always deals to be had. IMO the whole employee pricing was just a gimik to get people in the door and make them think they are getting a good deal. Obviously it worked to some extent, but we'll see when the big 3 release their quarterly earnings.
Import / Domestic is becoming an ever shrinking term really. Again, many domestic cars are built in other countries, just the same as many imports are now made in the US, my Subaru including.
While when i purchased my car, i certainly kept an open mind about all companies, but when comparing everything across the board, there weren't many domestics which did anything for me. While the domestics are getting better perticularly in their engines, i still think they have some refining to do with the rest of the car. They are heading in the right direction though. IMO domestic companies wasted too much time designing 800 different types of trucks and SUVs with all types of gimicks and electronic stuff, rather than paying attention to market trends.....especially now since its biting them in the ass with gas prices so high.
