Article about slow 2014 Silverado/Sierra sales

[towdog]

http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/11/autos/auto-execs-fired.fortune/index.html

 

"The unsightly bulge in unsold vehicles has renewed fears that the long cease-fire in the incentive wars is coming to an end. GM is said to be particularly anxious about the fate of its full-size pickup trucks. Although they were redesigned a year ago, the Silverado and GMC Sierra have been losing market share. "The Silverado has not been well accepted," said one big dealer. "It is too vanilla." To add some flavor, GM is reportedly preparing to offer incentives as high as $7,000 on some slow-moving models. "Thanks to its weak January sales and a sluggish earnings report, 2014 isn't shaping up too well," says a Zacks Research analyst."

 

 

Combine this with the upcoming EcoDiesel and the 2015 F150 and I think we're going to really start seeing the deals come out on these things.

 

Also, look at the sales numbers for January. Not looking good at all.

 

http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2014/02/best-selling-pickup-trucks-january-2014.html

 

[MikeNH]

Not that I want to see GM do poorly but I only hope they're desperate when it comes time for me to get my new truck next year.

[2017SierraSLT]

One reason for the decline might have to do with the good '13 model year sales due to deep discounts on them. However, that was later in the model year. Another is the hefty price tag on the '14's.

[Big_D]

sounds about right. dodge has 10k rebates off msrp right now... on the website with no haggling or anything.

 

i've been watching the gm canada site for more incentives since i'm thinking about trading up, but only 3500 off msrp? the only way to get a bit more off sticker is to haggle with them for trucks on the lots. I have yet to see one with the options i want. i don't want to 'settle' spending that amount of cash, you should get what you want.

 

if they want to increase sales, offer more competitive pricing up front. If i could get 10k off sticker on a custom build like ram offers, i would order tomorrow and trade up. but until that happens i'll be driving my 12 for now...

[SILVERADOSC540]

Offer the 6.2 in more models, build an SS again, build a competitor to the Raptor. Not the Reaper, the bulbous nose is horrible. If you can supercharge 'vettes, camaros, SS's, and caddy's, you can supercharge a Silverado. From there two different suspensions give you an SS and a ZR2, which they considered not too long ago...http://www.caranddriver.com/photo-gallery/chevrolet-silverado-zr2-concept

They may not sell a butt load of either, but they'll drum up some interest in the truck and get people to the dealerships to look at those and others...

[ChevyZ71LTZ]

I wonder if GM does start offering some decent incentives if it will be for only the leftover 2014s or if they will continue with the 2015s also

[Hootbro]

I wonder if GM does start offering some decent incentives if it will be for only the leftover 2014s or if they will continue with the 2015s also

 

Just my opinion, but if the deals and rebates are smokin for a 2014, I would jump on it rather than dilly dally around to see if the 2015's will have it. In my experience, the first month or two of a new model year is usually pretty low on incentives as people are wrapped up in that new model year number when a leftover model year is just the same and a better deal most times.

[ChevyZ71LTZ]

Oh I will definitely jump on a good deal but hopefully the 2015s have the problems worked out. And with Ford's new truck coming out GM might stay competitive with rebates.

[TxTruckMan]

GM, especially Chevy, is just being too conservative. Their marketing and advertising sucks cow balls, and they're afraid to take bold steps with their bread and butter trucks. The SUVs look like they may be a tad better than the trucks, but GM needs to think more outside the box. Ram has the best fuel economy and added the diesel. Ford's marketing is awesome and they're not going to give up the top spot easily. What did GM do that makes people take notice and remember them? Nothing, they went conservative, took baby steps, and made sure to not create any wake.

 

The only thing outstanding about the GM twins is the 6.2L and you can't even get it on most models. WTF? Grow a pair GM. Offer some good special edition trucks and put the 6.2L in more trucks. Ford has the off-road market cornered with the Raptor, but the sport truck market is really weak. Offer the 6.2L with 3.73L gears, lowered suspension, every cab, 22" rims, color matched everything, put some SS badges on it and watch the people come. Do the same with the 4.3L or 5.3L in the Colorado.

 

Then make even mild attempts at an off-road edition and small diesel and watch people come. Like somebody said, they might not sell lot, but it'll get people thinking more about GM and get them into dealerships.

[lrymal]

The trucks are just too expensive........ Mine was $48,000 before all the doodad discounts. And, honestly, if my 2011 had had 4-WD, I would not have not traded that truck in to get my 2014. My only knock I had against my 2011 was all the interior plastic. I am not criticizing my 2014 GMC---it is quieter, handles hills better while on cruise control, and is about 2mpg better, but the retail cost shot into the high 40s whereas the 011 was in the low 30s.

[BigMikeVA]

I agree offering a few more trims would help GM out but I think the pricing is what's killing sales. MSRP for work trucks close to 30k and fully loaded trucks over 50k while only offering $2000 rebates just isn't enough. But I think the big rebates are coming soon, because you know GM wants to sell as many as they can before the new F-150 comes out. With the 2014 F-150 outselling GM's new body style just imagine how tough its gonna be for them to move trucks this summer when Ford has huge rebates on 14's and are only a month or two away from their new body style. So wouldn't it make sense for them to start offering bigger rebates to sway customers who aren't brand loyal to buy a GM now?

[pm26]

Also, GM has devised certain marketing tricks to force people to buy a fully loaded LTZ trim if they desire the 6.2 liter engine. This engine was available with LT or even lower trim before. To give you some perspective on price increases, few years ago I stumbled upon a new 2010 GMC Sierra extended cab, 2 WD, LT trim with the 6.2 liter non-AFM engine, 3.73 gears, 6 speed automatic, and the max tow package. With my $2,500 GM card rebate and all available to me incentives and rebates, I could have bought that truck for $ 26k and some change. Compare that to what you have to pay for a similar 6.2 liter engine truck today.

 

2014 Chevy Impala marketing scheme is even worse. First time in history, they put a naturally aspirated 4 cylinder engine in Impala as the standard engine in the low end LS trim. This trim level came standard with the 3.6 liter V6 engine in 2013. Now, the same 3.6 liter engine is optional and cannot be had with the LS trim, so you must go to the LT trim to get it and now a car so equipped is about $ 4k more than the base LS car with the 4 cylinder engine. Of course, even the base 4 cylinder car is now priced much higher than the V6 2013 LS model was.

 

I use these examples because I own both a Silverado and Impala. Both are a few years old now and to upgrade to new ones is simply too expensive with these devious marketing schemes. To replace my $ 31,100 original sticker price '09 Impala LTZ , which I bought for $ 21k even with all incentives and my 2,400 GM card rebate, would cost me now about $ 35k ($ 39k sticker) with meager incentives offered on that car. And to get into a new 2014 Silverado equipped like my truck I am looking at at least $ 42k.($48k sticker) My Silverado and Impala are worth maybe $ 16k and $ 10k, respectively on trade. So to upgrade them to comparably equipped 2014 vehicles, I am looking at $ 51k difference plus 6% tax which is over $ 54k!

 

 

Considering that I have not got any pay raise in the last four years, I consider these kinds of price increases absolutely unfounded, given the state of the economy today.

[mdaniel]

If they would offer the 6.2 in lower trim levels I would jump on one in a heartbeat. Also with sales struggling I am concerned that rebates/incentives will dramatically increase. My fear is if I buy one today, in a few months the same truck can be had for thousands less.

 

If GM is going to move trucks they better start offering better 'sales'. When Ford starts to unload remaining '14's, the price difference will be even worse and potentially sales even less for GM. I am not brand loyal and all trucks have strengths/weaknesses, so the deciding factor may come down to price. GM must think that they are the best and that customers will pay any amount to own one of their vehicles. Sorry, but too many other options out there right now. I will give GM a couple of months, if pricing is still too high then I will just buy something else. No big deal.

[TxTruckMan]

I don't think pricing plays too much into GM's market share problems. Their ATPs are comprarable to Ford's and Ram's (excluding the issue with having to get higher trims to get all the options you want). Ford has been selling high priced trucks/SUVs for years. GM is just finally catching up in this regard.

 

I still point to their conservatism in product offereings. Look at what they did to the Avalanche. The Avalanche is ~95% common to a Suburban and sold 15k-20k vehicles a year, yet GM said it wasn't worth it. Conversely, the Raptor is only ~60% common to a F150, but Ford manages to justify it with the same number of sales. What gives GM? The Corvette is 100% unique and barely sells more than 20-25k a year. The Av was profitable and cheap, but GM cut it. They see no value in small niche thrucks/SUVs for some reason. I don't get it.

[TxTruckMan]

GM has two options:

 

1. Build a better truck.

 

2. Sell a cheaper truck.

 

Sales will not meet goals until one or both are met.

I disagree. The truck is great. GM's marketting of the truck sucks. And even with all these issues, the new 2014 trucks are still rated higher in quality and satisfaction surveys than Ford and Ram's current (older) offerings. JDPower has info all over the web, look it up. Same thing with the sales prices, they're in-line with the competition. Sure, people want more for less, but that's across the board for all OEMs.