Question regarding ordering dates for Colorado

HuJass · March 8, 2003

Any idea when the special ordering of the Colorado will be opened up at the dealers? My Sonoma was totalled and am eagerly awaiting the day I can order my new regular cab, ZQ8 Colorado, with I5, man trans, and posi in white.

Stepside Z · March 9, 2003

I am not sure when they will be available for ordering. I will try to find out some info.

HuJass · March 9, 2003

Thanks Stepside Z.

Stepside Z · March 10, 2003

No word yet. I will make a call tomorrow.

Stepside Z · March 12, 2003

The best I can come up with is this fall. Sorry I don't have anything more exact. I hope this lack of information helps some.

Larry · March 18, 2003

Pricing and the first dealer consensus are set for August. Start of production is set for October so if I were to take a guess I would say you should be able to place a sold order in late August or early September.

HuJass · March 18, 2003

Larry,

What's a "dealer consensus"?

Larry · March 19, 2003

Consensus is a report that dealers must complete and submit to GM with their scientific wild arse guess of many vehicles of a respective allocation group (vehicle model) they want in a period of time. Usually consensus is for one month worth of generated orders and done two months prior to a vehicle build week for supplier lead-time planning, labor force scheduling, etc. After consensus comes allocation of an allocation group. Allocation is a basic formula of supply and demand based on consensus, rolling sales history, customer satisfaction index results, etc. When dealers has been a poor performer in sales or service their allocations for desirable vehicles or freshly launched vehicles goes down the dumper. For example, Corvettes and special vehicle models like the SSR are usually earned allocations. Although, sometimes bad dealers that know low people in high places squeak by with decent allocation once in a while too.

The down side to most auto manufactures formula of consensus and allocation is the catalyst that is killing off most of the small family owned dealers in rural areas and fertilizing the mega dealers. This is not to say that a little dealer located in rural Watkins is bad it is just that their sales are slower by nature than a dealer located in a metropolis like Minneapolis. So the little guy will be the one that will receive the most desirable vehicles last or in some cases never get allocation at all. The launch of the new Silverado in 1998 was a huge customer dissatisfier initially as only the big dealers were getting the good trucks first for several months and the little dealers had stripped 2wds with V6’s.

With that said and in your case of the Colorado, if you find a dealer that moves a great deal of S-10’s today they will be the one that will have the broadest range of Colorado offerings on the lot or generated allocations sitting in the pipeline tomorrow.

Then there is the sold order process. Any dealer can place a “sold order” in to the system at anytime but is goes back to supply and demand. There is no guarantee a “sold order” request will ever be granted especially on a high demand vehicle like the Colorado will be initially. Now an Aztec on the other hand…bet the dealer would get a sold order confirmation in minutes.