3,622 G8s Sold In June 2009

[Seattle09GT]

Best month ever for the G8. Sales up 135% for the same month last year and up 150% year to date from last year. At 3,622 units that would be annual sales rate of 43K units, which blows away the target of 30K to 35K per year when the G8 was launched.

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9OTQ1N3xDaGlsZElEPS0 xfFR5cGU9Mw==&t=1

They aren't going to last long at this run rate. More amazing is Pontiac was the best performing GM division last month and is the second best performing division year to date based on total car sales year-over-year. Only Chevrolet is doing better from last year. But Fritz doesn't like rebadging and the rest of the world gets the fabulous Zeta platform. It all makes perfectly good sense to me!

In news that will make you smile, Toyota reported sales down 32% including Camry sales down 35% and Corolla sales down 53%. Maybe America is waking up to the fact that Toyota builds uninspiring toasters on wheels. Ya they get you from point A to point B but they are about as exciting to drive as a wet sponge. Toyota is now also stuck with the NUMMI plant dealing with the soon to be stopped GM Vibe line, a Corolla line running no where near capacity and a Tacoma line with the same issue.

[-Ray-]

Why would lower sales at Toyota make someone smile?
My business is mostly in the automotive industry. They are after all employing American workers.

[BW G8GT]

I just saw a new PBM G8 GT in my neighborhood. The first GT I’ve seen just a few blocks from where I live. One guy a few blocks away has a white V6.

Too bad the G8 had to die. If Pontiac and the G8 would've survived, I'm sure all the quirks and complaints about the car would be worked out.

[69project]

Ever think Pontiacs are selling well because the dealer has fire sale price tags on them? Customers will buy a car if it is cheap enough, no matter the economy.

I bought my GXP because GM was offering $7500 in rebates and loyalty cash. Don't get me wrong I have always owned a GM car but the last thing I needed was a new one after buying a new GM vehicle for each of the past three years(I did my part to save the company). However, this was a deal I couldn't pass up on a great performance car.
I doubt the General made a whole lot of money on it either, which is sad but if they are crazy enough to sell it that cheap, I am crazy enough to buy it.

I also doubt folks would be buying a whole lot of Pontiacs if the brand was staying around because GM would not be discounting them so heavily.

As for the Toyota comment, alot of domestic owners blame the Japanese imports for the current situation of the domestics. While I also don't like imports, the domestics underestimated the imports and then made about 20-25 years of stupid decisions on everything model selection to union agreements to get in the situation they are in now.

Now, GM has to win over the customer after pissing away all of their Good Will after many years of crappy design and business decisions. I hope they can do it, if for nothing else, national pride.

[PaFromFL]

I also doubt folks would be buying a whole lot of Pontiacs if the brand was staying around because GM would not be discounting them so heavily.
The G8s are a pretty good value even at MSRP, and even in better times it was often possible to negotiate down a couple thousand. At 5k over MSRP, I would have probably gone with an Infiniti or BMW. That G8 V8 is pretty hard to resist. With more advertising, the G8 might have become popular as a fun family car (remember the 60's?). I wonder how much of a discount it would take to sell Impalas and USA Buicks in Australia.

[TrUcKeR]

I bought mine June 30th at 6:30pm cuz the $4k rebate I got was going to expire at midnight. :D

[The Commodore]

I got 3k off of mine way back in August. And mine was a brand new 09 back then. Now you could probably get my car for 25k. Oh well....I had mine before lol.

[r33pwrd]

Why would lower sales at Toyota make someone smile?
My business is mostly in the automotive industry. They are after all employing American workers.

No shit... it funny because our "American car" is giving Australians a job and the "imports" are giving people in America jobs....

[LastMohican]

No shit... it funny because our "American car" is giving Australians a job and the "imports" are giving people in America jobs....

Yeah, but, if Seattle is like me, this type of comment is not made with much practical consideration but is more a "gut level" emotional response from someone, I suspect, views cars as more than just utility transportation.

Forgetting all the crap everyone of us can drudge up about management, labor, design, quality, price, performance, etc.,etc.,etc.,...

I'm old enough to remember when these American streets were more of a battlefield and a kingdom. All prowled and ruled by V-8 growlers; awesome to look at and hear and even better to drive. It was a gearhead's paradise!

There was a time that a lot of us thought those days were gone forever. But, lo and behold, the 90's ushered in a new generation of American performance and that era continues to this day. The G-8 was intended to proudly extend that heritage. Sadly, it now appears, our cars will; to some degree, serve as a "bookend" as this era of US performance winds to a close; all at the behest of bureaucrats that view performance cars as evil (That's what I want as an American: some pencil neck asshole telling me what kind of car I can drive. We have truly lost our way!)

The Japanese auto industry has positioned itself well to prosper in this New World Order. You know what I say: big f**king deal! I'm going down with the ship and would rather get my teeth drilled by Stevie Wonder than drive a Camry. At gut level the OP takes some sick satisfaction in bad news for the Japanese car industry? F**k it! SO DO I!

[Seattle09GT]

Yeah, but, if Seattle is like me, this type of comment is not made with much practical consideration but is more a "gut level" emotional response from someone, I suspect, views cars as more than just utility transportation.

Forgetting all the crap everyone of us can drudge up about management, labor, design, quality, price, performance, etc.,etc.,etc.,...

I'm old enough to remember when these American streets were more of a battlefield and a kingdom. All prowled and ruled by V-8 growlers; awesome to look at and hear and even better to drive. It was a gearhead's paradise!

There was a time that a lot of us thought those days were gone forever. But, lo and behold, the 90's ushered in a new generation of American performance and that era continues to this day. The G-8 was intended to proudly extend that heritage. Sadly, it now appears, our cars will; to some degree, serve as a "bookend" as this era of US performance winds to a close; all at the behest of bureaucrats that view performance cars as evil (That's what I want as an American: some pencil neck asshole telling me what kind of car I can drive. We have truly lost our way!)

The Japanese auto industry has positioned itself well to prosper in this New World Order. You know what I say: big f**king deal! I'm going down with the ship and would rather get my teeth drilled by Stevie Wonder than drive a Camry. At gut level the OP takes some sick satisfaction in bad news for the Japanese car industry? F**k it! SO DO I!

We're on the same page. And I really don't buy into the, "but they employ hard working Americans," as a valid arguement. Toyota only employs 33K in the United States (surprise) and offered buyout packages to 18K workers in February of 2009 (double surprise). With GM out of NUMMI, Toyota is considering closing down the whole darn plant, putting 4.7K on the chopping block. Oh but where will they build the Corollas? Canada, where it costs $500 a car cheaper. Surprise! Toyota doesn't give a you know what about the American worker either.

But, but, but, but they are a GREEN company, they have the - PRIUS. Ya, big deal. They also have the FJ Cruiser which gets the same MPG as a Hummer H3 (surprise). The Sequoia gets the same MPG as a Suburban did, back in 1999 (surprise). The Tundra is the worst MPG pickup truck money can buy. The Land Cruiser can go toe to toe with the Hummer H2 on MPG. The Scion tC with its crappy Camry derived 4-cylinders gets a meager 27 MPG while the V6 Camaro which will run cricles around it gets 29 MPG.

The Cobalt gets better MPG than the Corolla.

The HHR will go toe to toe with the Scion xB in the fuel department.

Ya, well, well, then their a better run company! Better run at what? Building nothing but truck and SUV factories for the last five to seven years and built enough capacity to buld 10 million cars and trucks annually when they're only selling 6.6 million this year? If that is well run then right now they're doing a good immitation of Detroit. They're burning cash just as fast as GM, Chrysler and Ford right now, their product quality is in reverse with the Camry, Tundra, Yaris, and Avalon all having less than spectacular reskin launches from 2006 to 2008. The Yaris and FJ Cruiser are on Consumer Reports list of 10 worst engineered vehicles, and these are new products.

And if Toyota is so freakin' perfect why did they replace the Tercel, which was a solid toaster on wheels with the piece of crap called Paseo, that sold so bad they had to kill the name to bring in a worse piece of crap called the Echo, that sold even worse so they killed that name to bring the Yaris, which is solidly ripped in the press for being a piece of crap.

But all of that aside you are spot on. I've driven a 2008 4-cylinder Camry from San Fran to LA, it was in a word, HORRIFIC. It rode like a 1976 Oldsmobile, the steering and brakes were absolutely numb, the interior trim was cheap as was some switch gear. Some things were outright confusing in layout. It was a solid, toaster, nothing more. I don't drive toasters. A car is an experience. Driving is an experience. If I just want a toaster I'll get a limo and have someone drive me.

Now Honda on the other hand, that is a far more sound company, with a truly green product line up, some insiring cars to drive, with a well deserved legacy of high quality. Toyota is resting on its ass and the drooling American masses clap like seals for their products and have this illusion that hundreds of thousands of Americans are putting together Toyota's every day.

If Toyota shut down all US manufacturing operations today, it would unemploy 33K directly nationally, and another 150K indirectly. It would barely be a ripple in the unemployment picture.

Surprise.