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Filed under: Car Buying , Chrysler , Ford , GM Showing great discipline amid declining sales, the Detroit 3 have held back on the temptation to dump vehicles on fleet customers in order to boost numbers. As we reported last month , selling vehicles to corporate fleets and daily rental companies has been a long-practiced method to offload automobiles when sales slow down. Unfortunately, it also results in lowered residual values in the marketplace as these vehicles are dumped in quantity at auctions at the end of their service. Over the years, some models have even earned a "fleet" or "rental vehicle" stereotype, additionally damaging their public image, and sales, at the retail level. The Ford Taurus, for instance, was only sold to fleet customers during the last generation's final year of production, which may have further damaged the brand and affected sales of the renamed 2008 Taurus. Even though the Detroit 3 are limiting fleet sales, it is still a large chunk...
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Filed under: Car Buying , Chrysler , Ford , GM Even after posting a $3.25 billion loss , General Motors won't resort to fleet sales to ease their pain. In the automotive industry, fleet sales typically represent the lightly equipped, and heavily discounted, vehicles sold to rental companies or corporations. The numbers are significant , and fleets sales of a particular model may even exceed the volume sold at retail. Often laden with special financing incentives, the sales are less profitable for the automaker, and they hurt the used-vehicle market when a large number of the same model are dumped into the marketplace simultaneously. Last year, GM sold about 700,000 units to fleet sales. In 2008, that number is projected to drop to about 575,000 units. By 2009, it will decline even further with a sales projection of just over 500,000 fleet units. GM isn't the only automaker following this path. Ford's sales to rental companies are down 16 percent from the same quarter last year...
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Filed under: Chrysler Chrysler has looked deep into it soul and decided to join the General and FoMoCo in an attempt to reduce its reliance on fleet sales. Chrysler's Vice Chairman, Jim Press (that still doesn't sound right), alluded to the reduction during a conference call regarding December sales figures and said, "you have to stay out of the 30-percent range and into the 20s." Where in "the 20s" was unspecified, but with vehicle sales expect to continue their decline this year, any reduction of income could hurt the automaker. However, Press went on to say that he expects a "very small increase" in retail sales during '08 and a plan is underway to increase the value-per-dollar quotient of Chrysler's brands by offering more features for less cash. [Source: CNN Money] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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