It Really Was a Toyotathon
Sales of the Toyota Camry in 2011: 308,510
Sales of all Mazdas in 2011: 250,426
Sales of all BMWs in 2011: 247,907
Date of Tōhoku earthquake: March 11, 2011
Date flooding started in Thailand: July 31, 2011
Minimum number of months Toyota operated below 100% production capacity in North America: 6
Car sales rank of Camry in 2011: 1
What the numbers reveal: Earthquake be damned, the Camry was a juggernaut in 2011. One generation ended and a new Camry was recently launched. Yes, the company relied on incentives—what automaker doesn’t in the mid-size segment?—but even crippled by natural disaster, the Camry outsold every car in the States and every vehicle save the Chevy Silverado and the Ford F-150.
Fiat 500’s Year One Even Worse than Jack Black’s
Sales of the Fiat 500 in 2011: 19,769
Sales of Mini vehicles, excluding Countryman, in 2011: 40,828
Fiat’s original 2011 U.S. sales goal for the 500: 50,000
Date Fiat’s CEO affirmed that it was “still on track” to meet that target: August 24, 2011
Date Car and Driver said Fiat was falling woefully short of its sales target: July 6, 2011
Date Marchionne admitted the 500’s U.S. sales target was “incredibly naïve”: January 9, 2012
What the numbers reveal: It’s very difficult to launch a new car brand in the U.S., and harder still to do it with a product that’s not right for this market. The 500, while occasionally fun to drive, is just too small for American buyers. Its party trick is an ability to park in small spaces, a requirement for vehicles only in a few high-density American cities like New York, Boston, and San Francisco. Fiat’s execs insisted everything was fine during 2011, and said their original goal of 50,000 units had nothing to do with Mini’s 2010 sales total of a little more than 45,000 cars. Now Marchionne has admitted both that the target was absurd and that the Mini total was the basis of the original goal. We expect that in a year or two Fiat will give up on attaining any meaningful volume for the 500 and instead will just refer to it as a halo product, showing the company’s Italian flair.
Know Your Strengths
Percentage of Jeep models sold that weren’t a Grand Cherokee or Wrangler in 2011: 40
Percentage of Volkswagens sold that weren’t a Jetta in 2011: 45
What the numbers reveal: Even though the U.S. market has become increasingly niche-ified, where every automaker feels the need to build models as crossovers, hybrids, and crossover hybrids, volume still comes from core products. For Jeep, it’s the Grand Cherokee and Wrangler—both of which can be described as unqualified, runaway successes. Ditto the Jetta, which still doesn’t excuse VW for cheapening it. (Fortunately, some fixes are on the way.) Both brands are using strategic platform sharing to create new models with these sales kings: VW already has the new Beetle, and Jeep is developing a new Grand Wagoneer to sit above the GC.
Mercedes-Benz Bulks Up on Bulk
Mercedes-Benz Geländewagen sales in 2011: 1191
Year the G-Wagen was originally introduced: 1979
Base price of 2011 G-Wagen: $107,975
Mercedes-Benz’s minimum gross revenue from 2011 G-Wagen sales: $128.6 million
What the numbers reveal: With over 30 years of global production, the G-Wagen’s investment has been more than paid back. The profit margins are as gargantuan as the vehicle and its personality. Is it any wonder the company is revising it yet again?
Volvo in Context
Sales of the Volvo S80 in 2011: 4735
Month in 2011 during which Mercedes-Benz E-class sales surpassed 4735: January
Month in 2011 during which Hyundai Genesis sales surpassed 4735: March
What the numbers reveal: Volvo is getting killed in this country. Its four core products sell well enough, but everything else is in dire straits. (The keepers are the S60 sedan, the XC70 wagon, and the XC60 and XC90 crossovers.) The V40 hatchback, which will debut at next month’s Geneva show, probably isn’t coming here. We understand Volvo’s need to focus on its better-selling cars, but it’ll need new products if it’s going to provide a credible alternative to shoppers currently entering Mercedes-Benz—and even Hyundai—showrooms.
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