Sales of gas guzzeling Ford trucks up 17% Chevy Volt down 1.6%

[brenthutch 384]

[quade 3]

Can you see how maybe the two aren't competing for the same market share?

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[brenthutch 384]

I never claimed they were competing in the same market, they are not. The 2013 Volt was competing against the 2012 Volt in the same market, and lost.

[quade 3]

brenthutch

I never claimed they were competing in the same market, they are not. The 2013 Volt was competing against the 2012 Volt in the same market, and lost.

Assuming your figures are correct, their sales are down 1.6%. So what? What conclusions are you attempting to make here?

That somehow the entire concept of electric cars is invalid?

Look at Tesla.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[brenthutch 384]

No, just that the Volt is "invalid". Overall electric vehicle sales are up, in fact.

[quade 3]

brenthutch

No, just that the Volt is "invalid". Overall electric vehicle sales are up, in fact.

Okay then . . . so what?

"John Carter" was a flop and so was "The Lone Ranger."

What's your point?

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[brenthutch 384]

Motor Trend awarded the Volt "2011 car of the year" and got mad props from many on this forum, I said it was a POS, obviously the market agrees with my assessment.

[DrewEckhardt 0]

brenthutch

No surprise.

Government Motors is trying to sell an electrified $17,000 economy car (the Cruze) for $41,500 which is still $34,000 after the government tax credit and failing because of it.

Tesla is selling a luxury car comparable to gas cars at its price point, and outselling the Mercedes S-class, Lexus LS, BMW 7 series, and Audi A8 by a significant margin.

[quade 3]

brenthutch

Motor Trend awarded the Volt "2011 car of the year" and got mad props from many on this forum, I said it was a POS, obviously the market agrees with my assessment.

So then why not just say that?

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[Andy9o8 0]

quade

***Motor Trend awarded the Volt "2011 car of the year" and got mad props from many on this forum, I said it was a POS, obviously the market agrees with my assessment.

So then why not just say that?

Because it was his fall-back position.

[brenthutch 384]

No I assumed that the members of this forum would be able to read between the lines. In some cases I obviously overestimated.

[skypuppy 1]

quade

Can you see how maybe the two aren't competing for the same market share?

We love our trucks in Canada. Oh, yes we do.

Sales of large pickups are up 11.5 per cent so far this year. The best-selling vehicle in Canada is the Ford F-Series pickup, and with sales of 84,557 through the end of August, it is more than twice as popular as the best-selling passenger car, the Honda Civic (41,836).
Meanwhile, compact SUVs are up 10.2 per cent on the year, with luxury compact SUVs up even more, at 12.2 per cent. Five of the 10 best-selling light trucks in Canada are compact SUVs.

Cars? Subcompact sales are off 8.3 per cent this year, even though fuel prices are high and creeping higher still. We are not in love with sports cars, either – sales off 6.2 per cent.

Mid-size cars? Down 1.3 per cent, though the continued strength of the Ford Fusion (up 25.8 per cent) and Honda Accord (up a stunning 138.9 per cent) goes against the overall grain of the marketplace. And, of course, even as middle class take-home pay declines, luxury car sales are up 6.8 per cent.

So much for Canada being a country of thrifty drivers who embrace fuel-efficient small economy cars. As the numbers supplied by DesRosiers Automotive Consultants show, Canadians are moving to bigger vehicles. Sales of light trucks are up 5.6 per cent on the year, while car sales are up a paltry 0.7 per cent – that in a market up overall by 3.4 per cent year-on-year.

Our pickup love affair has been growing stronger over the years, too, notes DesRosiers.

“Back in the 1980s, they (large pickups) accounted for about 10 per cent of the overall market year in and year out. With the boom in the West, pickups grew in importance and for most of the last 20 years they accounted for roughly 13 per cent of total vehicle sales in Canada, with volumes consistently at about 200,000 units. However, over the last three years they have averaged closer to 260,000 units and this year they are tracking at about 300,000 units - a full 100,000 units above long-term tracking levels and closer to a 16/17 per cent share of the total market,” says DesRosiers in a note to clients.

Sure, sure some of that full-size growth can be attributed to the end of Ford Ranger sales in Canada. It was a popular compact rig and accounted for sales of about 20,000 a year. Those buyers have now migrated to big pickups or something else entirely. Meanwhile, General Motors’ small pickups, the GMC Canyon and Chevrolet Colorado have not been a part of the marketplace as GM prepares to launch all-new versions next year.

DesRosiers believes that some of the growth in big pickup sales is for personal use as everyday rides. This trend looks particularly strong in the West. And as long as economies in the West stay strong, so, too, should full-size pickup sales.

What’s certain is this, says DesRosiers: “Ford’s F-Series will easily be the top-selling truck this year. Ford broke the 100,000 unit mark for the first time with the F-Series last year and is tracking 14 per cent higher this year.”

If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead.
Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

[turtlespeed 212]

brenthutch

Motor Trend awarded the Volt "2011 car of the year" and got mad props from many on this forum, I said it was a POS, obviously the market agrees with my assessment.

Ha . . . and Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize . . . your point?

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

[brenthutch 384]

Exactly

[quade 3]

brenthutch

I assumed that the members of this forum would be able to read between the lines.

You're seriously going to tell us you assumed people remembered a post you made over a yet ago about the sales potential of the Volt?

Carly Simon called, she has a song about you.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[brenthutch 384]

It has nothing to do with a previous post. Everything was encapsulated in the title. I even thought the "shocked" emoticon was a bit superfluous, but apparently not.

[ianmdrennan 2]

http://cleantechnica.com/2014/01/03/13-electric-vehicles-coming-market-2014/

doesn't look like the manufacturers are giving up on the technology just yet.

Performance Designs Factory Team

[brenthutch 384]

God bless them.

[quade 3]

ianmdrennan

http://cleantechnica.com/2014/01/03/13-electric-vehicles-coming-market-2014/
doesn't look like the manufacturers are giving up on the technology just yet.

Was pretty damn sure that was the case.

Electric vehicles -will- play a significant role in the future of transportation. Maybe not today, but soon enough.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[turtlespeed 212]

quade

***http://cleantechnica.com/2014/01/03/13-electric-vehicles-coming-market-2014/
doesn't look like the manufacturers are giving up on the technology just yet.

Was pretty damn sure that was the case.

Electric vehicles -will- play a significant role in the future of transportation. Maybe not today, but soon enough.

Hmmm. I would say NOT soon enough, but that's just me.

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

[billvon 2,400]

>The 2013 Volt was competing against the 2012 Volt in the same market, and lost.

No. No one who has a 2012 Volt is considering buying a 2013 Volt. They're not in competition. They ARE in competition with the vehicles from other manufacturers they inspired.

When the Volt first came out it was the only PHEV on the market. It won a lot of awards for that reason - it was the first, and being the first is always hard to do. It took a tremendous amount of work.

Now it's just as good as it was then - but other cars are better. Teslas are much better luxury vehicles (and pure EV's). The C-Max Energi and the Prius plug are better PHEV's overall.

Bitching about the Volt is like bitching about the Cruislite. When it came out it was the first affordable, practical ram-air canopy out there. A lot of people bought them. It was very quickly copied, and manufacturers came out with canopies like the PD line of F111 canopies and the Precision line of Ravens. Then people started buying _them_. And while I am sure people like you would claim that that meant the Cruislite was a failure, I'd say that meant it was a success, imitation being the sincerest form of flattery.

Now that the Volt has been a success, there are lots of imitators. The C-Max Energi, the Fusion Energi, the Prius plug, the Accord plug-in, the BMW i8, the Cadillac ELR and the Porsche Panamera to name a few. I'm glad it's losing to new vehicles - because that means there are newer, better vehicles out there, inspired by the Volt, that will take over the market. And that's good both for US drivers and the US as a whole.

[brenthutch 384]

I never said that anyone who bought a 2012 volt was "in the market" by definition they are no longer in the market. The 2013 Volt was in the electric car market. The 2012 Volt did a much better job vis-a-vis its competitors than the 2013 Volt.

I am a bit confused (not hard to do to me) that you would claim the Volt to be a success. What metrics are you using? Profits? Sales? Market share? Fairy princess tingles?

[turtlespeed 212]

brenthutch

I never said that anyone who bought a 2012 volt was "in the market" by definition they are no longer in the market. The 2013 Volt was in the electric car market. The 2012 Volt did a much better job vis-a-vis its competitors than the 2013 Volt.

I am a bit confused (not hard to do to me) that you would claim the Volt to be a success. What metrics are you using? Profits? Sales? Market share? Fairy princess tingles?

AlGorenomics

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

[DanG 1]

Sales of trucks are tied closely to the housing and construction industries. Now that those industries are picking up again, truck sales will rise, too.

Not sure what that has to do with the Chevy Volt.

- Dan G

[billvon 2,400]

>I am a bit confused (not hard to do to me) that you would claim the Volt to be
>a success. What metrics are you using?

Successful launch of a new automotive market.

The first Internet routers (Arpanet routers actually) were huge, clumsy, expensive things. But it would be hard to claim they were failures.