[Shotimes] OT - 2006 Mercury Milan

[Carl Prochilo]

I was wondering if the format of the car might be a problem given it is
smaller than a sedan...

About the BMWs, I was referring to the fact that they do very well selling
performance sedans.  Seems like the predominant car down here.
-- 
Cheers,
Carl Prochilo
92 Ultra Red Crimson

On Sat, August 28, 2004 12:15 pm, Ron Porter said:
> I don't understand your question about BMWs. Are you referring to the
> manual
> tranny sales? I'm sure that 90%+ of BMWs sold here in the US are automatic
> (or SMG), and probably the reverse ratio in Europe.
>
> BMWs are not necessarily that expensive to fix. With new ones, getting the
> extended warranty is the plan (as with any car), then once they are a few
> years older, the parts cost is not always worse than some domestics.....at
> least parts are available for an '80s-era BMW....unlike a certain Ford
> with
> the name "SHO" that you may have heard of!!
>
> What is the market for the GTO? Besides incredibly boring styling, I have
> heard from other folks I know about the Australian Monte Carlo with a
> Chevy
> engine, now called a GTO. Not that these were folks in the market for one.
> The guys who want them are too young and can't afford the insurance & car
> payment. Guys in the Boomer demographic aren't any more interested than
> they
> were in the Camaro SS.....two-door coupe cars just aren't in the plan. The
> latest complaint I've heard is that the trunk is way too small, which
> further cuts the utility of the car.
>
> Ron Porter
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net [mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net]
> On Behalf Of Carl Prochilo
> Sent: Saturday, August 28, 2004 11:43 AM
> To: shotimes@autox.team.net
> Subject: Re: [Shotimes] OT - 2006 Mercury Milan
>
>
> Then why does BMW sell so many high-end sedans?  They carry a big presence
> in the racing world.  Their cars are expensive to fix.  It's not american
> made (could be good or bad I guess).
>
> The GTO thing surprises me.  Does the car already have a bad rep for some
> mechanical or quality issues?
> --
> Cheers,
> Carl Prochilo
> 92 Ultra Red Crimson
>
> On Sat, August 28, 2004 11:30 am, Leigh Smith said:
>> I second the "move the metal" mindset at dealers. My brother in-law is a
>> finance manager, and they get additional finance incentives for moving
>> the
>> cars off the floor plan very quickly, as well as incurring almost no
>> floor
>> plan (finance) charges. A winner is a car line that moves out in 30
>> days.
>> It
>> basically costs the dealer nothing.  A loser is one that sits around for
>> a
>> few months, they have to keep discounting them to sell them, and the
>> floor
>> plan charges keep racking up, so they actually lose money on each unit
>> sold.
>> Now that line is a "lemon" in their eyes. Then word spreads, dealers
>> don't
>> order them, factory inventory backs up, and the factory resorts to
>> blackmail
>> and makes them take x number of those models to get x number of the hot
>> selling model.
>>
>> The SHO was definately a sales "lemon". And we know that, we say that it
>> was
>> "under-appreciated" by the public.
>>
>> The current GTO is having the same problems. They have only sold 6,000
>> units
>> in 6 months and have another 9,000 already produced and in inventory,
>> giving
>> them over 9 months of inventory. A long way from their 30-60 day target.
>> Cool car or not, some business manager is having a hard time keeping it
>> alive and not pulling the plug.
>>
>> A lot of cool high-performance cars wind up with this problem, because
>> of
>> low sales potential, which is why performance cars have earned a bad rap
>> in
>> general with dealers even though they may be very good cars.
>>
>> Performance cars I can think of that fit this category are the SHO, GTO,
>> Fiero GT, Cosworth Vega, Corvair, late model Camaro/Firebird, and many
>> other
>> stick-shift models. Ever see a five speed Grand Prix or Lincoln LS?
>> Appreciate them quickly while they last, because they probably won't be
>> around long.
>>
>> Lee
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Ron Porter" <ronporter@prodigy.net>
>> To: <alfitz@alfitz.com>; "'_ShoTimes'" <Shotimes@autox.team.net>
>> Sent: Saturday, August 28, 2004 1:52 AM
>> Subject: RE: [Shotimes] OT - 2006 Mercury Milan
>>
>>
>>> This is looking at it from the perspective of a dealer who has to move
>>> the
>>> metal.
>>>
>>> IIRC, they had leftover SHOs just about every year they were out. Even
>>> my
>>> current '94, which was built in 10/93, wasn't titled until 1/95-2/95
>>> (it's
>>> on the Carfax around here somewhere).
>>>
>>> Dealers aren't into whether cars are good or not.....rather, they have
>> their
>>> own definition...."good" cars sell because buyers want them, "bad" cars
>> sit
>>> on the lot sucking up finance charges.
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: alfitz@alfitz.com [mailto:alfitz@alfitz.com]
>>> Sent: Friday, August 27, 2004 10:51 PM
>>> To: Ron Porter
>>> Cc: _ShoTimes
>>> Subject: Re: [Shotimes] OT - 2006 Mercury Milan
>>>
>>>
>>> Ouch !!  Pinto, Edsel, or Vega?
>>>
>>> I would like to think we are in better company than those dogs. Like
>>> maybe
>>> Stutz Bearcat or Packard V12....
>>>
>>>
>>> Al Fitz
>>> alfitz@alfitz.com
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Shotimes mailing list
>>> Shotimes@autox.team.net
>>> http://www.team.net/mailman/listinfo/shotimes
>> _______________________________________________
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