April Production #'s for Camaro

[RobH]

Originally Posted by orange_5thgen

True! They are having a big Camaro parade in Houston like they did in Dallas a week ago. I called one of the dealers today and he said after the event I could come down and bascially buy or bid on their two cars, so that is correct. The couple cars each dealer gets seem to go right up for sale and will not sit there for folks to come in and look at or test drive.

If you want to pick out one of those parade cars now, they are on the back lot at Lone Star Chevy and have been there a few weeks. There's about 50 of them sitting back there. The one showroom car they have out front has a big sold sticker on it and is locked up.

[GRM RPR]

Let's see...out of 614 sold units you need to take away the Avis bafoonary...what about 50 cars or so?? So 8.7% (take away the AVIS cars which are roughly 50) of April production were sold to consumers. Hmmm...wonder how many of those were pre-orders? Wonder how many of those were dealer "show room" cars that were auctioned off to the highest bidder? I think the "1 v-6 to each dealer" theory backfired on GM since they are just being used as cash cows for the dealers which doesn't count against their allotment. Seems to me the "PR" value of having a Camaro on each show room floor backfired on GM.....great intentions, poor execution of the fine details. I think the AVIS theory may backfire as well....well only if GM actually starts to fill R6P orders at a greatly increased rate. If we keep going at the current rate, there will be plenty of cars available to walk in customers and a bunch of pissed off Camaro loyalists still waiting for their cars.


**DISCLAIMER - I pre-ordered, am trying to wait patiently, and understand the huge logistical nightmare of this whole process. I look forward to getting my car.

BUT......

We got played really well to this point....Wag the Dog anyone?? Allow your loyalists unprecedented access to make them feel like a part of the process of designing THEIR car. Naturally, they will begin to create a buzz around your new product. Whip them into a frenzy with the Pre-Order program (seems Mr. Conti may have been right from the get go) so that word of mouth really gets moving throughout the community. Hmmm...why no commercials...don't need them when you have loyalists who have "pre-orders" spreading the good news all over the place and build cars for AVIS to help PR in major tourist cities to help spread the good word as well. Then hit the hardest phase....manage customer expectations while filling 15,000 pre-orders by Q3 and make cars available for dealership walk in customers.

Someone is going to get screwed.....and right now, it seems the pre-order guys are taking it in the shorts. I have a sneaky suspicion that pre-order fill rates are going to be evenly spread from start of production to end of Q3 (no large R6P production). Basically, building a small targeted percentage of R6P each month to meet the 15,000 number by end of September (roughly 2,500 pre-orders per month for 6 months). This will allow GM and dealers to have Camaro's available to "Joe Smoe" as a walk in customer. Of course this is all speculation but it sure does sound damn good.

I am REALLY REALLLY hoping this is not the case.

[jadam13hd]

I was told by my dealer back in March that my 2 SS/RS was in transit. To this day he cannot not tell me anything else and he still hasn't received an invoice. Can any tell me what the event in June in Carlisle, PA is and exactly where it is? I'll be home in June and hopefully my car will have been delivered by then.

2 SS/RS Black/Black Auto Grnd Efcts

In Transit


-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1100 = Preliminary Order: 10/13/2008
2000 = Accepted By GM:
2500 = Preferenced:
3000 = Accepted By Production Control:
3100 = Sequenced:
3300 = Scheduled For Production:
3400 = Broadcast:
3800 = Produced: 2/3/09
4150 = Invoiced:
4200 = Shipped: 3/13/09
5000 = Delivered To Dealer:
6000 = Delivered To Customer:

[PieNsky]

Originally Posted by Krieger

Those numbers are great news!

It's been SEVEN years since the Camaro/Firebird were able to be purchased new. What an awesome year this is.

The fact that they're now being made, and that I'll eventually get one is is a very comforting thought for this Camaro guy.
Also seeing one at my local dealer (demo unit), and seeing one on a transport on the freeway tells me the wait is much shorter than the mind-set of never we were left with in 2003.

Enjoy other aspects of your life and this short time period of waiting will be over before you know it.

[oilman63]

everybody chill.count to 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 20 dam i lost count take a deep breath breath whatever.7000 x 35000 =245000000 do you all really think they'll make us all wait when they're in the financial pickle they're in i don't think so .they're gonna flood americas highways all at once.watch philadelphia camaro is as american as apple pie

[flashback1994]

GRm you are exactly right GM really screwed things up by giving a un allocated car to each dealer that you know they will sell in the first week.

[Hylton]

Originally Posted by Wingnut

They ARE producing the pre-orders along with the dealer show-room cars.

I've got a problem with that.....

[alex33x]

So looking at this numbers it seems they are averaging about 212 cars a day, if thye are doing 351 cars a day now, like rumors say it might not be long before we all see our cars.

[RSm1thX]

Originally Posted by alex33x

So looking at this numbers it seems they are averaging about 212 cars a day, if thye are doing 351 cars a day now, like rumors say it might not be long before we all see our cars.

yeah...some people are actually thinking positive.

[Rodrunner]

Originally Posted by CWIweldace

I am venturing to guess they will continue to produce more sellable cars for dealers than they build preorders. They know we want our cars, they want more available to the masses. Although us enthusiasts are a factor, fact remains we are a small factor in the survival of GM. They need to sell a lot more than 15,000 pre orders. It just makes sense for them to build more for the lots.

You got it, CWI, we are not their top priority....understandable to me too.

Originally Posted by themossman

HA! a handful from 8k members...certainly 50% of us have cars on order.
I'm 'optimistic' that next week we'll see the floodgates open as GM is going for a 'big bang'...

Yep, right after May 6th probably.

Originally Posted by Arod

i CALLED THE 1800 NUMBER N THREATEN TO GO TO THE MEDIA IF NO WAS GOING TO GIVE ME AN ESTIMATED DATE OF DELIVERY! INSTEAD OF JUST SAING IT WAS IN QUALITY CONTROL FOR 6 WEEKS N COULDNT TELL ME HOW LONG IT WOULD BE THERE. NEEDLESS TO SAY 2 PHONE CALLS THE NEXT DAY THAT MY CAR WAS IN TRANSIT BY RAIL CAR! KINDA FUNNY HUH!

That's the funniest thing I've read in a while!!!

Originally Posted by detroitboy

You're missing the point. The point is that they ARE building "x" amount of cars per day. So why are they not building cars they have already sold? It makes no difference to them WHO they build them for...so why not build cars for the customers who have already agreed to pay for them instead of building cars to attract more people to add to the already long list of disgruntled customers who are waiting for them?
Thats just plain common sense from Business 101 "give the customers what they want". And they wonder why GM is in the state they are in? I don't wonder anymore

Are you serious? Why attract more people to buy? That's what they teach in Bus. 101?

Originally Posted by Hylton

I've got a problem with that.....

Hylton, buddy, relax. I'm surprised you of all people didn't see this coming. I didn't initially, but I wasn't thinking past my enthusiast pre-order. You seem to know a lot about GM and I'd think you would have expected this. The Camaro's future is more than us pre-orders.

[bobby35ny]

Are you serious? Why attract more people to buy? That's what they teach in Bus. 101?

I took business 101 to 110... I disagree.

I know the logic of having the car on the FLOOR on May 6th and Avis.

Common knowledge would dictate. Guy wants to SEE the camaro and the dealer puts him in a colbalt. CAR SOLD.

Let's face it, a guy comes in for the Camaro, he's not buying a cobalt or a traverse.

If the TRAVERSE was the car in question then YES, push the guy into a Equinox.

Point I'm trying to make is If the pre-orders were on the street, thats better advertsing and the guy would see it on the street and run to the dealer and place his order.

6K preorders on the streets would SEE more eyeballs then on the dealer floor.

-bobby

[John Farnen]

The waiting game is BS, my car was built over 5 weeks ago with my name and dealer on it===Where is it?? #1312 and all the rest of the already built ones should have already been in our hands. Yesterday my dealer found out not only that mine is still on hold, but they will not receive their car by May 6. They had a show etc planned at City Park. Guess some dealers are treated like some of us.

[Doc]

First time posting. I've been following this story since summer last year. Been tinkering around with the idea of getting a Camaro (I had a 69 back when I was in college) but haven't decided yet. For all you who have waited this long with such excitement, hold onto that excitement and don't be so easily upset. Many things are going on which you most likely don't know.

Avis getting cars: Unless they are getting them for free, they are buying them which makes them a 'customer' just like you only they've ordered hundreds? thousands? while you ordered 'one'. You can be sure Chevy values your order, just like they do customers like Avis.

Production Numbers: This is the first production of a brand new model; nothing is perfect so they are no doubt learning/experiencing things on-the-fly as these are going through production. What things? Oh maybe things like a starter cable being too close to a heat shield and melting which shorts out the car like one of the forum members experienced. Or having to put weights on Brembo brakes to fix something no one saw coming or thought of ahead of time because no one is perfect but now that they know they have redesigned and reordered the revised part which can cause an unplanned delay. Other things they aren't going to talk about because no business blabs everything that's going on; especially "issues" they are working out while they are working them out.

So...if you've been patient this far, cut 'em some slack and continue to be patient while they work on getting this show on the road. This isn't just another car to them; it's literally their salvation right now and they know it. You can be sure they take EVERY order seriously; yours included. All kinds of glitches are to be expected at this stage; anything from something like a cable burning, to a part shortage, or wrong part delivered, or not enough delivered, or any numbers of things that can happen.

I'm sure considering the financial straits of the company and everybody who works there wanting to stay employed, they are ALL working very hard on getting this launch underway so keep the faith; you'll get your cars probably sooner than you are (at this moment anyway) believing.

[qbert48]

good post i hope you are right