CARBIZ

.......Dodgefan I am shocked, indeed, HORRIFIED, that you didn't recognize your own namesake. Plymouth and Chrysler always got the better end of the styling stick in the late '50s, IMO. Dodges were always rather over done and had heavy-handed styling. I would take a '58 Fury or New Yorker over the above black beauty any day. but that is not to say I would say NO to the above car if it was given to me..........

...........well, the general consensus amongst 80 or salesguys at a GM training session a few months back, as we poured over the Sentra, is that the outside was and is a complete copy of the (get ready for it) Ion. Just my two cents.

There has been a fair bit of positive press lately about the Impala, particularly in the Canadian market. I have had a few people remark that they are "considering" the Impala because of the positive press. The Impala's sales are strong. It could end up being the dark horse of the Chevy line up. It has really bit into our current Malibu sales. It will be interesting to see what happens when the new Malibu comes out later this year. The Canadian government slapped a $1,000 rebate on the E-85 Impala and that has piqued interest, too - even though you can't get ethanol here! Never confound the government with facts!

.... I remember 22, but then I have a good memory!

But in GM corporate-speak, they want dealers to nurture their own customers and keep them in the family. The P-B-GMC side will be able to do that. This has always been the set-up in Canada. Canada used to have Chevrolet-Oldsmobile paired, so you could put someone in a Cavalier, then maybe Malibu and then Intrigue. How are the Chevrolet dealers, whose shoulders the direct relationship falls to, supposed to do this now? Just last night a man walks in with his 5 year old Aurora, looks at the Impala, shrugs and walks away. Sure, I can put on my GM badge and send him over to a Buick store to look at the Lucerne (and, believe me, with 7 passenger customers I have sent a lot of people over to look at the Acadia!), but I am a commissioned salesperson who sells Chevrolet! In some markets, it may work that a Alero or Aurora customer would consider an Equinox or Tahoe, but as gas prices rise people will seek luxury in smaller packages. Pure snob appeal is keeping some people from buying a Chevrolet, even if they like the vehicle! Perhaps 35 years ago when GM commanded half the market and customers were fiercely loyal, it did not matter if someone outgrew their Nova and bought a Lesabre - there were plenty of GM loyal customers to go around, and I suppose Canadian dealers were pretty spoiled in the '70s and '80s selling Chevrolet and Oldsmobile under one roof, but those days are gone. I wonder if they day will come where there will be just one big GM sign and however many brands are left are sold under one roof.

Plymouth was the #3 nameplate for many, many years until horrid badge engineering, starting in the late '60s killed it off. The Aries/Reliant twins were probably the final nail in the coffin. I see a lot of similarities with what GM has been doing to Pontiac/Chevrolet of late. At one time, Plymouth outsold Dodge 2:1 and more. Slowly, Plymouth's badge jobs killed its sales, while Dodge's sales remained the same. Do we think that is impossible for Chevrolet/Pontiac? It is already happening in Canada.

"Add that to the fact that GM's presence in Europe (both eastern and western) and India is increasing. I only wish that GM had its presence in Japan. That is where Toy's bastion is and that is what GM should compete and bring Toy on their heels" That is the billion dollar question, isn't it? While Toyota apologists on this Board whine that GM "doesn't build anything I want to buy , Japan Inc is walking all over us, and rice humpers of all stripes only tsk, tsk and blame GM for past perceived mistakes, instead of doing something, whatever that is, each and every day to get the message out. Why is it that in every other market, GM is doing well - even beating the blessed Toyota, yet in North America is having its ass handed to it on a platter? And all the while we are told "GM isn't building relevant products." Relevant to whom? To the clowns at CR and MT, etc? Honestly, if supposedly smart people on this board can't see that buying anything other than a Detroit product, regardless of how beautiful the neighbor's (insert your favorite import of choice here) is, then Detroit is doomed, North America is doomed and we will all be practicing "Would you like fries with that?"

.......surely you can't be rooting for Toyota's ascent to continue? Is it by some Divine Right or something? Of course GM had nowhere to go but down. Of course, Toyota, Honda, etc. would pick up the slack. None of this was news. With the media constantly harping for the past few years that Toyota was the "largest company by market valuation" and that "GM's market share is down X points," the results were predictable - inevitable, even. The tables will turn, of that I have no doubt. Once GM's slide stabalizes, the brands are sorted out, UAW dealt with and newer models eased in, Toyota's ascent will halt, perhaps even reverse. Nothing is written in stone. As China's market becomes more and more significant, GM could easily regain the so-called crown.

Toyota may be hitting a brick wall up here. The Corolla is tired and both the Mazda 3 and Sentra are poised to steal sales away from it. The Yaris has done well, but now has better competition from the Versa, etc. The Tundra will not sell exceptionally well up here for the same reason the Silverado doesn't - $4 a gallon gas. What is very interesting is that many Toyota dealers have undergone $$million$$ renovations at a time when their sales may finally be hitting a plateau.

...so the general consensus is ANYTHING as long as it is NOT from Detroit.

I"ve lived in both large (Toronto & Vancouver) and small (Collingwood, Ontario; Bolton, Ontario) towns. I guess it depends on your view point. I am gay, so small towns can be a (no pun intended) drag Even though many, many people in Collingwood (pop. at that time about 17,000) knew I was gay, it was good and bad. There were people who stayed away from my business because of this knowledge and there were people who supported my business because of this knowledge. Growing up in Bolton during the early '70s, let me tell you the kids were pretty bored and got into a lot of bad stuff: break-ins, pot, you name it. When a friend of mine moved to Waubashene in '75 (pop. 300 or so) it was worse: most of the kids were sniffing glue, doing LSD or something. Personally, if I had kids (ha, ha) I would prefer to raise them "downtown," although I can't comment on specific American cities with their conspicuous crime.

Yeah, we've kicked this can around before. Just lost 2 more Alero customers this week. Leases up, gone elsewhere. Interesting story with this "new Canadian" guy last night: he has always driven Oldsmobiles since he came to Canada 20 or so years ago, liked them and they have brought him good luck. He was able to keep buying domestic, against his spawn's growing complaints, because he had "always" had Oldsmobile. What can he do now? No more arguments, the spawn win and off he goes in a Mazda. Still, I hope GM can look back in ten years and see that killing Oldsmobile was a good thing. On a personal level, it has hurt me and many Chevrolet stores in Canada because we were always paired with Olds. Now we have nothing to offer our "upscale" clients and we are losing them in droves. I am sure GM hoped they would go to Buick or Saturn, but I doubt that is the case.

I've only ever driven two vehicles that budget was not a major issue. The first was my '91 Caprice wagon that I factory ordered, then put American Racing mags on it, blacked out the windows, put 8" bazookas and a Panasonic Cd system in it. I had also test-driven and considered the new Previa, the new 2nd generation Chrysler minivan and the T-Bird SC. I WANTED the T-Bird, but my practical side won out. I had a canoe. I knew I wanted to buy a power boat. The T-Bird, while gorgeous and fun to drive, would have been a nightmare in the long-haul, I reasoned. The second vehicle was my '98 Blazer that I replaced the Caprice with when I wiped out on black ice and totalled it. For many of the same reasons above, I needed a tow vehicle. I considered the C/K pick up, but my (ex)boyfriend and I disagreed over where the dog would end up (I said in the box, he said in the cab behind us) so I spent $10k more and got a Blazer. Blazer is gone. Boyfriend is gone. Kept the dog.

..........PHEW! Thank God! I thought Hell had frozen over!

I wish I had my camera with me this afternoon. The old Downsview Airport site (former air force landing strip in the center of the city!) has rows and rows of shiny, new Chargers and 300s and wagons. I didn't have time to stop, but their numbers had to be into the several hundreds! Not a good sign for Chrysler!

True. An old-timer who had been selling cars for nearly 30 years told me the same thing when I started. He said everybody wants to bring down the number one guy by any means necessary, but nobody pays attention to the #2 guy. Besides, once you are at the top, there is nothing else to aspire to!

Amazing story. I have never heard this before. WHY THE HELL NOT GM??? GM should be shouting this from the rooftops. I'd like to see a piece of $h! Lexus do that!!!!!!

I still like the 300, but then I liked the first generation Intrepid when they came out! I had an old geezer (sadly, it is only old geezers I've seen driving these things around here) drop of his leased 300 and pay cash for a 2006 LTZ Impala from me. He said he liked the 300 okay, but was unimpressed with the gas mileage and his wife almost had a coronary when they saw the trunk of the Impala. I think they keep their grandkids in there!

Despite the flogging and rejoicing I've seen on the media, not a single customer has mentioned it...yet. I don't think this will have the negative impact that the rumours of bankruptcy did 18 months ago - that hurt! This will pass. The Toyota Star has been calling Toyota the "largest car company by market valuation" for a couple years now to keep keep their cheques coming. Besides, one quarter does not a year make!

Y'know, for you girls who hate all things Uplander, ya gotta get out and drive one. I scoot around in our shuttle bus from time to time, and I gotta hand it to GM: they've done quite a bit with the tired old thing. Truly, the 3.9 in it turns it into a bit of a rocket - so much so that the first time I drove it I kinda scared myself, having given it the guns like I would when it was the 3.4! The Achilles heal of the van is the lack of leg room. When GM went from the Venture to Uplander they made the seats so thick that many inches of leg room evaporated - and they need to bring back the 8 passenger version. We can't keep used 8 passenger Ventures in stock! There is no denying that the Uplander is a hoary old beast, but for $10,000 less than a Sienna/Odyssey, they are the deal of the century.

Too bad about your Pontiac experience. Both our Fixed Operations manager and one of our top salesguys BOUGHT daily rental Grand Prixs. They both love theirs. In fact, salesguy traded his 2 year old Maxima (traitor!) for the Grand Prix. I've driven them and think they are okay, but doubt I would spend the bucks for them. I was not a huge fan of the black nylon cloth on the seats - they look okay, but feel kinda cheap. Still, where I give the Grand Prix its due is that it LOOKS like a Pontiac and rides/handles like an American car, not some rice burner. GM and Ford just need to learn to do this type of car better and forget about Japan.

At the rate Russia's population is imploding, they won't be able to harvest their wheat in 10 years! Australia's wheat is getting decimated. Brazil has sunshine all year round; hence their push on can ethanol.

Yeah, I caught that one, too. The Plymouth Sapparo was built in...what? Sapparo?

The Toyota Star was bleeding the other day that ethanol will result in rising grain prices which will hit the poor. The truth is that any rapid change in a different direction is going to cause pain. Wait until the cost of mercury shoots through the roof and the new bulbs get expensive! I have great confidence in the ingenuity of humans and of technology in general, but it will be baby steps, not a giant leap. However, I do think it important that we do start with some baby steps now, before some lunatic in the Middle East (or Beijing) forces it on us!