Jump to content

Mercedes and BMW sales down again


TStag

Recommended Posts

Yeah it's too bad the 3 series outsells the entire LR lineup in most markets.

 

How much capacity is BMW wasting right now? How much is Land Rover wasting at Solihull? Not a lot. Admittedly they need to fill up Ford's old Halewood plant but the Baby Range Rover will sort that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...Isn't the 50% increase just for one model and not the entire line up?

 

Yes BUT the revised LR3 and Range Rover Sport (which went on sale a month after the RR) are now seeing sales rocket in similar proportions to the RR. According to Autocar the only one which is sluggish is the LR2 at the moment. But bearing in mind the RR, LR3 and RR Sport is where most of Land Rover's money is made then that's not a big deal. Solihull has just gone back on a 5 day week and suppliers are now scrambling to meet demand. Very few Automakers can claim to be doing that well right now.

 

To put this in perspective a 50% increase in sales will put those model lines back to where they were before the recession started and would put Land Rover back into the kind of territory where they were making over $600 million dollars a year (despite Jaguars losses). With the XF doing well and the XJ going on sale very soon then they could bizarely be about to hit the really big bucks jackpot. Do the maths.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do the maths.

 

Ford did. Ford bailed. Ford made the right choice. Tata is stuck now with multi-billion dollar losses into the foreseeable future.

 

Don't you see this pattern for yourself?

 

Refresh comes.

Sales skyrocket (in percentage terms anyway).

Profits still don't materialize.

Product gets stale.

Sales plummet.

Profits are only a dream.

Repeat.

 

With Tata's R&D funding likely being far lower than that which Ford was willing to spend on the brands, the stale product is only going to get staler.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, but the interior enhancements and powertrain improvements have made these vehicles competitive again. The exterior may not be all that different but the designs have aged well.

 

Oh I completely agree, they're still beautiful vehicles (except the LR3 -now 4-), I was just trying to add to the argument, LOL.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, but the interior enhancements and powertrain improvements have made these vehicles competitive again. The exterior may not be all that different but the designs have aged well.

 

That's a problem though. All of the powertrain and interior improvements will generally go unnoticed as long as the exterior looks the same. Look at the last XJ as proof of that. It was an entirely new vehicle from the ground up, far superior in every way to the vehicle it replaced, but it's yawner of an exterior led people to hardly notice it had changed.

Edited by NickF1011
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, but the interior enhancements and powertrain improvements have made these vehicles competitive again. The exterior may not be all that different but the designs have aged well.

 

For looks, yes. but their reliability still sux bigtime. I'm soooo glad Ford got out of this mess (and Jaguar).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...