PREMiERdrum Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 The fact that "Cruze Limited" is to continue alongside the new model for fleet and retail customers can only really mean one thing: The new Cruze is about to get a lot more expensive. DETROIT — General Motors told Edmunds on Monday it will continue to sell the 2015 Chevrolet Cruze sedan as an entry-level, value model that will slot below the all-new 2016 Chevrolet Cruze sedan. The carryover Cruze Limited is primarily intended for fleet customers, but ordinary consumers will be able to buy one as well at Chevrolet dealerships, said Annalisa Bluhm, a Chevrolet spokeswoman, in a phone conversation. "The Cruze Limited will continue through the 2016 model year," Bluhm said. "It is a way to continue to add value to our customers." http://www.edmunds.com/car-news/chevrolet-to-continue-selling-2015-cruze-value-model-alongside-all-new-2016-cruze.html?SID=ibb6id0gtg000b1p001ol&kw=flexibletexttool&PID=3193616&AID=10364102&mktid=cj260233&mktcat=affiliates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Gotta keep that second plant busy somehow 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PREMiERdrum Posted June 24, 2015 Author Share Posted June 24, 2015 Pricing for the 2016 Cruze Limited is already available to dealers... and they mirror 2015 pricing. I can't imagine where the new model is tracking, price wise. Yowzers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzcat Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 (edited) Don't think it implies MSRP are going to get a lot higher. Just means GM is playing the same old residual game. If they limit fleet sales to a different nameplate, they can tell the banks that latent demand for Cruze and Cruze Limited 3 years down the road are independent vairables... one won't affect the other. Boosting new Cruze residual by a few % will help make the lease payment more competitive - remember that GM doesn't own its financing operations so it has to live by the residual rates set by 3rd party banks. Banks will play along as long as they can sell the portfolio to investors whom probably won't care. Ford (and everyone else) finance leases through captive banks so Ford Credit can work with Ford to set a reasonable residual without resorting to tricks like selling fleet a different (in name only) car. Edited June 24, 2015 by bzcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PREMiERdrum Posted June 24, 2015 Author Share Posted June 24, 2015 Don't think it implies MSRP are going to get a lot higher. Just means GM is playing the same old residual game. If they limit fleet sales to a different nameplate, they can tell the banks that latent demand for Cruze and Cruze Limited 3 years down the road are independent vairables... one won't affect the other. Boosting new Cruze residual by a few % will help make the lease payment more competitive - remember that GM doesn't own its financing operations so it has to live by the residual rates set by 3rd party banks. Banks will play along as long as they can sell the portfolio to investors whom probably won't care. Ford (and everyone else) finance leases through captive banks so Ford Credit can work with Ford to set a reasonable residual without resorting to tricks like selling fleet a different (in name only) car. But Cruze Limited won't be "limited" to just fleet this time (a la Captiva, etc), and fleet customers aren't said to be disallowed from buying the new one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 But Cruze Limited won't be "limited" to just fleet this time (a la Captiva, etc), and fleet customers aren't said to be disallowed from buying the new one. Captiva wasn't limited to fleets either. You could purchase one not through a rental car company. It was one of those unadvertised type of deals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PREMiERdrum Posted June 24, 2015 Author Share Posted June 24, 2015 Captiva wasn't limited to fleets either. New sales of Captivas were limited to fleet customers. If a dealer wanted to sell without a fleet code, it had to sell as "used". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 New sales of Captivas were limited to fleet customers. If a dealer wanted to sell without a fleet code, it had to sell as "used". That's not the point. If it were really only limited to fleets, that work around wouldn't have existed in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PREMiERdrum Posted June 24, 2015 Author Share Posted June 24, 2015 That's not the point. If it were really only limited to fleets, that work around wouldn't have existed in the first place. But for the workaround to work, the dealer has to keep the car on the lot for a certain number of months or miles for it to be sold as "used." New Captiva sales were limited to fleet only. Period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 So, in a short while, GM will be selling new and old versions of the Impala, the Malibu and the Cruze? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PREMiERdrum Posted June 24, 2015 Author Share Posted June 24, 2015 So, in a short while, GM will be selling new and old versions of the Impala, the Malibu and the Cruze? And I fully expect Equinox to join that list as well. The 2016 model is getting a slight refresh, presumably to stick around alongside the all new 2017 model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 This is my modest reworking of the GM family of brands: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aneekr Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Smart move on GM's part. This enables the company to cover a wider range of C-segment car customers, both fleet and retail consumer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Smart move on GM's part. This enables the company to cover a wider range of C-segment car customers, both fleet and retail consumer. Not necessarily. It allows consumers to choose cheaper models with less profit and requires more overhead to maintain both models at the same time. It will definitely add volume but it may not add profit at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Smart move on GM's part. This enables the company to cover a wider range of C-segment car customers, both fleet and retail consumer. If it were smart, it would be common in a business this competitive and with margins this narrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-S Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Let's see if we can get this thread up to at least three pages of criticism and sarcasm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Let's see if we can get this thread up to at least three pages of criticism and sarcasm. Maybe we'll Cruze right along until we get there.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Maybe we'll Cruze right along until we get there.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 (edited) I wonder if GM will do a Camaro Limited.... Old Chevrolets don't die, they become Limited......Sorry, couldn't help being facetious............. Edited June 26, 2015 by jpd80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 Ford made a conscious decision to give up the low end of the market - too much competition and not enough profit. What's the point other than purely to pad the volume numbers? I guess GM will get there in another 4-5 years. Or maybe not. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 (edited) This is my modest reworking of the GM family of brands: Untitled-2.jpg Yes, it's almost like GM has invented a sub-brand within Chevrolet. At first look, the premise of superseded models to fleet seems valid but look a little deeper and I bet this is all about GM having way too much production capacity and plants. Keeping superseded models around for a year or two allows GM to stall off killing those products and any problems with plants running out of work. Edited June 26, 2015 by jpd80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grbeck Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 Yes, it's almost like GM has invented a sub-brand within Chevrolet. At first look, the premise of superseded models to fleet seems valid but look a little deeper and I bet this is all about GM having way too much production capacity and plants. Keeping superseded models around for a year or two allows GM to stall off killing those products and any problems with plants running out of work. This approaches erodes brand equity and muddies the image of Chevrolet. Are Chevrolets modern, up-to-date vehicles that compete with the best, or tired fleet queens that sell largely on price? And before anyone says that the previous generation models only go to fleet customers, I've seen plenty of Chevrolet Captivas without the rental car barcode. These vehicles do eventually end up on the retail market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 This approaches erodes brand equity and muddies the image of Chevrolet. Are Chevrolets modern, up-to-date vehicles that compete with the best, or tired fleet queens that sell largely on price? They are trying to be both by offering separate vehicles for retail and fleet, the differentiation does protect the residual value of the retail models. I don't like the plan, it wreaks of GM needing to produce older models simply to keep production volumes up, it more of the same old Detroit BS that subscribes to the notion that more production is always good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzcat Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 But Cruze Limited won't be "limited" to just fleet this time (a la Captiva, etc), and fleet customers aren't said to be disallowed from buying the new one. I'm using fleet as a short hand but I think you get my point. GM has to create a separate model that they can sell at lower price as a pre-requisite to play residual chicken game on the new generation model. The underlying assumption is that demand (and thus residual costs) of Cruze Limited will in no way impact that of Cruze in 36 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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