LexFather

Thank you for coming in here every month to state on a Lexus forum that GS sales suck. Even though sales are down only 11% to last year and sales remain a solid 3rd in class with basically one engine and only as a sedan.

Maybe do some studying on market trends. Stating that the LS is almost at the same volume though its actually only 66% of the volume isn't very accurate.

The GS sure ain't a top seller but its funny to see so many people badger the sportiest vehicle in class every month. That used to matter when Lexus wasn't sporty..my how the lines have moved again.

RNM GS3

Not much of a diff between 1,000 for LS and 1,500 for GS especially when the Eclass/5Series do over 5,000.

Last time I checked this thread is about Sales #s not which car is Sportiest, anyhow based on latest reviews its now the CTS and not the GS which is "Sportiest Vehicle".

LexFather

Unless you are nowhere near the Accounting department, 66% is not close to 100%.. 1,000 is not close to 1,500. Maybe in fairyland.

Yes the CTS and GS battle to be sportiest in class. For years the internetz beat them up for not being sporty. Its hilarious.

It seems to be difficult for many to comprehend the simple fact cars have different sales targets. Again I nor does anyone beat up the X3 for selling 1/3rd of the RX. The X3 has a lower target it seems to meet. Mazda is happy with their improving sales, the 6 is not a failure to the Camry even if its outsold 7 to 1 or whatever the ratio is.

For a decade now we have seen the E and 5 series dominate in sales, they are volume sellers even though they are midsize. The E-class includes coupe and wagon sales. We all know the GS isn't a hot seller but it is a solid third though way behind the first two. That is called domination by Benz and BMW.

Maybe I need to write in larger font or something.

To elaborate even more the 3/4 series sold 13k a month, nearly twice as much as Lincoln and as much as Infiniti/Acura/Buick. That is utter sales domination even with a 320. That doesn't make the ES, the C class, the ATS, the IS, etc etc failures or they suck. They are also meeting/exceeding their targets.

Now I am interested in compiling not just sales figures but sales goals when possible to help educate about car sales data. It would even be more incredible to add nationwide incentives (dealer incentives would be near impossible to add) so we can see trends. I think that site TrueData does quite a bit of stuff like that.

84Cressida

Does Lexus offer 0% financing on the GS during December? They're offering 1.9% right now. Do the offers get better as December progresses?

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

please, enough of the condescending comments.

i don't think many beside you care about sales targets. for most what matters is what's selling best in its respective class, and whether sales are going up or down.

and as this is a lexus forum, of course it's disappointing to most that the gs, being as you said, very sporty, and competitive with 5, e, a6, cts, etc., does not sell better, whether it meets some internal goals or not. we both know though that lexus also has a 2 midsize car offering, which makes comparisons more difficult.

LexFather

What is condescending about the truth? There are different sales targets, this is explained every month and every month the same people come in here not to add valuable content but to bash Lexus .How about asking someone on a Lexus forum that says the GS sucks to explain himself in a less insulting manner as there are GS owners and Lexus owners on here.

So many besides me don't care about sales targets yet you started the thread. Considering how now many car forums now use our data (scratch, the data I take my time to compile) or have their own sales threads its clear this opinion is wrong. People do care and like discussing the news. Sadly trolling sales threads seems to be acceptable.

TangoRed

While that may be true, it can't be denied that it helps bring in some context as to what's happening in the sales world. Most people assume that any given model's goal is to sell the most units possible and become the sales leader when in fact that may not be the manufacturer's MO. Lexfather drew very valid points when he mentioned that the IS/A4/etc. aren't considered sales failures in comparison to the 3-series that is absolutely killing the segment. People are interested in this info, many forums I hang out at like hearing how new models are fairing.

LexBob2

Once the realities of the market set in, sales goals/targets are adjusted up or down to reflect the real world out there. This happens all of the time with all consumer products. In the case of the GS I doubt if the goal was to be -12% for the month and year to date. I hope the Lexus division can change that - The GS is a great car.

Trexus

Let's look at overall sales of Lexus and where the GS stands. Out of all Lexus models the RX is the highest selling vehicle then the comes the ES, IS, GS, CT, GX, LS, LX, LFA followed by last by not least HS.

YTD 2013:

RX 90,751
ES 64,368
IS 29,603
GS 17,138
CT 13,284
GX 10,306
LS 9,663
LX 3,950
LFA 22
HS 5

Lexus is probably happy where the GS is but can always do better. The GS doesn't need to outsell the IS, ES or RX.

Now if we look at the competition Mercedes and BMW dominates:

YTD 2013

E Class 61,076
5 Series 48,761

YTD 2012

E Class 58,187
5 Series 48,413

These are well established marques and sure it would be great if Lexus could dominate in sales but we all know that the GS is a better car than the 5 or E. The GS is just more exclusive. The GS is a great car...

S2000toIS350

Thanks Trexus,

So 65% of unit volume is coming from 2 of 8 current models.

In my MBA speak, this is only ok if you can defend the position of these 2 models in the market.

You would typically like better balance and I expect the new smaller SUV should help.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

what i quoted was not factual, it was your opinion that people find things difficult to comprehend (or perhaps they just don't care?) and that using a larger font might help (it won't).

not sure who this is aimed at, i don't think the GS sucks.

the thread is about sales, not sales targets, and i just happened to be the one to start our monthly thread because no one else had.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

any manufacturer wants to sell as many of any model as they can manufacture, unless they're losing money on each one and limiting volume for halo/strategic reasons like the LFA or Volt. but they also have to be realistic that if their models are going up against an entrenched popular model, then they can't expect to outsell that model any time soon. so their goals/forecasts have to be realistic within many parameters of market position, capacity, dealers, and competition, and other priorities.

have no problem with all the info. but whether a model meets, exceeds or doesn't meet a manufacturer's own targets is pretty arbitrary, and often a hollow victory (or defeat). let's take a more rare brand like maserati. let's suppose their goal is to sell 100 cars a month of one of their models in the u.s. if they sell 110 (10% over!) should they be dancing in the streets, and if they sell 90 (10% under!) should they be falling on their swords? it's just a number that you try to evaluate relative to your strategy, competition, any macro factors like the economy, etc., and you adjust going forward.

but in the overall market of 'winners and losers' what matters is who is selling the most in a given segment. for example, the camry is the undisputed king of family sedans in the u.s. whether gm, ford, honda, etc. meet, don't meet, or exceed their own forecasts (with competing models like malibu, fusion, accord, etc.) is somewhat interesting, but much more interesting in relation to whether they're making ground on the leader.

i personally don't care (and i don't think most others do either) if ford met their sales goal for the f-150, but i darn sure know that it's the best selling vehicle in america, and if that were to change, it would be HUGE NEWS.

so whether a model met forecasts is just changing the subject from how it's doing in the market.

consider another business...

"pepsi met sales forecasts" - no care
"pepsi outsold coke in the this market" - holy crap

mordecai

Lol, this seriously happens every month...

*amused*

Trexus

If Lexus really wanted to increase the sales of the GS in the U.S. would be to bring other variants of the GS from around the world:

GS 200t
GS 250
GS 350
GS 460 Bring it back

GS F

GS 300h
GS 450h

With all these GS variants sales could exceed the IS and maybe close to the ES.

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

Toyota probably would if they felt those variants would sell well.
When I got my GS I was told by the dealer GM that Toyota was hoping the GS would account for 10% of total sales here.