Everyone but honda gets smacked on the sales floor

[cfg83]

Arminius -

Originally Posted by Arminius

Makes me wonder why GM doesn't hype it's Cobalt XFE. The thing kicks butt on its competition on horsepower, yet beats the Corolla and Civic manual on highway mpg.

I liken it to the Pontiac Vibe Syndrome :

Chevy (Quietly) Launches XFE Trim | The Truth About Cars

If it weren't for our good friend at AUTOSAVANT, we would've never known that as of May 17, all Cobalts with the five-speed manual tranny get 36 mpg on the highway.

People are buyig the Cobalt anyway :

Cobalt sales surge; XFE on its way - Trib Today - May 2, 2008

LORDSTOWN — Chevrolet Cobalt sales surged 25.1 percent in April — second-best among leading General Motors Corp. cars — as stubbornly high gasoline prices drove buyers to smaller cars.

CarloSW2

[Frank Lee]

Looks like Honda is getting spanked just as bad, or worse, than the rest of 'em.

US auto sales on track to hit another low as Ford, Toyota, Honda drop more than 30 pct in Nov.

[cfg83]

Frank -

Yeah, Honda was well-positioned when gas was above $3 and people were transitioning to FE cars ala the 1970's, but now it's the overall recession/depression kicking in. A new car is second only to a home in terms of the big purchases a family will make in a lifetime.

Nobody's buying new homes these daze either,

CarloSW2

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi,

GM sales dropped ~47%, Chrysler & Toyota somewhat less, Ford ~34%, and I think Honda was ~30%; so they are doing the least bad of the Big Five.

[Edit: You're right Frank -- the correct numbers are:

Chrylser -47%
(From your link: Nissan -42%)
GM -41%
Toyota -34%
Honda -32%
Ford -31%

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...oryId=97690666

So, Ford is the least bad...]

[Frank Lee]

The link I provided says Ford -31%, Honda -32%. FWIW.