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Subaru October sales - not for the faint of heart


rao

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As you know, everything is relative. Here in Sweden the sales of the Legacy were 259 cars. Jan-Oct sales are 1391 cars. The car has 0,62% market share. The total amount of cars here are less than 1/3 of the sales of new cars per year in the US. I'll do my share to hike the november figures when I collect my car in 2 weeks(can't wait)

 

Peter

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You folks must work in professional sports where you can have a "rebuilding year" :lol:
And you must not have a clue about the US auto market. Subaru's 4% increase in sales over last month looks pretty damned good to me. Looking at the industry as a whole, sales of new cars and trucks fell 14.1% relative to October, 2004, the steepest decline in 13 years. It was blamed on hurricanes and the end of employee pricing incentives. Only four manufacturers managed to increase sales last month relative to October, 2004:

Subaru +1.5%

Toyota +1.4%

Mitsubishi +1.4%

Honda +0.4%

 

Subaru led the industry last month on a percentage increase basis. How can anyone construe that as bad news?

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+1, look at the total number of vehicles sold year to year, at least 8000+.

 

The year-to-year comparison is too narrow and doesn't show the whole picture.

 

They probably sold much more earlier months and just lower in this month, but the total number of vehicles sold month-to-month and total is beating previous numbers.

I keed I keeed
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']And you must not have a clue about the US auto market. Subaru's 4% increase in sales over last month looks pretty damned good to me. Looking at the industry as a whole, sales of new cars and trucks fell 14.1% relative to October, 2004, the steepest decline in 13 years. It was blamed on hurricanes and the end of employee pricing incentives. Only four manufacturers managed to increase sales last month relative to October, 2004:

Subaru +1.5%

Toyota +1.4%

Mitsubishi +1.4%

Honda +0.4%

 

Subaru led the industry last month on a percentage increase basis. How can anyone construe that as bad news?

 

 

You must be right, I don't have a clue about this or anyting else :lol:

 

Take a look at the year to date numbers; they are slipping. Subaru's all new Legacy is already topped out with a 1% increase in sales over its introduction year, the all new Tribeca will barely hit 20,000 units. The Impreza is droping and the Baja is in a continued free-fall. That is alot of investment for a whole lot of nothing. I doubt you will see a lot of prss releases about Subaru of Americas record profits after the end of the year.

 

But yes, the numbers are great rah! rah!

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+1, look at the total number of vehicles sold year to year, at least 8000+.

 

The year-to-year comparison is too narrow and doesn't show the whole picture.

 

They probably sold much more earlier months and just lower in this month, but the total number of vehicles sold month-to-month and total is beating previous numbers.

 

Exactly man!!!!

 

Well written... Most of the manufacturers are selling less nowadays, and the downhill started a couple of year ago when the economy slowed down a little bit, and even though SOA still has been selling and increasing the market share on most of its car markets - now with the B9...

 

Flavio Zanetti

Boston, MA

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I HAVE WORKED IN THE US AUTOMARKET FOR 25 YEARS NOW.. FOR SUBARU TO HAVE ANY INCREASE AT THIS MOMENT IN TIME IS CLEARLY ENCOURAGING! SO GO AND BE HAPPY..

 

SORRY FOR ALL CAPS....MY MAINFRAME SESSION REQUIRES IT

 

Exactly!!!!!!

 

Flavio Zanetti

Boston, MA

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See, what do I know :rolleyes:

 

The niche maker of all-wheel-drive cars has been struggling to get back on a recovery track due to sluggish sales in its all-important North American market, which accounts for a third of its total vehicle turnover.

 

Fuji Heavy had been counting on the B9 Tribeca premium sport utility vehicle to raise profit margins in the United States, but demand for the model has fallen far short of targets.

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See, what do I know :rolleyes:
Yeah, I'm still trying to figure that out. The way in which FHI reports its results (1st half year) mutes what actually happened in the most recent quarter (July 1 through Sept 30). If one takes the time to subtract out FHI's 1st quarter numbers from its 1st half numbers, a clearer picture of how FHI is trending emerges. Luckily, a Bloomberg reporter has done all the heavy lifting and here's his report, from http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000101&sid=aPul9a3GyFFA:
Fuji Heavy 2nd-Quarter Profit Rises 19% on Cost Cuts

 

Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., the Toyota Motor Corp. affiliate which makes Subaru-brand cars, had a 19 percent rise in second-quarter net income, helped by cost cuts and a strengthening dollar.

 

Net income rose to 9.1 billion yen ($77 million) compared with 7.7 billion yen in the year-ago period. Sales fell 4.2 percent to 367 billion yen. Bloomberg derived the figures from first-half results released today.

 

Fuji Heavy, which gets about 40 percent of its sales from North America, has benefited from the dollar's 14.5 percent increase against the yen this year. The Tokyo-based carmaker plans to cut 700 jobs through voluntary retirement by the end of January to shave 7 billion yen in annual costs.

 

"Fuji Heavy is cutting costs and was also aided by the yen,'' said Koji Endo, an analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston Securities (Japan) Ltd. after the results were announced. "The automaker is cutting costs in capital expenditure and research and development.'' He rates the company "outperform.''

 

The company will take an 8 billion yen charge this year to pay for the job cuts. In the first-half of the year it took an 8.4 billion yen charge, which included 5.61 billion yen from canceling the development of a crossover vehicle with GM's Saab unit.

 

The company reiterated its full-year forecast. It expects net income to fall 34 percent to 12 billion yen on sales of 1.48 trillion yen.

 

Working With Toyota

 

Fuji Heavy, which hasn't had a new design in Japan since the R1 minicar in January, is in talks to develop and produce vehicles with Toyota, counting on the country's largest carmaker to help it improve sales. Toyota last month paid General Motors Corp. $315 million cash for 8.7 percent of Fuji Heavy.

 

The company is still studying joint projects with Toyota, Fuji Heavy's President Kyoji Takenaka said at a press conference in Tokyo. "It will take a year or two to see gains from joint projects with Toyota,'' he said.

 

Fuji Heavy is counting on its new B9 Tribeca sport-utility vehicle, which went on sale in the U.S. in May, to compensate for declining demand for older designs. The Tribeca is a so- called crossover that combines the size of a van with the all- wheel drive and the power of a sport-utility vehicle. Fuji Heavy said it expects to sell 20,000 Tribecas in the six months ending March 31.

 

The company expects sales in North America to rise 1.1 percent to 213,000 vehicles this business year. Domestic sales in Japan may fall 6.7 percent to 237,000 units, while global sales may fall 1.4 percent to 573,000 units.

 

Currency, Cost Cuts

 

The weaker yen added 200 million yen to the company's first-half operating profit. Cost cuts added 5.9 billion yen to the company's operating profit. The company based its first-half results on a rate of 109 yen to the dollar and expects a rate of 108 yen to the dollar for the full year.

 

For the first half, net income fell to 7.96 billion yen, the Tokyo-based automaker said in a release today. Sales declined 3.4 percent to 667.1 billion yen.

 

First-half operating profit, or sales minus expenses and the cost of goods sold, rose 12.3 percent to 17.4 billion yen. Current profit, or pretax profit from operations, fell 10 percent to 13.5 billion yen in the six-month period.

 

About 18 percent of the company's operating profit came from its non-auto business, including building aircraft parts for Boeing Co.

 

Shares of Fuji Heavy fell 0.5 percent to 597 yen at the 3 p.m. close in Tokyo. The company released its earnings after the market ended trading.

 

Last Updated: November 8, 2005 03:41 EST

In the two days of stock trading after FHI released its results, FHI's stock jumped from ¥597 to as high as ¥614.
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Fuji Heavy had been counting on the B9 Tribeca premium sport utility vehicle to raise profit margins in the United States, but demand for the model has fallen far short of targets.

And then from Bloomberg:

The Tribeca is a so- called crossover that combines the size of a van with the all- wheel drive and the power of a sport-utility vehicle. Fuji Heavy said it expects to sell 20,000 Tribecas in the six months ending March 31.

I know the current sales if the Tribeca is around 2000 units. This explains why SOA/SOJ feels the Tribeca has fallen short of its targets (expecting 3300 units/month) eventhough it is selling somewhat well for a brand new vehicle.

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Interesting: "The automaker is cutting costs in capital expenditure and research and development.'' Exactly why Toyota bought its stake into JHI for a coperative new product research and development.... Hmmm something is funny there... Flavio Zanetti Boston, MA Flavio Zanetti Boston, MA
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Regardless of the numbers:

 

The Baja is a bust.

The Tribeca appears to be a bust.

The facelift does not appear to be inspiring many on nasioc to trade-in their prior models.

They will further shat themselves if they make the Legacy look like the Tribeca. If they had any brains, they would instead make the Tribeca look more like the Legacy.

 

As cool as the Alfa Romeo brand may sound, Fuji had better soon realize that part of the reason Alfa Romeo was a bust in the US is because its cars (other than its "Graduate"-type convertibles) are butt ugly.

 

I see nothing but pain for Fuji in the US if they continue to poison their line by converting to the Alfa design.

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Regardless of the numbers:

 

The Baja is a bust.

The Tribeca appears to be a bust.

The facelift does not appear to be inspiring many on nasioc to trade-in their prior models.

They will further shat themselves if they make the Legacy look like the Tribeca. If they had any brains, they would instead make the Tribeca look more like the Legacy.

 

As cool as the Alfa Romeo brand may sound, Fuji had better soon realize that part of the reason Alfa Romeo was a bust in the US is because its cars (other than its "Graduate"-type convertibles) are butt ugly.

 

I see nothing but pain for Fuji in the US if they continue to poison their line by converting to the Alfa design.

 

1. I bet the baja in its limited numbers in more profitable than the legacy

2. Becky isn't a bust she's just out at a time when "SUV" is a dirty word plus SOA had really unrealistic goals for it. My rep says it is selling well for what it is but FHI forced SOA into lofty goals. Yes i think the front end is ugly but the overall vehicle is nice.

3. The new front end on the Impreza is hot! sales are barely down for the impreza...looks like it is weathering the storm to me.

4. I hope that they integrate the new legacy face as well as the impreza...With the USDM bumpers and all our cars are a tad on the boring side. I would invite the impreza face on the Legacy all day long

5. Alfa Romeo's reliability shot them in the foot.

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

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  • 3 weeks later...
Regardless of the numbers:

 

...They will further shat themselves if they make the Legacy look like the Tribeca. If they had any brains, they would instead make the Tribeca look more like the Legacy.

 

As cool as the Alfa Romeo brand may sound, Fuji had better soon realize that part of the reason Alfa Romeo was a bust in the US is because its cars (other than its "Graduate"-type convertibles) are butt ugly.

 

I see nothing but pain for Fuji in the US if they continue to poison their line by converting to the Alfa design.

 

Indeed. But we only saw a small portion of Alfa's model lineup, as is the case with many "foreign" makes. And like other European makers sadly no longer selling here like Peugeot, Renault, etc., Fiat never really made a strong commitment to our market. Perhaps the "style" of the old 164 wasn't widely accepted, I think the bigger problem was America's perceived lack of quality based on Fiats from many years before along with lack of model choice.

 

Looks aside, I think a bigger problem for Subaru is the non-customer oriented focus of Subaru of America. There must be 500+ members on this board alone who have complained about SoA's decision to not offer a manual tranny in the '06 Legacy GT Wagon... And how many lurkers have crossed the Legacy off their list for this very reason? It's called "lack of choice". It may work for selling toothpicks or table salt, but for something as expensive and personal as an automobile, it's not exactly part of a recipe for success.

 

Yet if I wanted to pay a 30% premium (I don't) I could drive to Ontario and order one. The outrageous Canadian pricing structure aside, at least Subaru of Canada isn't spitting in the faces of the shift-for-yourself crowd.

 

Subaru sells one vehicle at a time, and as a niche player, cannot afford to alienate their traditional buyer base, but to a certain degree, that's exactly what SoA is doing.

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