Inventory Building

[Southern]

My dealer, Val Ward, is steadily building inventory.

He had 3 CTS in stock when I placed my order in November. The NEXT day, when I went down to talk to them,all three were gone.

When I picked my car upon Jan 10, he had two.......but one was already sold and he accepted a deposit on the other while I was there.

In the interim he has rarely had enough time to put more than 5 or 6 in inventory.

He now has 40 CTS! (although there may be deposits on 2 or 3.....)

Some strange stats (IMO) :


Of the 40, TEN are Manual Transmission!

Of the 40 FOUR are Radiant Bronze.

Of the 40, an MSRP of $38,190 is the HIGHEST priced.

So I would STILL have had to order my car!

[caddycruiser]

Hmm...that actually even sounds like a very weird assortment to have on any lot. Not only a lot of manuals (that you NEVER see), but colors like the bronze (which is one of the best, but again, not common), and also that they're all fairly lightly optioned (the hot ones seem to be those with almost everything).

Almost sounds like a situation of where GM might have forced that big lot of those oddball combos on them in concession for something else--like getting an extra allocation of another model they needed/wanted. That is common, and I would really bet is the situation here. Even more so because there's 40, which is significantly more than most anyone has at any given time normally.

It would be interesting to see how those sell, or at least how quickly, given the combos--especially all the sticks.

[MoFex]

Ye, I was thinking the same, very veird mix........especially for Florida....

I had a loaner for a day - base car, "normal" engine, FE1. It wasn't a bad car but nowhere near of what I have! DI engine and FE2 suspension really shine. I would never buy a base CTS.....

[Bloodredhog]

Does anyone have a local dealer that has more than three on their lot?
I have not found one in Denver.

[Southern]

Massey Cadillac in Lone tree shows 12.
Massey is a big name in Cadillac land.

In Florida, we have multiple dealers in Sarasota, Naples, Miami. Miami Beach etc with anywhere from 5 to 23 2008 CTS in inventory.

This is really not that good for Caddy.
The dealerships that is.
Great for the sales guys of course, they like having a big selection.
The yankees are going home....many left around the 1st and the rest will be gone by the end of the month.

[DanV]

Was at my local dealer on Monday, and he just had one on his lot, pretty basic. That has been typical since the '08's have been out with this dealership.

[Macdad]

It seems my dealer has had either fully optioned CTS' or base models-nothing in between.

[Southern]

Originally Posted by Bloodredhog

Does anyone have a local dealer that has more than three on their lot?
I have not found one in Denver.

Rickenbaugh shows 35 by Vin number.
Massey has 12 in Lone Tree. That's a suburb of Denver.

And we have tons of dealers in FL that have many more than 3.......

Morse (Ft Lauderdale) has 13
Braman (Miami) has 16
Ocean (Miami Beach) has 20
Massey (Orlando) has 23

[carterb]

The dealer in Louisiana where I bought mine has 40 CTS's on the lot - about 50/50 mixture of DI and non-DI in all colors. However the most expensive was $37690.

[2laidback]

In central Penna I haven't seen any dealer with close to a decent inventory on their lot.

[redvett94]

In my area the two dealers nearby one has 2 in stock and the dealer i have my order into has zero inventory. My salesman says they sell everything that comes off the trailer in a day.
Monday will be 8 weeks worth of waiting for my CTS.

[Pucks]

Seems like alot of inventory in Florida. I wonder if it's not selling too well down there? The Wall Street Journal still has it listed as one of the top 10 selling cars (based on average days on the dealer lot) at 20 days or so.

[caddycruiser]

I still think that one dealer in particular, with all the stick cars, etc. is a case of "We'll give you more of xxx if you take this extra lot of these...". Otherwise, doesn't seem like something a typical dealer would order.

Inventory varies a lot. Some dealers have 1 or 2, others have 10, some are all maxed out with options and a few with none, etc. And all area regardless, a lot of the time. Of course, with a lot to do with dealer size and also the allocations they get.

[Southern]

I think there is a large inventory in Floriida because it IS selling well.
1- It probably always has, even Gen1. That's how you get allocations.
2- Stick Shifts? Who knows? He has the allocations. Maybe he trades them.
3- When I bought my car, the salesman was lamenting that he/they liked to keep about 50 (gen1s) in stock.
(of course, too many in stock is not good for a dealer, but it is just fine as far as a salesman goes.)
4- If GM can't corral some of the labor woes*, there won't be any coming outa the factory one of these days.....and having
a big inventory could be a blessing.

*UAW locals threaten strikes at five GM plants
Fri Apr 4, 2008 7:32pm EDT Email | Print | Share | Reprints | Single Page| Recommend (0) [-] Text [+]

DETROIT (Reuters) - United Auto Workers union locals at five General Motors Corp(GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) plants have served notice with the automaker that they could strike if progress is not made in reaching plant-specific contracts within days.

GM reached a four-year national contract with the UAW last year, but has not yet reached local agreements with most of the more than 70 union locals representing individual facilities on issues such as work rules.

GM said it had received the notices from UAW locals representing assembly plants in Arlington, Texas; Flint, Michigan; and the Lansing-Delta Township plant in Michigan.

A stamping plant in Parma, Ohio, and a transmission plant in Warren, Michigan, also have delivered a five-day notice that precedes an official strike warning, GM spokesman Dan Flores said. The strike warning also carries a five-day notice period under the union's terms with the automaker.

Separately, Flores said GM had reached agreement with the UAW at the national level on what many analysts had seen as the most contentious issue remaining -- how many positions at each U.S. facility would be open to lower-wage new hires.

GM and the UAW had agreed not to disclose the number of those positions at the facilities, Flores said.

Under its national contract with the UAW, GM won the flexibility to hire replacement workers at wages starting at $14 per hour -- roughly half the current average -- outside the main production roles in its plants.

GM has offered buyouts to all of its roughly 77,000 UAW-represented workers to cut costs and make room for the lower-cost new hires. However, union workers have said fewer people are accepting the payouts and early retirement offers this time than had taken a similar round of buyouts in 2006 when some 34,000 opted to leave the payroll.

GM's Parma stamping plant already has been partly idled by a UAW strike against GM supplier and former subsidiary American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings.(AXL.N: Quote, Profile, Research)

A portion of the Flint plant making full-size pickup trucks has been idled by the American Axle strike, which began February 26. Another part of the plant making commercial trucks such as the Chevrolet Kodiak remains in operation, Flores said.

GM's assembly plant in Arlington makes full-size SUVs such as the Chevrolet Tahoe, an area of the automaker's line-up where production already has been hit hard by parts shortages due to the American Axle strike.

GM's Delta Township plant makes the Buick Enclave, Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia crossovers. Sales of those models have held up better than GM's trucks and SUVs in the current downturn in overall U.S. sales.

Some 3,650 UAW-represented workers at American Axle remain on strike in a separate dispute that has idled or partly idled 30 GM facilities in North America.

(Reporting by Kevin Krolicki; e
DETROIT (Reuters) - United Auto Workers union locals at five General Motors Corp(GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) plants have served notice with the automaker that they could strike if progress is not made in reaching plant-specific contracts within days.

GM reached a four-year national contract with the UAW last year, but has not yet reached local agreements with most of the more than 70 union locals representing individual facilities on issues such as work rules.

GM said it had received the notices from UAW locals representing assembly plants in Arlington, Texas; Flint, Michigan; and the Lansing-Delta Township plant in Michigan.

A stamping plant in Parma, Ohio, and a transmission plant in Warren, Michigan, also have delivered a five-day notice that precedes an official strike warning, GM spokesman Dan Flores said. The strike warning also carries a five-day notice period under the union's terms with the automaker.

Separately, Flores said GM had reached agreement with the UAW at the national level on what many analysts had seen as the most contentious issue remaining -- how many positions at each U.S. facility would be open to lower-wage new hires.

GM and the UAW had agreed not to disclose the number of those positions at the facilities, Flores said.

Under its national contract with the UAW, GM won the flexibility to hire replacement workers at wages starting at $14 per hour -- roughly half the current average -- outside the main production roles in its plants.

GM has offered buyouts to all of its roughly 77,000 UAW-represented workers to cut costs and make room for the lower-cost new hires. However, union workers have said fewer people are accepting the payouts and early retirement offers this time than had taken a similar round of buyouts in 2006 when some 34,000 opted to leave the payroll.

GM's Parma stamping plant already has been partly idled by a UAW strike against GM supplier and former subsidiary American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings.(AXL.N: Quote, Profile, Research)

A portion of the Flint plant making full-size pickup trucks has been idled by the American Axle strike, which began February 26. Another part of the plant making commercial trucks such as the Chevrolet Kodiak remains in operation, Flores said.

GM's assembly plant in Arlington makes full-size SUVs such as the Chevrolet Tahoe, an area of the automaker's line-up where production already has been hit hard by parts shortages due to the American Axle strike.

GM's Delta Township plant makes the Buick Enclave, Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia crossovers. Sales of those models have held up better than GM's trucks and SUVs in the current downturn in overall U.S. sales.

Some 3,650 UAW-represented workers at American Axle remain on strike in a separate dispute that has idled or partly idled 30 GM facilities in North America.

[08CTS]

Just checked a couple of dealers that I had worked with. Both have around 8, and BOTH HAVE A HOT LAVA....grrr. I'd love to have been able to score one.