Tweet
Re: 10 most over - hyped cars
So, with all the marketing wizards that work for Ford, they all shot themselves in the foot by bringing out a very nice car and not marketing it properly. Doesn't make sense, if you think about it. I assume that a lot of marketing guys lost their jobs as a result.
Every major car show had the TBird on display, and most people that go to these shows are not certified car nuts; they are shoppers.
If marketing was an issue, why did the first year model sell very well at inflated prices? Potential buyers knew that there was a 2002 TBird, but didn't know there was an 03/04/05?
Of course the SUV and TBird use different assembly lines. That's not the point.
Maybe the success of the 2002 model made Ford believe that future improvements weren't required. (Model improvements are not planned at the last minute. Maybe they planned the 03 model improvements, saw the success of the 2002, and then ceased any real improvements after 2003. Same with the Lincoln LS.)
The relevance is that while the Corvette and TBird don't appeal to the same market, they are both limited production vehicles, and the Vette keeps going with it's original concept in mind, with very little marketing, while the TBird's been just about everything except a station wagon.
And, looking back, while some Vette generations may have been a little weak, GM keeps building the car and pushing improvements.
I saw 2002 TBirds on the floor with the very popular "market adjustment" pricing as soon as the cars were available for sale, not after the cars had been out for a while. Some dealers even had the car roped off to show "exclusivity". You don't do that if you're trying to sell a car that's not selling.
When sales went down and the car price dropped, TBirds were sent to the back of the line.
(I saw two black/saddle 2003s in two local NJ dealerships, both times, the car was either in the back of the lot (with other Birds) or in the back of the dealership, not on the main showroom floor. Both dealers had dropped the price to list, but with a little persuasion, they both agreed to the Ford Z plan discount, so I bought mine.)
Anyway, I've got one, so Im OK, and we can agree to disgree.
Cheers:
Originally posted by 2K2BIRD
View Post
How much marketing? Whether it was meant to be limited production or not, I'd say more than - NONE. If I was Ford, it really wouldn't matter how many SUVs I was selling (totally different market, totally different assembly plants), at the end of 2003 when my total production of the 02 & 03 models had not reached the projected 50K combined production goals, I would have added all the available LS goodies for as low a price increase as possible and readvertised the car in a serious marketing campaign designed to let people know they were still out there and better than before.
During that time frame most people that had been turned off by dealer greed in 02 did not know that you could now buy one for a decent discount. In fact, I've met plenty of people and I bet everyone has, that didn't even know that Ford had made them at all - so again marketing was a problem.
It wasn't hard to see one on the show room floor in 02 because plenty of dealers had jacked up the price and they weren't selling. The car mags were favorable toward the car at the time, even though they revised their tune later on, but in general car mag articles only reach gearheads - they don't reach all of the folks with disposable income who want a fun extra car, want something to make their daily lives less drab or rich wives that want the flavor of the day.
Camparing the kind of advertising needed for a Corvette, which had essentially the same formula (two seat sports car) for almost 50 years at the time the retrobirds came out, to a totally changed vehicle from the last model in the line like the new bird was/is not even relevent from what I can tell. About the only similarity in the two cars is the # of seats, despite people constantly trying to compare them. It's like all those comparisons we have seen between the Mustang and the Corvette over the years when Chevy discontinued the Camaro - apples to oranges.
At least we agreed on two out of three of the reasons -
During that time frame most people that had been turned off by dealer greed in 02 did not know that you could now buy one for a decent discount. In fact, I've met plenty of people and I bet everyone has, that didn't even know that Ford had made them at all - so again marketing was a problem.
It wasn't hard to see one on the show room floor in 02 because plenty of dealers had jacked up the price and they weren't selling. The car mags were favorable toward the car at the time, even though they revised their tune later on, but in general car mag articles only reach gearheads - they don't reach all of the folks with disposable income who want a fun extra car, want something to make their daily lives less drab or rich wives that want the flavor of the day.
Camparing the kind of advertising needed for a Corvette, which had essentially the same formula (two seat sports car) for almost 50 years at the time the retrobirds came out, to a totally changed vehicle from the last model in the line like the new bird was/is not even relevent from what I can tell. About the only similarity in the two cars is the # of seats, despite people constantly trying to compare them. It's like all those comparisons we have seen between the Mustang and the Corvette over the years when Chevy discontinued the Camaro - apples to oranges.
At least we agreed on two out of three of the reasons -
Every major car show had the TBird on display, and most people that go to these shows are not certified car nuts; they are shoppers.
If marketing was an issue, why did the first year model sell very well at inflated prices? Potential buyers knew that there was a 2002 TBird, but didn't know there was an 03/04/05?
Of course the SUV and TBird use different assembly lines. That's not the point.
Maybe the success of the 2002 model made Ford believe that future improvements weren't required. (Model improvements are not planned at the last minute. Maybe they planned the 03 model improvements, saw the success of the 2002, and then ceased any real improvements after 2003. Same with the Lincoln LS.)
The relevance is that while the Corvette and TBird don't appeal to the same market, they are both limited production vehicles, and the Vette keeps going with it's original concept in mind, with very little marketing, while the TBird's been just about everything except a station wagon.
And, looking back, while some Vette generations may have been a little weak, GM keeps building the car and pushing improvements.
I saw 2002 TBirds on the floor with the very popular "market adjustment" pricing as soon as the cars were available for sale, not after the cars had been out for a while. Some dealers even had the car roped off to show "exclusivity". You don't do that if you're trying to sell a car that's not selling.
When sales went down and the car price dropped, TBirds were sent to the back of the line.
(I saw two black/saddle 2003s in two local NJ dealerships, both times, the car was either in the back of the lot (with other Birds) or in the back of the dealership, not on the main showroom floor. Both dealers had dropped the price to list, but with a little persuasion, they both agreed to the Ford Z plan discount, so I bought mine.)
Anyway, I've got one, so Im OK, and we can agree to disgree.
Cheers:
Comment