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Originally Posted by sleekism
I am going to go out on a limb and say the reason for HSV sales growth is more to do with general market growth than the quality of the VE product.
There is a new HSV manager talking about Astras and hybrids when in reality the HSV customer only wants one thing POWER.
Tickford dug themselves into the same hole in the 90's with trying to make the Falcon handle better and be more sophisticated package which did not translate into sales success. (the 220kw S1 TS50 sold a little over 50 units).
HSV has had 20 years to FPV's 4. HSV is richer and has the advantage of Corvette engines yet FPV has outsold them on many occasions.
HSV has lost the weight advantage and the V8 advantage will be lost once the Hurricane V8 comes on stream. HSV need to move now or risk becoming TRD.
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FPV is Tickford or they were until they started sacking everyone so to say they have only had 4 years might be true in name but is certainly far from it in terms of product and every other conceivable aspect of business.
The problem with the TS was that it was an 80k product when the same power and better performance could be had for 33k in the red corner. Tickford did the only thing they could do other then do nothing at all and stick with the XR brand.
That TS series one is indirectly responsible for the product that FPV makes today. Without it our world could look very different.
The new manager of HSV is only now saying what Flint has said for the last 7 years. It’s been a HSV trait of foot in mouth for some time regarding Tickford and subsequently FPV supposed identity crisis. The media don’t have the balls to throw the statements back at HSV. Diversity in a changing world is smart business. FPV have done it and will continue to evolve with it. The fact that HSV are now just realising it is just about par for them. The new direction at HSV will include much of the same sort of product. HSV are only going where Tickford and FPV have been.
The fact is that when FPV were at its strongest and HSV its weakest the SWB product FPV claimed as victories were only by and handful of units. Taking into account where the respective products were in the lifetime, it was still very much a win for HSV in life scale terms. What sort of deals HSV were doing at the time is another issue altogether. Again those deals don't seem to be hurting them despite residual indications.
General product growth? The line up has been rationalised and by most accounts higher petrol prices combined with the fallacy that large displacement engines are less efficient should have conspired to hurt rather than help. The truth is that the E series HSVs are so far ahead of the previous product it’s like chalk and cheese. Extremely keen pricing means it the HSV product is the best in terms of value and performance it has ever been. The numbers reflect this. I disagree. The sales success is largely down to the product as tends so to be the case in most consumer related markets. When the BS stops the product has to stand on its own feet.