Guys, were getting a little off track here.
I'm not talking about a dealer taking a deposit for the ability to be one of the first ones to order the car.

We're talking about General Motors accepting completed, sold orders for the car.

When I get to work, I'll have to copy & paste the article to an e-mail, send that home, and then copy and paste that in here.

 

Frankly, I'm not surprised that Berger is doing this. I know they've always been a "good friend" to Camaro and Chevrolet in general, but when myself and some buddies of mine met some representatives from that place many years ago at a gathering in Indy, they came off as very arrogant and rude when we tried to talk to them about their Camaro packages. Perhaps it was our age at the time (early 20's), but I still wasn't very impressed.

 

Here's the full text of the article:

Chevy Chief Promises ’08 Malibu Will Turn Heads

By Herb Shuldiner

WardsAuto.com, Oct 31, 2007 9:22 AM

NEW YORK – Chevrolet General Manager Ed Peper promises the ’08 Malibu will bridge a perception gap that hindered its predecessors from effectively competing against the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, the current volume leaders in the midsize car segment.

“We’re going to turn heads (with the Malibu),” Peper tells the International Motor Press Assn. here.

While declining to predict how much market share the Malibu is expected to grab from its segment competitors, Peper expresses cautious optimism the all-new model will win over many current import car owners.

More than 500,000 Chevy truck owners have imported cars in their garages, he says, expressing confidence the redesigned Malibu also will convince many of these loyalists to shun Asian imports when they need a new midsize car.

Chevrolet has launched a multi-media marketing blitz to help make this happen. On Oct. 17, Chevrolet virtually blanketed the Internet with the Malibu message. Peper says 88% of visitors saw a Malibu message that day when they clicked on a huge spectrum of websites.

Chevy also will conduct mall tours across the country to bring the new Malibu to the attention of potential buyers.

Peper says there are three phases to the Malibu launch. The first is winding down, scheduled to last for three weeks. The second phase will run from November through December.

The final phase kicks in after New Year’s Day, when a host of special events will be held. Additionally, Malibu test drives will be offered at auto shows against the Accord and Camry on an ongoing basis.

Peper says the Malibu will feature a high-value story because it is priced about $780 less than the Camry and $1,800 less than a similarly equipped Accord.

He forecasts the Malibu hybrid version also will bring in new buyers. Honda has dropped its Accord Hybrid, but Camry hybrid sales are climbing at a modest rate.

This indicates market interest in midsize hybrid-electric vehicles that Malibu may be able to exploit. Plus the Malibu HEV is priced $3,000 less than the Camry HEV. And the Malibu HEV qualifies for a $1,300 federal tax credit not available to the Camry.

Malibu sales to daily rental fleets will be severely curtailed, Peper promises. However, models sold to rental fleets will be nicely equipped. This will help residuals for the ’08 model that have been pegged 11-13 percentage points higher than the current model by the top leasing guides.

However, the Malibu will be marketed strongly to commercial-fleet customers, which Peper claims are highly profitable. Despite this, he forecasts Malibu fleet sales will be 50% or less than the outgoing ’07 model.

Peper sees the overall midsize-car market remaining stable this year, although he envisions slight growth for the segment in 2008. “We’re going to need the volume of two plants (for Malibu sales),” he says.

Even if the ’08 Malibu doesn’t match Camry and Accord volumes, Chevy’s share of the midsize market is comparable with its competitors, thanks to strong Impala sales, which are up 8% this year and pacing Chevy to a 2-point gain.

Despite all the attention required for the Malibu launch, Peper says he also is focused on growing fullsize pickup and SUV sales. “We’re gaining (market share) in fullsize trucks,” he says, despite new competition from the Asian transplants.

Silverado sales are closing in on the Ford F150, the volume leader in the segment, he says. Through September, the Silverado trailed by just 13,200 units. “We’re trying to do the best we can to cut the deficit in volume.”

Peper is confident the Silverado will not suffer from the introduction of an all-new Ford F150 next year. “We’re looking at new special option packages to freshen the Silverado next fall,” he reveals.

He is less bullish about midsize trucks, declining to reveal whether there will be a successor to the Colorado. But he categorically insists that if Chevy stays in the segment, there are no plans to source a new midsize pickup from Thailand, China or other Asian plants.

Peper is less pessimistic about the TrailBlazer midsize SUV, which currently is running neck and neck in sales with the Ford Explorer. But he concedes a lot of TrailBlazer customers might consider the Traverse, a new cross/utility vehicle Chevy will introduce next year, noting a lot of buyers prefer body-on-frame construction for vehicles in this class.

Overall, the Chevrolet brand is strong, Peper insists, pointing out his division led Toyota in sales by 92,000 units through September and Ford by 127,000.

But it’s clear that Chevy wants to become more competitive in the car segments. Peper predicts the upcoming new Camaro that goes into production in a little over a year from now will be one of those magnets designed to pull customers into Chevrolet showrooms. Dealers will begin accepting orders in February.

Chevy also is counting on a new fleet of green vehicles to grow its sales in future years. The 2-Mode hybrid Tahoe SUV already is in production, and the futuristic Volt plug-in hybrid will launch by the end of the decade. Additionally, fuel cell-powered vehicles will go on sale early in the next decade.

 

As much as I'd LOVE to believe otherwise, is it possible that they meant to say "......February 2009"? Hopefully somebody "In the know" will chime in with some clarification.

 

If orders are being taken by Feb, that means a preproduction car will be shown at NAIAS.

 

if they started taking orders in Feb of '09 we wouldn't see a car until spring of '09.

 

The car is suppose to be at dealerships in Feb of 09.

 

Yeah I think they left out the year, which should be Feb. 2009.

 

Not necessarily. Consider this:

They start making them in late 2008 and make it to dealer showrooms in early 2009. They don't want to start filling custom orders at the beginning, because they want to get as much visibility at initial introduction as they can. The way to do that is by attempting to fill dealer showrooms with "available" cars for the public to see, not by getting custom ordered cars to the dealer only to be picked up by the customer who ordered it within a couple of hours. After the initial surge to get the car to dealerships, THEN they start taking orders from buyers.

Just a thought.....