Oldsmobile joins Plymouth: RIP

And every time I heard it, I'd think. "God I wish it was."

 

They call that a "team lead" at my former employer.

George Patterson
If you don't tell lies, you never have to remember what you said.

 

Well, having bad interiors didn't kill the appeal of the 60's muscle
cars... 8) As for it's over-all appeal, I'll grant you it's neither
as old, nor as American, as those other cars you mention... 8)

 

It does no such thing, "Mike", as front-drive is in fact cheaper to
build than rear-drive. You can't just grab two vehicles at random and
make the claim you did above.

 

Never took a marketing class in college, probably never got out of
high school either.

Fact is, older people are not the customers you want. Young customers
are who companies chase. I know it will be difficult for you, but
think about how long an old person has to buy your products, compared
to a young person. Here is a hint, the young person can buy more...

 

Not even that. Retirees drive less, hence, the car will last longer. This is probably
the last car they will ever buy.

George Patterson
If you don't tell lies, you never have to remember what you said.

 

George et al
My wife and I (68 yrs young) have bought 5 cars 2 motorhomes and a Pick up
with travel trailer in the past 5 years. Just keep wearing them out, know
what I mean youngster...

Dale

 

I do, in fact I checked and they are still being
listed as available (x6054) what's the deal?
should I NOT be selling them to people who
ask for them? (I sell parts, BTW)

Bernard

 

No kidding. Both Mercury and Lincoln are currently Why Bother? brands.

They'd have to keep Lincoln, Mercury is disposable as is not considered much
difference price-strata-wise as Ford. Then they'd have to start pumping up
Lincoln. I wonder if Buick is the next to go....

 

Nice quote. My memory is too bad as it is, so it's worth
telling the truth just for this reason alone

 

X-No-Archive: Yes

Coin has two sides. There's a sizeable portion of the older population
who have money and fears such that they buy a new car every other year
or so (or when they're going on a trip "because they're afraid the car
will breakdown")... salesmen love them because they're an easy sell and
brand-loyal to boot.

 

DTJ () wrote:
: Never took a marketing class in college, probably never got out of
: high school either.

You mean you're not sure? Oh, you're talking about me, not you. You're
extremely wrong, but that seems to be a pattern, so let's continue...

: Fact is, older people are not the customers you want. Young customers
: are who companies chase. I know it will be difficult for you, but
: think about how long an old person has to buy your products, compared
: to a young person. Here is a hint, the young person can buy more...

Nice try! Too bad you're falling into the same trap that caused the
demise of Olds. Sure, every company says they want the youth market. The
market that has less disposable income, less brand loyalty, and more
erratic tastes than the older market. Oh, and here's a newsflash for you:
the youth market - every single person you're chasing - eventually
becomes the older market. You no longer want to sell to those who have
their houses paid off, their annuity income coming in, and lots of money
to spend? No problem. Somebody else will.

 

It all depends on the product. Older folks often have much more
disposable income. So, even though they can't buy as long, they can
often buy much more expensive products. So if you are in a high volume,
low price market, then you want younger buyers. If you are selling high
price products, then often the older market is your better bet.


Matt

 

Actually I would expect the older person to buy more until they aren't
able to get around as well as they used to (late 70's). Many of them
travel more putting more miles on a car, they have disposable income
and they fret more over that "old car" breaking down on them.

Steve B.

 

I don't undersand the big attraction to the youth market. There seem
to be a lot of cars being designed and marketed to people who can't
afford them. Looking at my own friends it seems that we have all had
a chance at one whimsical car and the rest of the time we were poor
and needed a purpose built vehicle.

High school = dads car

College = cheap car or better yet dads car

After college = inexpensive car as you aren't making much and have
high debt load

Mid to late twenties=whimsical car (the whole automotoive market
revolves around this one)

Thirties = Kids and houses and minivans and suv's.

Fourties = don't know yet but surely we won't be the "youth" market
anymore.

Steve B.

 

And I bet you think you are the typical old fart.

 

Now we know why you are so stupid.

 

No. Middle age people have the most disposable income. The
overwhelming majority of older, ie retired, people in this country
live on a fixed income. Maybe the average income of retired people is
high, but the mean is certainly below $30,000 per year.

Auto dealers don't sell many cars to children. I would think the
reader of my post would understand that.

Auto dealers market to people from about 12 years old up to about 40
more than other age groups. The reasons are to hook a person as a
long term customer. Hence the "buy American" themes that attempts to
get younger, more idealistic (read as stupid) people to naively think
it is better to buy a car made in Mexico than in Ohio. Young boys who
are not yet able to drive see scantily clad models being associated
with cars. Doesn't require much intelligence to see what most boys
will want to buy when they get a license and job. Further, parents
today are willing to buy junior whatever he wants, and a lot of them
have the means to do so. End result is that the 16 to 40 age group
buys a lot of cars, and if they can be persuaded to continue buying
one brand, the car company wins.

As far as those 40 to 60, they are split into two main groups. Those
who buy based on things like quality and practicality, and those who
are buying based on a desire to be 16 again. You really think H2
owners like wiesass do so because the piece-o-shit has value? The 40
YO bald guy requires a Corvette to get to work on time? Nothing wrong
with buying what you want, but companies market to these groups for
distinct reasons.

The older group, on the other hand, typically buys the vehicle they
think is safest, and that meets whatever other issue they see is
important. Examples are loyalty, American (Canaduh or Mexico) made,
ease of driving, et cetera. If you have a driver who buys Olds
because that is what he always buys, you don't care a bit about that
customer, because no matter what you do they will still buy your
product. Neither do you care about quality, as the buy American turds
will do so even though it isn't even made in America. Point is, car
companies don't give a shit about the overwhelming majority of older
drivers because they don't have to.

Things are changing a little due to over powerful groups such as AARP,
but they aren't focusing on cars as much as insurance and medicine.

Nope. See above = high income earners are your market, which tend NOT
to be older retired drivers.

 

Yea, and if you get those young customers and keep them, then
inevitably your customer base ages, and you (and standard marketing
advice) defines an old customer base as failure. So to achieve the
supposed desirable goal of having a young customer base, companies
must fail to keep customers.

Oldsmobile's actual problem was not the age of the average customer.
It was when it found out its cars weren't appealing to its tradition
customer, it instead chased after younger customers that everyone else
was also chasing after, failed to get them, and in the progress became
even less appealing to its traditional customers.

Historically, GM's "problem division" has rotated among Buick,
Oldsmobile, and Buick. Eliminating one of them doesn't address the
cause, which is that inevitably, from time to time, every brand will
have product that misses the mark and isn't appealing to potential
buyers.

 

Selling off stock remaining in the warehouse.

Do you have one in stock? Grab it and its same-size/same-shape sealed
beam. The regular sealed beam, not the fancy "extra performance" one. Also
grab a battery or 12V power supply. Go out in your warehouse and turn off
the lights, or go out in your parking lot after dark. Light up first the
Xenarc, then the sealed beam, first on low beam and then on high beam, and
shine the beams up against the wall.

You don't need a light meter to see why I answered your question this way.

Warranty claims for this product, which has very poor durability in
addition to its very poor performance, continue to smack Sylvania in the
bottom. The only reliable part of the system is the Osram-Sylvania bulb
and ballast, which is common with many OEM Xenon setups.

I would like to think Sylvania may have learned not to trust a lone-gun
North American representative of a Taiwanese bullshit artist who actually
manufactured the sealed-beam-sized Xenarcs in his backalley junk shop. The
Xenarc units intended for late-model Chevrolet trucks are not Taiwanese
and are much better.

DS