Did anyone elese notice this at the autoweek site, they have a story about the production Solstice and it mentions that they will only build 20,000 units per year for five years, then the car is done, fini, end of the line.

So....this car is already capped at 100,000 units due to the "high cost of the hydro-formed chassis parts."

So basically i have to buy a Solstice in the first five years of its production because it might be gone if i wait. I was hoping that this car would become a hit and have huge sales a la the miata, but maybe GM bean-counters arent expecting or even aiming for large production numbers? Seems odd to me.

http://www.autoweek.com/cat_content.mv?port_code=autoweek&cat_code=autoshows&loc_code=&content_code=06505324

So basically i have to buy a Solstice in the first five years of its production because it might be gone if i wait. I was hoping that this car would become a hit and have huge sales a la the miata, but maybe GM bean-counters arent expecting or even aiming for large production numbers? Seems odd to me.


The Miata doesn't have huge sales anymore. It is overdue for a full redesign. They are not hitting 20,000 a year with it. I would rather the Solstice not be a massive production run personally. Look at cars like the MR2 Spyder and Lotus Elise. They are/will only be about 5000 a year. That exclusivity keeps values high and prevents all your neighbors from having the same car as you. 20,000 is still quite a few cars for this segment.

The miata only sold around 16,000 last year, but at one time was selling over 100,000/yr, making it the most popular sports car ever, with total production exceeding 1M vehicles.

With regard to psychosquirrel's concern about capping production: the total market for these cars is significantly less now, given the saturation as result of the 1M+ miatas sold since 1990, plus the MR2 Spyder, and used Z3's available. Also, in this economy, people are not splurging in getting a 2nd or 3rd car, as roadsters tend to be (as opposed to daily drivers).

I think the explanation of the prod. cap due to hydroforming is a little weird, because apparently according to BusinessWeek, hydroforming is actually cheaper (http://www.businessweekasia.com/magazine/content/02_45/b3807117.htm) than conventional tool and die processes.

I think the reasoning is simpler, that this is a brand new untested car, the bean counters at GM were wary about spending too much money up front to gear up for a demand that might not materialize. So they're playing it safe...for now.

The 5 year production run isn't out of the ordinary. And I think that the odds are good that if the Solstice sells out their 100K total production run, and has good reviews, that they would continue production--they'd be dumb not to (unless they're not planning to make any money at all on the car, and using it just to boost Pontiac's image, etc.)

-Andrew

"unless they're not planning to make any money at all on the car, and using it just to boost Pontiac's image, etc."

That's precisely what I AM worried about! I love this car and will certainly buy one but i hope it is not simply used as a marketing gimmick.

GM needs to build high quality cars that people want to buy, while also creating a profitable lineup, not just a "halo" or image vehicles that come and go with the trends of the time.

At 20,000 units--looks kinda unlikey they would bother witha coupe:(
Thats too bad cause the coupe could attract all the non convertible people and it has real sexy lines withe the roof.