Studebaker's 1961 Market Penetration by State

[BobPalma]

I was working working on a Hemmings Classic Car idea today, researching brand loyalty and market penetration.

'Ran across the following interesting stats:

For the 1961 model year, Studebaker's national market penetration was 1.23%.

The following states, however, had more than 2% market penetration (alphabetical order) :

Connecticut: 2.14
Idaho: 2.13
Indiana: 2.54
New Hampshire: 2.07
New Mexico: 2.47
District of Columbia: 2.55 (can you say Government Services Administration?)


OTOH, the following states were SS (Studebaker Slackers), buying Studebakers less than 1% of the time :

Alabama: .84
Arkansas: .77
Delaware: .80
Georgia: .97 (thanks for trying, Neil!)
Hawaii: .62

Kansas: .99
Kentucky: .73
Louisiana: .87
Michigan: .74
Missouri: .87

North Carolina: .97
Oklahoma: .66
South Carolina: .55
Texas: .88

That's right: Studebaker's worse 1961 market penetration was in South Carolina. BP

[Bill Pressler]

I was working working on a Hemmings Classic Car idea today, researching brand loyalty and market penetration.

'Ran across the following interesting stats:

For the 1961 model year, Studebaker's national market penetration was 1.23%.

The following states, however, had more than 2% market penetration (alphabetical order) :

Connecticut: 2.14
Idaho: 2.13
Indiana: 2.54
New Hampshire: 2.07
New Mexico: 2.47
District of Columbia: 2.55 (can you say Government Services Administration?)


OTOH, the following states were SS (Studebaker Slackers), buying Studebakers less than 1% of the time :

Alabama: .84
Arkansas: .77
Delaware: .80
Georgia: .97 (thanks for trying, Neil!)
Hawaii: .62

Kansas: .99
Kentucky: .73
Louisiana: .87
Michigan: .74
Missouri: .87

North Carolina: .97
Oklahoma: .66
South Carolina: .55
Texas: .88

That's right: Studebaker's worse 1961 market penetration was in South Carolina. BP

Bob, I'd have thought PA would've been in the higher percentages, but I guess not. A salesman at my hometown dealer told me maybe ten years ago, in front of the owner, "Remember our district guy told us our market share of the county was higher than Studebaker's national market share?". Of course, they were long-established under one-family ownership, and in fact were older than the Chevy dealer in town.

[PackardV8]

The only surprise to me was CT. Any thoughts as to why a high income state was buying Studes? Also, the southeast was lower than the average, again, I grew up there, but in a Studebaker truck family. I was the first one to buy a Stude car. Vines Motors in Bessemer, AL, a very distant relative, had a small downtown storefront dealership.

jack vines

[BobPalma]

Well, Bill, if it makes you feel any better, PA's penetration was 1.61%, almost a third higher than the national average. And given the gross number of cars sold in PA, that represents a sizeable number of units eastbound on the Indiana Toll Road and the Pennsylvania Turnpike! BP

[jclary]

BP[/B]

Well...that pretty much explains why I rarely saw a Studebaker on our local roads.

Another interesting statistic would be to see the percentage of new cars sold versus used cars, and see how it relates to each state's economic growth. I suspect that, for the period, South Carolina would probably rank low in economic growth and new car purchases.

[57pack]

Hi Bob, Growing up in NH and NJ I aways remember seeing plenty of Studebakers and Packards around. Also was made more aware by playing car make bingo with my siblings. Was wondering what the market penetration was for New Jersey? We had a strong dealer network around Gloucester and Camden counties.

[BobPalma]

Hi Bob, Growing up in NH and NJ I aways remember seeing plenty of Studebakers and Packards around. Also was made more aware by playing car make bingo with my siblings. Was wondering what the market penetration was for New Jersey? We had a strong dealer network around Gloucester and Camden counties.

Ironically, Bill, it was exactly the same as the national average: 1.23%! How 'bout that? BP

[8E45E]

And the figures themselves.... http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.c...ht=penetration

Craig

[Lark8girl]

2.54 % market penetration in INDIANA

That is so sad, in this number it includes that the state of Indiana supported Studebaker by buying many cars and trucks for the Indiana State Police, Highway Department ,
and Department of Natural Resources. And then consider South Bend Police, and Studebaker employees also were buying Studebaker in Indiana.
At least Indiana was the best market for Studebaker.

I do remember seeing some similar numbers from the 1940s and Nash and Hudson weren't much better numbers.

Husband of Lark VIII girl

[62champ]

I wonder how these numbers compared to 1960 and 1962?

[Skinnys Garage]

District of Columbia: 2.55 (can you say Government Services Administration?)

The PO's for my old DOI '61 Larks listed DC for their destination. Probably would have been cheaper to drop ship them straight to South Dakota.

[clonelark]

I didn't see Washington state, seems like a lot of Studebakers come from there.

[plee4139]

My '56 Sky Hawk originally came from a dealer named Eidam Brothers in Hazleton, PA.

[plee4139]

I was brought up in Queens, NY, and there were not a lot of Studebakers. My father favored Chrysler Corp. cars, and friends had mostly GM. As our family and friends were Jews, there were rarely Ford cars.

[qsanford]

I wonder how sales did in Rhode Island for 1961? My second Studebaker was a '61 Lark VI two door sedan, Autumn Haze. I bought it in Warwick, R.I.