December '58 Sales, Studebaker ranked #11

[2R2]

As I continue to dig through old issue of Automotive News, it is interesting to see the changing positions of the various domestic makes. Not going to present these all the time, but I thought December '58 would be interesting, as it is the first month the Lark was really making an impact.

Remember, numbers are based on registrations for the month of December, 1958.






1... 132,585... Chev ...140,103... 1
2... 122,710... Ford... 129,800... 2
3.... 37,024... Olds...... 36,156.... 5
4.... 32,970... Buick ....36,217.... 4
5.... 31,726.. Plymouth 37,425.... 3
6 ...30,670... Pontiac ..26,064.... 6
7... 22,898... Rambler.. 9,801... 10
8 ...14,498... Cad...... 13,323..... 9
9... 13,848... Mercury 14,886.... 8
10. 11,138... Dodge... 15,904.... 7
11.. 9,779... Stude...... 4,501... 14
12.. 4,556... Chrysler... 7,717... 11
13.. 4,535... Edsel........ 5,531... 13
14.. 3,682... DeSoto.... 6,840... 12
15.. 2,841... Lincoln.... 3,638 ....15
16 ..1,515... Imperial ...2,423 ...16
17.... 910... Metro......... 780 ....17
18 ......74... Packard..... 217... 18


1... 6,194.. VW........... 6,454.... 1
2... 5,322.. Renault...... 2,337.... 2
3... 3,349.. English Ford 1,667.. 3
4.... 2,357 ..Fiat
5.... 2,143.. Hillman...... 1,034... 5
...................MG........... 1,052... 4

You can see how Stude was moving up in the rankings, thanks to the Lark...though not moving up nearly as much as Rambler was! One can also see how DeSoto was continuing it's downward death spiral. Keep in mind, these are one month totals only. Also, I believe Metropolition is counted as a domestic, as it was sold my existing Rambler dealers - English Ford had it's own dealer network. Also, look how strong Renault was.

[8E45E]

The Packards, of course would have been leftover '58's. I wonder what percentage of Edsel and DeSoto sales that month were also leftover '58 models.

Craig

[Milaca]

When did Packard production end? Summer of 1958?
Amazing that Chevrolet and Ford each sold more automobiles in one month than Studebaker sold in one year. At least Studebaker outsold each import brand this month.

[8E45E]

When did Packard production end? Summer of 1958?

Yes, in July of that year: http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.c...h+bend+packard

Craig

[SN-60]

I never understood why there was such a TREMENDOUS slide in sales of the Studebaker Golden Hawk model between '57 and '58.

[Warren Webb]

The "tremendous slide" was the result of the resession that hit hard that year. I remember there was a commercial on tv urging people to purchase things to help stem the tide unlike the present stimulus packages the governement issues. The general feeling was to save & make do with what you had rather than risk a big purchase like a car. It has been said before that if Ford had introduced the Falcon in 58 & the Edsel in 60 that things would have turned out much different.

[56H-Y6]

Hi

What an odd year for various makes! Consider the anomaly of Oldsmobile which had held 5th place swaps for 3rd with Plymouth! Suppose an big, brash, reasonably well-built Oldsmobile was preferable to a clean Plymouth of suspect quality?

Then Lincoln, after millions spent to field an all-new car from an all-new plant to challenge Cadillac face-to-face, was still stuck at 15th on even few cars than a year prior! It's performance mirroring that of the short-lived '57 Imperial challenge which had faded.

And who was the big winner? Rambler! Amazing how it transitioned from it's shaky '56 showing to an ascendant powerhouse.

Steve

PS: That was quite a feat moving 74 leftover '58 Packards off the lot! Must have been some real DEEP discounts!

[SN-60]

The "tremendous slide" was the result of the resession that hit hard that year. I remember there was a commercial on tv urging people to purchase things to help stem the tide unlike the present stimulus packages the governement issues. The general feeling was to save & make do with what you had rather than risk a big purchase like a car. It has been said before that if Ford had introduced the Falcon in 58 & the Edsel in 60 that things would have turned out much different.

Yes, there was a recession during that time period, but for sales to drop from well over 4000 units in '57 to under 900 units in '58 always seemed a bit odd to Me. (I suppose We could factor in the 588 Packard Hawks!!