February '59, Studebaker Cracks Top Ten (Trucks for the Month Too)

[2R2]

I thought I would provide another exciting update on the sales race back in ’59 – I think this is the first time Studebaker cracked the top ten for quite awhile, thanks to the Lark of course. Registrations for the MONTH of February 1959 (from the April 20, 1959 issue of Automotive News)

Feb ’59 Position	Feb ’59 Registrations	Make	Feb ’58 Registrations	Feb ’58 Position
1	106,506	Chevrolet	92,401	1
2	103,498	Ford	71,865	2
3	27,732	Olds	24,789	4
4	27,349	Pontiac	18,556	6
5	21,856	Rambler	9,062	10
6	20,828	Buick	21,357	5
7	20,600	Plymouth	27,091	3
8	11,906	Cad.	9,789	7
9	11,084	Mercury	9,699	8
10	9,808	STUDEBAKER	2,913	14
11	7,655	Dodge	9,805	9
12	3,936	Edsel	3,565	13
13	3,812	Chrysler	4,565	11
14	2,841	DeSoto	3,919	12
15	2,503	Lincoln	2,718	15
16	1,228	Imperial	1,245	16

Studebaker and Rambler where both gainers, while it looks like all Chrysler products were sliding.

For comparison, here are the top ten imports, also for the Month of February ’59:

Feb ’59 Position	Feb ’59 Registrations	Make	Feb ’58 Registrations	Feb ’58 Position
1	7,428	VW	5,807	1
2	5,390	Renault	2,218	2
3	3,330	English Ford	1,516	3
4	2,856	Simca	908	5
5	2,755	Opel	726	8
6	2,619	Fiat	878	6
7	2,011	Hillman	936	4
8	1,610	Vauxhall
9	1,477	Triumph	716	9
10	1,359	Volvo

Finally, for you truck lovers out there, here are the February (one month) 1959 new truck registration numbers: (from the May 4, 1959 Automotive News)

Make	February 1959 New Truck Registrations
Chevrolet	23,753
Ford	19,498
GMC	5,249
International	5,109
Dodge	3,674
Willys	1,751
White	1,100
Mack	937
STUDEBAKER	476
Diamond T	179
Brockway	58

[BobPalma]

Thanks, Eric; that is encouraging. Especially to be above Dodge! BP

[Skip Lackie]

I agree that the company must've been pleased to see the sales results from the Lark. But the truck data are dismal. Being beaten 2-to-1 by Mack and White, who only built heavy-duty units, could not have been a good sign. It would be interesting to see truck data from the comparable period one year later, when the new Champ had been on the market for a while.

[Warren Webb]

I was surprized that International beat out Dodge in the truck list.

[Milaca]

The truck statistics are interesting. As for why Studebaker truck sales are so low, think of what the competitors had to offer. GM, Ford, International and Dodge had redesigned their cabs in 1955-57 leaving the Studebaker to look outdated plus they all offered smooth-sided pickup beds and they had big-block engines for their large trucks. Willys Jeep had the FC (forward control) trucks available at this time plus their regular pickup, wagon and CJ's. I too would be interested to see what the Champ did for Studebaker's truck sales.

[Bill Pressler]

Is the Olds number for Feb. '59 wrong? It's number 3, but a good bit less sales than number 4 that month.

[2R2]

Is the Olds number for Feb. '59 wrong? It's number 3, but a good bit less sales than number 4 that month.

Bill, the Olds number is correct, the Pontiac figure is wrong - it should be 27,349.

Also, you might be interested to know that the June 29, 1959 edition has an article that Stanley Pressler (a distant relative?) who was a Bloomington IN Olds-Studebaker dealer, was elected president of the Automotive Dealers Association of Indiana.

[2R2]

I agree that the company must've been pleased to see the sales results from the Lark. But the truck data are dismal. Being beaten 2-to-1 by Mack and White, who only built heavy-duty units, could not have been a good sign. It would be interesting to see truck data from the comparable period one year later, when the new Champ had been on the market for a while.

Skip, I'll be happy to post some figures from a later issue after the Champ was released.

[BobPalma]

Bill, you might be interested to know that the June 29, 1959 edition has an article that Stanley Pressler (a distant relative?) who was a Bloomington IN Olds-Studebaker dealer, was elected president of the Automotive Dealers Association of Indiana.

The Bloomington IN Studebaker dealer should have done quite well in 1959. It's a liberal college town (Indiana Univeristy: Liberal Arts, Sciences, Music, Education, etc.), a good demographic / market for small, economy cars. Only the Volkswagon and Rambler dealers would have given Stanley Pressler's Lark sales much competition.

I bet he sold a higher percentage of Larks against his GM "dual" (Oldsmobile) than most Studebaker dealers dualed with a General Motors make. BP