GT or not GT, is that the question?

flappist · 20-07-2010, 09:55 AM

There are many rumours about the "coyote" ute and the demise of the Pursuit and/or XR8 ute and I wonder if something as simple as a name change could increase sales.

Over the last 7 odd years it has become very obvious that the two most important things that FPV have in they marketing toolbox are the letter G and the letter T.

The GTs are the biggest selling model.

Despite being much quicker the GT outsold the F6.
Despite being far more luxurious the GT outsold the Force 8 and GT-E.
Despite being far more "up-speced" the GT outsold the GT-P.
Despite being more expensive for what was essentially the same car the GT outsold the GS.

It is very plain that there is a reasionable market for anything with a GT badge (and stripes of course).

So the question......

If the Pursuit was re-launched as the "GT Ute", one model with the same basic spec and options as the GT sedan would it sell more successfully?

I have seen quite a number of Pursuits/SPs with GT badges and comment like "it is not really a GT" tend to draw "interesting" replies.

View Poll Results: Would renaming the Pursuit to GT help sales?
Hell yes, GT ute would be a winner	34	22.52%
Yes but not a lot, ute buyers are mostly more about performance than badges	7	4.64%
Maybe, but it will probably just be the XR8/Pursuit buyers anyway	17	11.26%
No, it is the design (lack of IRS/body) that is the problem not the badge	15	9.93%
No, XR8 and Pursuit are the Falcon Ute names, GT has no heritage here	38	25.17%
Burn the witch, GTs must always be sedans (well apart from the hardtops)	40	26.49%
Voters: 151. You may not vote on this poll