Oldsmobile USA Sales : 1980's

The Firenza was a perfect fit for tennis

Oldsmobile had a very strong early 80's as sales past the million mark for four consecutive years, starting with 1983. Three models were in the 250-300k region, which gave a nice spread of sales. The compact hatchback Starfire was retired with a belated replacement coming in the form of the Firenza. Things were looking good.

Model	1984	1983	1982	1981	1980
Cutlass Supreme	302,087	331,179	281,120	266,070	258,789
Eighty Eight	258,293	228,770	180,839	158,662	147,997
Cutl Ciera/Cutlass	242,209	191,720	113,367	190,834	210,784
Ninety Eight	100,419	119,528	89,223	84,583	73,464
Firenza/Starfire	62,456	44,753	28,282		5,334
Cutl Calais/Omega	48,984	49,818	72,392	109,981	87,262
Toronado	41,605	41,791	34,362	38,609	37,051
Total US Sales	1,056,053	1,007,559	799,585	848,739	820,681

The only model change was the Firenza was put out to pasture and in came the Silhouette mini van to have a crack at that potentially lucrative segment. The middle 80's were strong but sales started falling and by 1989, they came down to 600,000 units. Every model was down on the 1985 figure.

Was the gap narrowing between mainstream and premium brands making Oldsmobile's position between the two less relevant? Model differentiation between divisions was becoming increasingly blurred. In the short term a profitable move, but for Oldsmobile it diluted its raison d'être.

Model	1989	1988	1987	1986	1985
Cutlass Ciera	190,720	237,386	244,607	329,930	333,585
Eighty Eight	138,357	158,205	168,853	261,260	188,128
Cutlass Supreme	99,898	116,179	92,779	191,937	217,504
Cutlass Calais	95,254	106,117	101,861	116,018	122,810
Ninety Eight	65,671	73,348	72,001	109,370	122,421
Tornado	10,125	14,887	16,667	16,762	32,093
Silhouette	2,122
Firenza		9,148	17,626	34,113	49,580
Total US Sales	602,147	715,270	714,394	1,059,390	1,066,121

Summary: Suddenly things were not looking so bright for Oldsmobile. What could GM do to address the fall in popularity? Were there now too many brands competing too closely to justify this brands continued existence? The 90's would be crucial.

The Silhouette was a change in direction

To view the 1970's, simply click here. For the 1990's just click here.