Oldsmobile USA Sales : 1990's

The Oldsmobile 98 

Oldsmobile's US sales had exceeded a million units in the mid-eighties but fallen 600,000 by 1989. Could the slide be arrested or was it a momentum shift that would not be stopped? Sadly, no. Sales got as low as 400,000 in 1993 but did rebound slightly the following year.

While the Cutlass Ciera and Supreme held up well enough, the Eighty-Eight didn't fare so well. The Achieva replaced the Cutlass Calais but failed to sell as well as its forebear. The Ninety-Eight was on death's door and while the Aurora replaced it, they both sold along side each other for some years.

The Silhouette minivan had been introduced but didn't sell that well. Surely the Bravada medium SUV would be the saviour? It wasn't distinctive enough and sales were very poor. The sporty Toronado wasn't replaced.

Model	1994	1993	1992	1991	1990
Cutlass Ciera	141,100	143,699	117,292	135,670	133,446
Cutlass Supreme	104,596	89,217	80,195	87,540	111,519
Eighty Eight	74,023	70,396	75,517	88,633	101,143
Achieva/Cutl Cal	57,735	53,602	75,653	47,749	103,034
Ninety Eight	24,016	23,250	35,597	59,828	48,025
Aurora	22,377
Silhouette	14,508	11,860	14,831	19,003	25,799
Bravada	10,590	10,513	12,122	12,815	276
Toronado		399	4,919	6,886	14,614
Total US Sales	448,945	402,936	416,126	458,124	537,856

For the latter part of the decade, models were being replaced but sales were now in the mid-three hundred thousand range. Basically only a couple of models were doing most of the work and they weren't doing that well. It was clear that Oldsmobile was no longer performing. At least the Silouette and Bravado were doing better. 

Model	1999	1998	1997	1996	1995
Alero/Achieva	118,907	29,022	63,196	40,344	44,787
Intrigue/ Cutl Supr	90,135	92,164	64,177	81,263	89,629
Silhouette	40,950	37,554	24,615	9,330	11,874
Cutlass/Cutl Ciera	32,677	53,501	31,030	90,011	128,860
Bravada	29,258	30,202	28,481	15,471	3,946
Eighty Eight	23,915	65,877	67,190	58,525	61,897
Aurora	16,321	21,374	25,404	23,717	26,544
Ninety Eight		48	666	12,626	20,008
Total US Sales	352,163	329,742	304,759	331,287	387,545

The Bravada SUV was more than just bravado

For the first in the series (1970's) , simply click here.
For the next in the series (2000's), just click here.