quote:Originally posted by zddp77:
I predict Ultra will be a big flop for Shell. The reason they came out with Ultra is because Platinum just did not sell. Dont belive all the hype on another site , Pennzoil synthetics just dont sell. Mobil is #1 Valvoline is #2 Castrol is #3 in full synthetic sales.
I don't agree ..sorta. Platinum sells well at a decent discount to M1. It doesn't sell well when not decently discounted below M1. I've seen it since the stuff came out. It meets market resistance about $0.50-$1.50 below M1. It reaches market support just above higher priced conventional oils. They've never been able to break this cycle.
Ultra, imho, is sorta like what Havoline did with Deposit Shield. They were getting no increases in market share by discounting their conventional oil. So they did a natural and required competitive evolution and did some advertising/marketing wizbang thing and increased the price at least 50%.
There's no need for two synthetic offerings from PZ ..but due to the pigeonhole'ing that Platinum is in, they're not going to make any money if they just throw on a new API cert and add a few more licenses. It needs a completely different product offering.
That's my opinion ..FWIW <shrug>
