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GM July sales total 189,443- Highest retail sales in ten months

Posted on Aug 03, 2009 by Josh Merva in Business

• July month-over-month retail sales increase led by core brands: Chevrolet, GMC, Buick and Cadillac which were up 12 percent collectively compared with June
• Chevrolet led by the Camaro and the all-new Equinox had a year-over-year retail sales improvement
• All-new model pushes Chevrolet Equinox sales up 78 percent compared with July 2008
• CARS (Cash for Clunkers) program driving showroom traffic to GM’s strong portfolio of fuel-efficient new vehicles; Chevrolet Aveo total sales up 124 percent, crossovers Equinox and HHR up 164 and 36 percent respectively, Cobalt up 38 percent. GMC Canyon and Chevrolet Colorado mid-pickup sales climb 38 percent compared with June

DETROIT - General Motors dealers in the United States delivered 189,443 total vehicles in July, results in a month-over-month retail sales increase. The July total, when compared with a strong July last year and lower fleet sales this year, was down 19 percent compared with a year ago. Retail sales were down 9 percent while fleet sales declined 47 percent. However, when comparing GM’s strong July retail sales with June, volume was up nearly 12,000 vehicles. Large pickup retail sales began to recover in July with a 16 percent increase compared with June, driving total GM truck retail sales improvements of 12 percent when compared with the prior month.

“Our performance is being driven by the outstanding products in our core Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac and Buick brands. While still challenging, the market is firming and GM sales are still tracking ahead of what we projected in our reinvention plan,” said Mark LaNeve, vice president, U.S. sales. “In July we are projecting our retail market share to exceed our year-ago performance. From great new products, like our Cadillac SRX and CTS Sport Wagon, Chevrolet Camaro and Equinox, to attractive financing and new leasing opportunities and to the Cash-for-Clunkers program that helps reduce the cost to buy a new vehicle - customers have unprecedented opportunities to get into a new GM car or truck. We anticipate an additional sales lift in August if Congress approves more funding for the wildly-popular Cash-For-Clunkers economic recovery program.”

Compared with last July, GM overall sales declined 45,741 vehicles driven largely by a planned reduction in fleet sales of 30,423 vehicles (down 47 percent). This drop in fleet sales was a direct result of a strategic decision to tightly control production and inventories that better enable GM dealers to reduce their stock of vehicles to align with market demand. Retail sales of 155,569 vehicles were down 9 percent. GM total truck sales in July were down 18 percent, and car sales of 83,736 were off 21 percent compared with a year ago. However, when compared with a year ago, GM total crossover sales of 39,937 were up 6 percent, driven by the strong performance of Chevrolet Traverse which contributed more than 6,600 sales.

When compared with June’s retail performance, there were several product highlights in GM’s core brands to note:

• Chevrolet Aveo, Cobalt, Impala and Malibu contributed to a Chevrolet car retail increase of 8 percent. Chevrolet truck sales increased 27 percent, led by increases by Silverado, Suburban, Avalanche, Colorado, HHR and Equinox.
• GMC sales increased 8 percent, led by Sierra, Canyon and Yukon XL.
• Cadillac Escalade ESV sales increased 32 percent while Escalade sales increased 3 percent.

“Assuming the Cash-For-Clunkers program stays in place, we look to continue this positive momentum in August,” LaNeve said. “We offer twice as many vehicles that qualify for the Cash-For-Clunkers program than any other manufacturer - vehicles such as Chevrolet Aveo, Cobalt, Malibu, HHR, Silverado and GMC Sierra. Additionally, we have the best selection of crossovers in the industry with Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia, Buick Enclave, and the all-new GMC Terrain, Chevrolet Equinox and Cadillac SRX. Clearly, GM dealers have the cars and trucks that customers demand.”

A total of 1,487 GM hybrid vehicles were delivered in the month. So far, in 2009, GM has delivered 9,836 hybrid vehicles.

Non-core brand sales declined when compared with June as Pontiac dipped 7 percent; Saturn was down 21 percent, and HUMMER and Saab declined 26 percent.

GM inventories dropped compared with a year ago, and dipped below the half-million mark as planned, to historically low levels. In July, GM dealers had an average 76 day supply of vehicles. At the end of July, about 466,000 vehicles were in stock, down about 281,000 vehicles (or 38 percent) compared with last year, and down approximately 20 percent compared with June. There were about 202,000 cars and 264,000 trucks (including crossovers) in inventory at the end of July.

GM Certified Sales

GM Certified Used Vehicles, Saturn Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, Cadillac Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, Saab Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, and HUMMER Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, combined sold 29,211 vehicles.

GM Certified Used Vehicles posted July sales of 25,441 vehicles, down 29 percent from July 2008. Saturn Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles sold 829 vehicles, down 29 percent. Cadillac Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles sold 2,383 vehicles, down 35 percent. Saab Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles sold 371 vehicles, down 52 percent. HUMMER Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles posted an increase with 187 vehicles sold, up 16 percent.

“We are confident in the new GM and are committed more than ever to sell our comprehensive line-up of cars, trucks, SUVs and crossovers, whether new or used. Our Certified Used Vehicles offer a worry-free purchasing experience - a tremendous value to our customers,” LaNeve said. “GM’s national network of dealers will continue to honor warranties on current and future General Motors Certified Used/Pre-Owned vehicles, which demonstrates the durability and reliability of our products. GM Certified offers wide-ranging and long-term warranties such as the 12-month/12,000 mile bumper-to-bumper warranty and the industry-leading 100,000 mile/five-year (whichever comes first) limited powertrain warranty on the largest selection of Certified Used vehicles in the industry.”

GM North America Reports July 2009 Production; Initial Q3 2009 Production Forecast at 535,000 Vehicles, a significant improvement from Q1 and Q2 2009 levels.

In July, GM North America produced 102,000 vehicles (39,000 cars and 63,000 trucks). This is down 136,000 vehicles or 57 percent compared with July 2008 when the region produced 238,000 vehicles (116,000 cars and 122,000 trucks). (Production totals include joint venture production of 11,000 vehicles in July 2009 and 14,000 vehicles in July 2008.)

The region’s 2009 third-quarter production forecast is initially set at 535,000 vehicles (210,000 cars and 325,000 trucks), which is down about 42 percent compared with a year ago. GM North America built 915,000 vehicles (436,000 cars and 479,000 trucks) in the third-quarter of 2008. However, Q3 2009 production volumes have substantially increased versus Q1 and Q2 2009 production volumes of 371,000 (up 44 percent) and 395,000 (up 35 percent), respectively.

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