GM July sales dive 19%.But retail sales up 15%

[Toyota.vs.GM]

General Motors Corp sales dove 19 percent in July to 320,000 cars and trucks,according to sales data announced today.Sales where down across each of GM's eight brands.Trucks sales where down 16 percent and cars sales fell 24 percent.One bight spot:GM managed a 15 percent increase in retail sales to individual customers.The automaker has worked to increase retail sales while pairing back less profitable sales to rental fleets.More at this link.

Edited August 1, 2007 by Toyota.vs.GM

[A Horse With No Name]

OUCH! How did the Aura do?

Chris

[A Horse With No Name]

...also, does anyone know if Cobalt sales dropped?

Chris

[GXT]

...also, does anyone know if Cobalt sales dropped?

Chris

Cobalt down from 23,961 to 15,850 (-30% DSR).

Aura sold 5,827 for the month (just a few less than the Grand Prix). 33,056 for the year.

http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/...7Deliveries.xls

[Northstar]

GM must have had a ton of fleet sales last year to inflate numbers so that the losses from the Employee discount program in '05 didn't look as bad.

I'm happy that retail sales are up 15%, I don't think any other manufacturer can make a claim that their retail sales were up that much or more. Every manufacturer posted a loss except Nissan and Porsche, and Nissan was up only 1.7% (Porsche .9%).

Lambda sales seem low, perhaps it is due to low supply because of the two-week July shutdown? VUE sales are disappointing, I'm not sure what the deal is there. My dealer has 20+ I would say, so supply isn't the issue. T900 truck sales are also disappointing, but I guess everyone else has HUGE discounts. I want to see them do well, but I would rather they didn't have $3k or 0% for 60 months in their first year on the market.

[VenSeattle]

The main point is retail sales are up 15%. Fleet sales can diminish.

Many imports strongly rely on retail sales, like Honda. So if Honda and Acura sales are down, it is retail sales that are down. Same for several other import manufacturers.

To me, this is a good sign that GM's consumer awareness and market strength is increasing.

[gm4life]

Really we all need to adjust are way of thinking. 15% sales increase is HUGE! That is excellent, GM is on its way and someday it won't sound like were getting our butts kicked due to less fleet sales. This is huge accomplishment for the General way to go guys! Good Work!

[regfootball]

wow, retail is up for GM even if the economy is in the crapper and other makers like honda are way down on so many models.

kudos to gm for a strong month.

[enzl]

So, is the 15% increase in retail sales vs. last July? If so, doesn't that mean that last summer's crappy sales have been improved by 15%?

Numbers can say anything you want them to...I'd like clarification, because 15% more than one of the most fleeted months in GM's history is not an 'improvement' by any means.

More significantly, the domestics dipped below 50% of the market...so less people buying vehicles bought their product.

It's premature (and perhaps misleading) to celebrate these numbers....I'll take a hard look at my region's numbers this morning, but we've been getting crushed for many months here.

Edited August 2, 2007 by enzl

[toyoguy]

T900 truck sales are also disappointing, but I guess everyone else has HUGE discounts. I want to see them do well, but I would rather they didn't have $3k or 0% for 60 months in their first year on the market.

well looks like GM just joined the party. w/$3000 on the hood and another $1000 to the dealer

[2QuickZ's]

well looks like GM just joined the party. w/$3000 on the hood and another $1000 to the dealer

Just this morning I read that Toyota was offering as much as $7,000 in incentives on the brand new Tundra! I don't know if that is true or not so I need to check it out. If so, that is amazing!!!

[toesuf94]

Just this morning I read that Toyota was offering as much as $7,000 in incentives on the brand new Tundra! I don't know if that is true or not so I need to check it out. If so, that is amazing!!!

Check out Ebay and the prices on the Tundra...I would say $7,000 would be about right. Still ugly as sin, but people will buy 'em.

[siegen]

The main point is retail sales are up 15%. Fleet sales can diminish.

Which is definitely good, but GM still has a long way to go. They are on the right track.

Many imports strongly rely on retail sales, like Honda. So if Honda and Acura sales are down, it is retail sales that are down. Same for several other import manufacturers.

That's oddly put, makes it sound like retail sales aren't what auto makers are supposed to rely on. Honda still relies a few percent on fleet sales overall, about 1.2% for all vehicles it sold in 2006. Even though GM reduced its fleet sales, it is probably still in the 20-30% range for fleet sales overall for the year.

Here are some interesting charts that show the percentage of fleet sales for each manufacturer:

Cars

Trucks

Think of it like this, if GM kept the same ratio of fleet to retail, how much would their sales have still dropped this month? It would have likely still been a close to or at double digit drop, no way fleet sales alone could have made up that 19% deficit. Honda still dropped less in retail sales compared to GM. If Honda pumped some cars into fleet sales they could have likely broke even or be in the positive... but that would be a bad idea for sure.

wow, retail is up for GM even if the economy is in the crapper and other makers like honda are way down on so many models.

kudos to gm for a strong month.

Retail isn't up, just the ratio of retail to fleet sales changed. Despite retail sales increasing 15%, overall sales decreased 19%.

For example. Say GM sold 1000 cars last year in July, 30% to fleet (300 cars), 70% to retail (700 cars).

Sales dropped 19% to 810 total this year in July. 15% fleet (121 cars), 85% retail (688 cars). Retail sales are still down, despite the higher percentage of retail versus fleet.

I don't know how the numbers will actually pan out, but retail sales are still going to be down compared to last year's retail sales in July.

Of course if GM managed to sell cars this July with less incentives than last year in July, profits could be up.... (which they are aren't they?)

[balthazar]

>>"Retail isn't up, just the ratio of retail to fleet sales changed. Despite retail sales increasing 15%, overall sales decreased 19%."<<

Not that Sharon puts a great deal of interpretation into her work, but clearly the piece says retail is up. Why are you saying "retail isn't up, retail increased"?

No where in the piece does it mention a ratio between fleet & retail. Fleet sales could have dropped enough to cause a 19% overall drop AND STILL encompass a 15% rise in retail sales, tho that would be a huge fleet drop.

[siegen]

>>"Retail isn't up, just the ratio of retail to fleet sales changed. Despite retail sales increasing 15%, overall sales decreased 19%."<<

Not that Sharon puts a great deal of interpretation into her work, but clearly the piece says retail is up. Why are you saying "retail isn't up, retail increased"?

No where in the piece does it mention a ratio between fleet & retail. Fleet sales could have dropped enough to cause a 19% overall drop AND STILL encompass a 15% rise in retail sales, tho that would be a huge fleet drop.

Hmm, it could be that way too.