GM Reports 349,202 Deliveries in September

[Guest Josh]

All-New Impala, HHR and Cobalt Lead Into Chevy's Next Wave of Product Introductions
Pontiac G6 Records Best Sales Month Since Launch
Buick LaCrosse Retail Sales Outpace Year-Ago Century/Regal Retail Deliveries for 9th Month
H3 Continues to Drive Record HUMMER Sales

DETROIT - General Motors dealers in the United States sold 349,202 new cars and trucks in September, down 24 percent from the same month a year ago. Car sales declined 14.5 percent and truck sales were off 29.5 percent.

GM's September sales results were down following a strong performance in June and July, paced by the GM Employee Discount for Everyone program. September results also were impacted by comparison to very strong year-ago sales, when GM ran its "72-Hour Sale," which offered 0 percent financing for 72 months, resulting in a number of industry sales records.

"We knew going into September that it would be challenging given continued inventory constraints and compared to exceptionally strong year-ago results," said Mark LaNeve, GM North America vice president, Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing. "The four-month period of the GM Employee Discount for Everyone drove a 6 percent increase in sales and pushed inventory levels to record lows. We're particularly pleased that we continue to experience strong sales of our launch vehicles, led by the HUMMER H3, Pontiac G6, Cadillac DTS and Chevrolet Impala and HHR, which our dealers tell us are moving off their lots as quickly as they arrive from the plant."

As Chevrolet begins its second wave of product introductions with an additional 10 new vehicles by the end of 2006, the new Impala, HHR and Cobalt continue to build sales momentum. Impala deliveries have been very strong as production continues to ramp up, achieving turn rates over 43 percent. September sales of the 2006 Impala totaled 18,603 units. HHR sales in September were 55 percent greater than August and also are spending little time in dealers' inventories, with a turn rate over 40 percent. Cobalt sales continue at a brisk pace despite very low inventories, and it is drawing new owners into the GM family with more than 40 percent of its sales for the calendar year-to-date coming from non-GM owners.

Other GM launch vehicles also continue to build momentum in the market. H3 is driving record HUMMER sales performance and appealing to new GM customers. About 70 percent of H3 buyers previously were not GM owners. HUMMER's September deliveries were up 128 percent compared to last year, and H2 sales hit a milestone in September with delivery of the 100,000th vehicle.

Retail sales of the Buick LaCrosse for the ninth consecutive month surpassed year-ago combined retail sales for Century and Regal.

Pontiac G6 recorded its best sales since launch, with 13,422 deliveries, bolstered by the arrival of the G6 coupe.

Saturn's September sales were up 8 percent, spurred by an 18 percent increase in sales of the new Vue, which also is experiencing high turn rates and low inventory.

GM continues to rebuild its inventories, which at the end of September were approximately 818,000 units.

Certified Used Vehicles

September sales for all certified GM brands, including GM Certified Used Vehicles, Cadillac Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, Used Cars from Saturn and Saab Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, were 41,532 units, down 5 percent from last September. Total year-to-date certified GM sales are 402,469 units, up nearly 3 percent from the same period last year.

GM Certified Used Vehicles, the industry's top-selling manufacturer-certified used brand, posted sales of 35,416 units, down 4 percent from the previous September. Year-to-date sales for GM Certified Used Vehicles are 341,769 units, up 4 percent.

Cadillac Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles posted September sales of 2,924 units, down 11 percent from last September. Cadillac Certified year-to-date sales are up 10 percent over the same period in 2004. Used Cars from Saturn sold 2,336 units, down 17 percent. Saab Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles sold 856 units, up nearly 12 percent.

"September completes an outstanding third quarter for GM Certified Used Vehicles, the industry's top-selling certified brand, which established a new all-time quarterly sales record for the category with 122,039 units sold," LaNeve said. "Looking ahead, we're confident that GM Certified will continue to set the pace for the certified segment in the coming quarter."

GM North America Reports September and 2005 Third-Quarter Production, 2005 Fourth-Quarter Production Forecast Remains Unchanged

GM North America in September produced 454,000 vehicles (165,000 cars and 289,000 trucks), compared to 470,000 vehicles (184,000 cars and 286,000 trucks) produced in September 2004. Production totals include joint venture production of 26,000 vehicles in September 2005 and 21,000 vehicles in September 2004.

In the third quarter of 2005, the region produced 1.144 million vehicles (423,000 cars and 721,000 trucks). In the third quarter of 2004, the region produced 1.209 million vehicles (463,000 cars and 746,000 trucks). The region's 2005 fourth-quarter production forecast remains unchanged at 1.3 million vehicles (473,000 cars and 827,000 trucks). In the fourth quarter of 2004, the region produced 1.277 million vehicles (466,000 cars and 811,000 trucks).

GM also announced 2005 revised third-quarter and fourth-quarter production forecasts for its international regions:

GM Europe - GM Europe's 2005 third-quarter production forecast remains at 412,000 vehicles. In the third quarter of 2004, GM Europe built 411,000 vehicles. The region's revised 2005 fourth-quarter production forecast is 458,000 vehicles, down 13,000 units from last month's guidance. In the fourth quarter of 2004, GM Europe built 442,000 vehicles.

GM Asia Pacific - GM Asia Pacific's revised 2005 third-quarter production estimate is 409,000 vehicles, down 10,000 units from last month's guidance. In the third quarter of 2004, GM Asia Pacific built 314,000 vehicles. The region's 2005 fourth quarter production forecast remains unchanged at 447,000 vehicles. In the fourth quarter of 2004, the region built 386,000 vehicles.

GM Latin America, Africa and the Middle East - The region's revised 2005 third-quarter production estimate is 207,000 vehicles, down 2,000 units from last month's guidance. In the third quarter of 2004, the region built 185,000 vehicles. The region's revised 2005 fourth-quarter production estimate is 192,000 vehicles, down 5,000 units from last month's guidance. In the fourth quarter of 2004, the region built 200,000 vehicles.

General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world's largest automaker, has been the global industry sales leader since 1931. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 317,000 people around the world. It has manufacturing operations in 32 countries and its vehicles are sold in 200 countries. In 2004, GM sold nearly 9 million cars and trucks globally, up 4 percent and the second-highest total in the company's history. GM's global headquarters are at the GM Renaissance Center in Detroit. More information on GM can be found at www.gm.com.

[regfootball]

even tho the numbers are down, i see a lot of encouraging news in there as well. The G6 and Impala are moving. No doubt the low inventoires hurt big time.

[Guest Josh]

The Cobalt has surpassed the Cavaliers YTD sales when comparing the Cavaliers '04 January - September to the Cobalts '05 January - September by 3,050 units.

[Drew Dowdell]

Cobalt sales continue at a brisk pace despite very low inventories, and it is drawing new owners into the GM family with more than 40 percent of its sales for the calendar year-to-date coming from non-GM owners.

Go Chevy!

About 70 percent of H3 buyers previously were not GM owners.

I'm not really a Hummer fan, but a conquest sale is a conquest sale. Go Hummer!

Retail sales of the Buick LaCrosse for the ninth consecutive month surpassed year-ago combined retail sales for Century and Regal.

Note he said "Retail sales" and not "Fleet sales". Outselling the Regal plus Buick's second best seller combined!

Go Buick!


Overall! Go GM! Edited October 3, 2005 by Oldsmoboi

[Chicagoland]

People were complaining about Buick dropping two cars, when in fact they were really the same vehicle. With the new car outselling "two cars", now what do they think? Also, the HHR naysayers better get ready for some fried crow. And no, don't say "It is a fad", since the PT Cruiser is not "dying", nor is it a poor seller. It is doing 100K a year, more than some "real cars". So, the market for smaller utility vehicles is stong.

[Drew Dowdell]

People were complaining about Buick dropping two cars, when in fact they were really the same vehicle.

With the new car outselling "two cars", now what do they think?
Also, the HHR naysayers better get ready for some fried crow. And no, don't say "It is a fad", since the PT Cruiser is not "dying", nor is it a poor seller. It is doing 100K a year, more than some "real cars". So, the market for smaller utility vehicles is stong.

[post="23326"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Buick will be doing the same thing with combining LeSabre/Park AVe --> Lucerne. I just think some people remember what happened to Olds and see it happening again. Buick is almost exactly lined up like Olds was when the hatchet fell.

I don't think the PT Cruiser is dying. I just think it needs a more major update then what it got.

[Chicagoland]

At this point, most real world car buyers don't care about old dated car names. They want a good value, not just a name. Buick is teamed with Pontiac and GMC. While Olds was supposed to be "GM's Honda". Only if the Lucerne bombs, then maybe the Buick name will be dropped.

[Guest saturnskysteve]

Saturn was up 8%, that's good news!

[Matt276]

8600 HHRs is pretty impressive. Note that year-to-date are off by only 0,9%. Do we have GM's inventory numbers? probably below average.

[01Malibu]

http://media.gm.com/servlet/GatewayServlet...=74&docid=19171

[cmattson]

When looking at Cobalt vs Cavalier numbers, don't forget about the Aveo's influence. It's much more established this year and the Aveo takes some small car sales that it wouldn't have last year. If you compare "Chevrolet compact car sales" as a whole (Aveo+Cobalt+Cavalier) between this year and last year, the spread is about 38,500 units. Edited October 3, 2005 by cmattson

[gerardo]

Wow, GTO sales sank.

[wildcat]

Oldsmoboi: You can't compare Buick right now to Oldsmobile, because, at that time, Olds was expected to be a "full-line" make. Buick has now been merged into the B-P-G channel and can't possibly have the same sales goals as it did previously. As I've said before, Buick's sales should be down 75%; it's a compliment :) to Buick salespeople that they're holding on much better. GM -- once again -- has put Buick in a tough spot: someone else here stated that the LeSabre is sold out (isn't that what should be stressed?) and Lucerne is not yet available, so what can be expected of Buick sales numbers for the rest of the year? Let GM give Buick a hot vehicle(s) like it deserves instead of the warmed-over or mediocre rebadged products it's been given up to now. C'mon, GM, where'd the $3 billion investment in Buick go? <_< Does it start with an "s"? (Saturn, Saab?) I hope that the '08 Buick Lambda Rendezvous is up to the challenge!

[Northstar]

That's good news about the Cobalt and H3 attracting a lot of non-GM buyers. Anyone notice the Solstice made the sales sheet (did it last month)? The 06 Impala and HHR seem to be doing great, and I'm guessing the percentage of 06 Impalas to fleets is much lower than that of the 05 model. Some of the numbers are actually pretty good considering the low inventory, but October should have normal inventory levels and thus big losses won't be acceptable. The G6 really needs to be at 20k/month; if the Malibu can be at 20k/month, then the G6 can too. It would appear trucks were hurt worse than cars with the low inventory, hopefully they'll be back up next month. The VUE did pretty good actually, I think the update is helping. One final note: Chevy is now ahead of Ford by 30k units for the year with 3 months to go. The HHR sales will certainly give Chevy a boost that it didn't have last year, though the GMT800s might be hurt and Ford has the Fusion. It should be an interesting race.

[Drew Dowdell]

Oldsmoboi: You can't compare Buick right now to Oldsmobile, because, at that time, Olds was expected to be a "full-line" make.  Buick has now been merged into the B-P-G channel and can't possibly have the same sales goals as it did previously.  As I've said before, Buick's sales should be down 75%; it's a compliment :)  to Buick salespeople that they're holding on much better.  GM -- once again -- has put Buick in a tough spot: someone else here stated that the LeSabre is sold out (isn't that what should be stressed?) and Lucerne is not yet available, so what can be expected of Buick sales numbers for the rest of the year?  Let GM give Buick a hot vehicle(s) like it deserves instead of the warmed-over or mediocre rebadged products it's been given up to now.  C'mon, GM, where'd the $3 billion investment in Buick go? <_< Does it start with an "s"?  (Saturn, Saab?)  I hope that the '08 Buick Lambda Rendezvous is up to the challenge!

[post="23417"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Here is my reasoning as to why Buick is where Olds was:

1. unloved minivan Terraza/Silloette
2. unloved SUV Rainier/Bravada
3. Luxury sedan and premium family sedan merged into one LeSaber-ParkAve->Lucerne/88-98-Aurora -> Aurora
4. A good, but not great W-body LaCrosse/Intrigue
5. A recently killed, high volume entry level car Century/Cutlass

The only differences are Rendevous and Alero. Each sold well, but not well enough to hold up the entire division.

[Cory Wolfe]

I can't believe that is a record month for the G6... :blink: GM, I believe there is a problem...

[sciguy_0504]

Interesting points, Olds. Overall, I think I can see a silver lining. Yes, sales were down this month due to low inventories, ramp up production for new vehicles and the fact that few people want big trucks/suvs but look at the new car sales. Like others have pointed out, they look good and, for the most part, it's just starting. I always thought the HHR was going to be huge and it is. It's great that the Cobalt is attracting conquest buyers. The H3 was a shot in Hummer's arm. There will continue to be a lull in sales as new vehicles are introduced, production is ramped up and consumers are weened from employee pricing.

[wildcat]

Oldsmoboi: I got why you said what you did. Did you understand why I said what I did? (You gave no specific reaction to my statements, just explained your reasoning.)

Perhaps anyone who likes Pontiac (like, uh, blackviper8891) and / or Buick should consider themselves comrades, for, if the two makes are truly considered one division, we need them both and as the fortunes for one rise or fall, it affects the other! Cheer for and support both of them!

[nzr]

If GM had the Camaro they would be on TOP!!!!!

[Cory Wolfe]

Perhaps anyone who likes Pontiac (like, uh, blackviper8891) and / or Buick should consider themselves comrades, for, if the two makes are truly considered one division, we need them both and as the fortunes for one rise or fall, it affects the other! Cheer for and support both of them!

Well... I will never consider them one division. Never. Never. Never... They are complete opposites. I find no appeal in Buick, so I won't cheer for the sake of it. I don't want to see it fall either. I never said I did. I just believe that it will inevitably come down to choosing Pontiac or Buick. And if I had to pick... you know the rest.

[I hope GMRULES again]

What a terrible month for GM. More proof that the employee discount did nothing but pull ahead buyers that were mainly GM customers already, seeing as GM sales tanked and Honda and Toyota posted record sales again. Sad.

[ToniCipriani]

Here is my reasoning as to why Buick is where Olds was:

1. unloved minivan Terraza/Silloette
2. unloved SUV      Rainier/Bravada
3. Luxury sedan and premium family sedan merged into one LeSaber-ParkAve->Lucerne/88-98-Aurora -> Aurora
4. A good, but not great W-body LaCrosse/Intrigue
5. A recently killed, high volume entry level car Century/Cutlass

The only differences are Rendevous and Alero. Each sold well, but not well enough to hold up the entire division.

[post="23463"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

The entry high volume was Alero. Cutlass (a.k.a. Cutlibu) was only a showroom placeholder for 97-99 and was NOT recently killed. The Alero and the Cutlass both rode on the P-90 platform.

GM's lack of attention to Olds is what killed Olds in the first place. Except for the Intrigue and the Aurora, the others were all rebadges.

[Newbiewar]

I guess also remember 2004 there was one more GM brand... Olds...

[VenSeattle]

GM's drop in sales is not just about "pull-ahead"... The Dealership lots were empty for a good part of September. Once the lots are full again, things will look much different...

As for the Oldsmobile/Buick comparison:

There are MAJOR differences to the NEW Buick & the then NEW Oldsmobile:

1) Oldsmobile dramatically abandoned its loyal buyers with the Intrigue & Aurora. The LaCrosse & Lucerne do NO SUCH thing.

2) Both the Intrigue & Aurora brought higher MSRP prices to Oldsmobile ON TOP OF One price shopping:

1997 Base MSRP:
1997 Eighty-Eight - $22,595
1997 Cutlass Supreme - $18,950

1998 Base MSRP:
1998 Aurora - $36,160
1998 Intrigue - $20,890

Even though the 2001 Aurora lowered the MSRP of Aurora closer to the Eighty-Eight's (2001 Aurora MSRP: $30,619) It was still too little too late.

GM simply tried to move Oldsmobile upscale too fast. That's not the case with Buick. The LaCrosse is the same price as the Century & Regal, while the Lucerne is the same price as a LeSabre & base Park Avenue. Bench seats are still offered in both for the traditionalists and many styling cues (inside & out) have been updated without appearing foreign to the typical Buick buyer (unlike Oldsmobile's.)

3) During the 1990's Oldsmobile was a stand alone division competing internally with Buick for the same premium buyer with similarly equipped models.
Buick is now a division partially supported by Pontiac-GMC and does not have another GM division to compete with for premium buyers.

There are some other differences, but those are the main ones that come to mind.

*********** Something else to mention, the LaCrosse is selling better than the Intrigue ever did. I'm willing to bet the Lucerne will be selling 4x the Aurora's best year by the end of 2006.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

GM has finally done what many thought they couldn't.. They've established positive momentum at all of their divisions and it's only going to build. Chevrolet/Chevy Trucks is being FURTHER bolstered by the volume of the new Impala and HHR as well as the image of the new Z06. Next up: will be the GMT900s Cadillac is adding to it's momentum by introducing the new DTS and it's image by introducing the new V cars. Next up: GMT900 and CTS. Pontiac is seeing tremendous image boosting from the Solstice and will see further volume gains from the upcoming G6 cars and Torrent. GMC is seeing gains from it's Envoy Denali line. Next up: GMT900 (If any division were in a lull it would be GMC right now, or maybe Saab) Buick is seeing gains from the Lacrosse and launching the image and volume building Lucerne. Next up: Centieme Saab is seeing gains from the 9-7X, and an image boost from the SportCombi and will be further boosted by the new 9-5. Hummer is being boosted both in sales and image by the H3. Next up: H3T (?) and HX Saturn is being boosted in image by the Sky and in sales by the new Vue. Next up: Vue GL, Outlook, Evoke and Aura. This is the first time I can remember in a LONG time that GM had positive momentum at ALL of it's divisions. Sure, in some cases it isn't much and I'm sure the media will ratchet up the propaganda war (Just like they did and still have when GM was threatening 3 consecutive years of share gains) but if they can keep building on this and frantically putting out good product then this company might just be firing on all 8 cylinders again (After 20 or 30 years of hitting on 4 to 6)

[Drew Dowdell]

Oldsmoboi: I got why you said what you did.  Did you understand why I said what I did?  (You gave no specific reaction to my statements, just explained your reasoning.) both of them!

[post="23513"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

The Lucerne/LeSabre/Park Ave thing is poor timing on GM's part, but once that fleshes out, those sales should pick up.

If Buick isn't going to be a full line player then it needs to get out of the full line game. Leave the Mini-van and large SUV to GMC. Have 3 sedans, a coupe and keep the crossover. Right now, even with killing and not directly replacing 2 major nameplates, Buick still has a fairly full line. They are really just missing a coupe.

[Chicagoland]

The low sales numbers are due to the big slowdown in truck sales, not because of Olds being gone. Also, the Century was just a watered down Regal. Why do some think is was it's own car design? It won't be missed, even my 72 y/o dad likes the LaCrosse better.

[CSpec]

Pontiac is seeing tremendous image boosting from the Solstice and will see further volume gains from the upcoming G6 cars and Torrent.

Buick is seeing gains from the Lacrosse and launching the image and volume building Lucerne. Next up: Centieme

Saab is seeing gains from the 9-7X, and an image boost from the SportCombi and will be further boosted by the new 9-5.

I'm going to have to disagree with these three points. Pontiac is indeed getting a boost in its image from the Solstice, but the Torrent and G6 coupe are already on dealer lots. The only upcoming model for Pontiac in the short term is the G6 convertible, which won't set the sales chart on fire. After that, the only cars reasonably close to production are the Solstice coupe and maybe the new Vibe. After that, it'll be the G6 refresh (2008) or RWD model (who knows).

Buick is in a similar situation. I would characterize the Lacrosse as "acceptable". Sales aren't blazing, but they're decent. The Lucerne should do well, even with the lack of a V6. The Lambda will probably do pretty well also, but after that Buick has nothing. After the Rainier goes byebye, and Buick will be left with the Lacrosse, Lucerne, Terraza, and Centieme for several years. They will eventually get a Lacrosse on Epsilon II, but that's 4 years away. A RWD model might pop up just before then, but it's still a ways off.

SAAB is just a mess. The 9-2X is back on form, selling under 100 units in September. The 9-7X sold double that, at a remarkable 132. I don't expect that figure to go up much without massive rebates. The 9-3 tanked last month; the SportCombi will help, but I don't think there are enough Saab hatchback freaks to bring sales back up to where they should be. The new 9-5 will probably bring the model back up to selling 1500 units a month or so, but that's not all that great.

Other divisions seem OK though.

[I hope GMRULES again]

FOG, I'm surprised your so optimistic after seeing this dismal sales report?

[Jazzhead]

Why do you say "dismal" when there just weren't cars on dealer lots last month? Seems like a temporary situation to me, and the positives (Impala, Lacrosse, HHR, G6 coupe, DTS, H3) all look like they have staying power.

[daves87rs]

I think car sales will keep going up...while trucks sales will slide..at least till the new ones come out... I see fire sales on the current Tahoes, Yukons, Avs, and Silverados... :angry: On the other hand, They should sell even more balts, aveos, HHRs an others..

[I hope GMRULES again]

Why do you say "dismal" when there just weren't cars on dealer lots last month?  Seems like a temporary situation to me, and the positives (Impala, Lacrosse, HHR, G6 coupe, DTS, H3) all look like they have staying power.

[post="23784"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Because I don't think these models can make up for the huge drop off in trucks that we will comtinue to see. Let's see GM post improved sales month over month for about six months and then we can't mention the words GM and Momentum in the same sentence.

[VenSeattle]

Now that GM has previewed some of the new SUVs to the market, there will be people holding out for the new models. This even goes for the trucks. The new trucks will not look identical to the SUVs but they will be receiving the same refinements.

[01Malibu]

GM hasn't produced enough HHRs! Dealership in town of 30,000 doesn't hav any. car salesman said one is ordered and he will call me when it comes in. Pathetic.

[Dsuupr]

I'm surprised to have seen the PT Cruiser sales numbers go up just as GM has the HHR introduced.