General Motors Corp.'s all-time top sellers

[Oracle of Delphi]

By The Associated Press

September 14, 2008

In its 100 years in business, General Motors Corp. has sold nearly a half-billion vehicles across the globe. The top sellers as GM approaches its 100th birthday Tuesday:

Vehicle Sales

1. Chevrolet Impala 14 million plus

2. Opel/Vauxhall Corsa 12 million plus

3. Opel/Vauxhall Astra/Kadett 12 million plus

4. Oldsmobile Cutlass 11.9 million

5. Opel/Vauxhall Vectra 6.5 million

6. Chevrolet Cavalier 6.2 million

7. Buick LeSabre 6.0 million

8. Chevrolet Camaro 4.8 million

9. OpelAscona/Vauxhall Vectra 4.4 million

10. Pontiac Grand Am 4.0 million

Link: http://www.boston.com/business/articles/20...me_top_sellers/

[Robert Hall]

Interesting..never knew the Camaro was a top 10...must have been the sales in the 70s and 80s.

[Camino LS6]

Interesting..never knew the Camaro was a top 10...must have been the sales in the 70s and 80s.

Biggest sales year was '79 with 282,000 sold. In a deep recession, with high fuel prices and unemployment.

Just some perspective for ya.

[97regalGS]

Biggest sales year was '79 with 282,000 sold. In a deep recession, with high fuel prices and unemployment.

Just some perspective for ya.

what percentage of GM sales was that?

[PurdueGuy]

Wonder what cars had the best sales in a single year? That'd be an interesting top 10 list...

[Northstar]

Wonder what cars had the best sales in a single year? That'd be an interesting top 10 list...

I remember reading that the Impala did 1 million in one year once, I think sometime in the 60s.

[Brougham-Holiday]

4. Oldsmobile Cutlass 11.9 million

They killed Oldsmobile and keep Saturn alive. Amazing

[PurdueGuy]

4. Oldsmobile Cutlass 11.9 million

They killed Oldsmobile and keep Saturn alive. Amazing

A nameplate that was used for decades selling a lot of cars has nothing to do with whether it was a good or bad decision...

[Paolino]

A nameplate that was used for decades selling a lot of cars has nothing to do with whether it was a good or bad decision...

What's a shame is, I feel Olds had better product towards its demise than what Saturn has (until the past year or two).

[balthazar]

Wouldn't know where it ranks, but Pontiac Catalina : 3,873,824

Firebird series hit 211K in '79.

'64 Impala / Impala SS : 1,074,925.

'65 Impala / Impala SS : 1,046,500.

Figures are rounded by Chevy- exact totals were apparently not kept.

[knightfan26917]

Wonder how that list would look if you broke it into generations of each model....

[Robert Hall]

Wouldn't know where it ranks, but Pontiac Catalina : 3,873,824

Firebird series hit 211K in '79.

'64 Impala / Impala SS : 1,074,925.

'65 Impala / Impala SS : 1,046,500.

Figures are rounded by Chevy- exact totals were apparently not kept.

Impressive numbers...did those '64 and '65 #s include the Biscayne and Bel Air or were they split out? Amazing that a single line of cars in one market could hit such numbers in one year..

[Brougham-Holiday]

A nameplate that was used for decades selling a lot of cars has nothing to do with whether it was a good or bad decision...

Like the famous Elvis album, can 11.9 million Oldsmobile Cutlass owners be wrong?

[A Horse With No Name]

Impressive numbers...did those '64 and '65 #s include the Biscayne and Bel Air or were they split out? Amazing that a single line of cars in one market could hit such numbers in one year..

They were incredible cars. A sixty 5 Supersport Hardtop (2 door) lived on each side of me growing up.

Damn, I miss those cars.

Chris

[A Horse With No Name]

Like the famous Elvis album, can 11.9 million Oldsmobile Cutlass owners be wrong?

Evidently they were wrong enough that GM made it wrong wheel drive and then discontinued the car.

I would LOVE to own another Cutlass.

I had a Cutlass when my wife and I were dating....we took some wonderful trips in that car...including one across part of Canada that was one of the all-time best times of my life.

Ahhh...for REAL cars again.

Chris

[A Horse With No Name]

Biggest sales year was '79 with 282,000 sold. In a deep recession, with high fuel prices and unemployment.

Just some perspective for ya.

...and it was when GM advertised and marketed the car. My cousin Gregg had a black 79, IIRC with T-tops.

I had a good friend in College that had a 79 or so Z that was white with T-tops and blue stripes...I can still feel the rumble of the duals from that thing.

...and who can forget the 79 or so Z-28 they destroyed in Fast Times at Ridgemont High? IIRC it was Sean Penn's stoner charactor that wrecked it....

Chris

[Brougham-Holiday]

Not everyone hates FWD, and some of us have those "wrong wheel drive" Cutlass models.

Again: How can 11.9 million owners be wrong? The answer: With Cutlass Ciera selling over 500,000 units in 1985, and staying above 100,000 units a year until the end of production(like the Aura will ever see that figure)its safe to call the Cutlass in all sizes, shapes, and wheel drives successful.

Think about it, the Worlds largest car companies second best selling car in its biggest market: Cutlass Supreme/Ciera/Calais/etc. 11.9 million sales is nothing to laugh at, and for those of us who don't mind FWD the FWD Cutlass models are solid cars, and in the days of 4 dollar a gallon gas they aren't a bad car for cruising either.

[gm4life]

I liked the pre-88 Cutlass's and the FWD Cutlass Supreme they always were good looking cars. As for the Ciera uhhhh they were a 6000, a Celebrity, a Century and all were ugly. Real ugly sorry. Good cars but ugly. Go figure Impala tops the list.

[balthazar]

>>"Impressive numbers...did those '64 and '65 #s include the Biscayne and Bel Air or were they split out? Amazing that a single line of cars in one market could hit such numbers in one year.."<<

As stated- those are Impala & Impala SS numbers only.

Biscayne (series 1100) : 173,900

Bel Air (series 1500) : 318,100

Impala (series 1700) : 889,600

Impala SS (series 1300) : 185,325

TOTAL full-size '64 Chevrolet production : 1,566,925

SS was an option (RPO Z03) for '61-63 and a separate series for '64-67. Still, I don't think anyone would argue the legitimacy of totalling Impala & Impala SS in this discussion.

Tho, of course, this was a far different time/market, it's still interesting to note that for the stereotypical 'car for the masses'.... the most expensive full-size (Imp & Imp SS) garnered about 70% of the full-size Chevy sales. Can a argument be made that these buyers simply preferred a Chevy over moving up to a Pontiac, because they were so thoroughly different vehicles ?? In other words- that because of product differentiation, there was no overlap, even tho the stickers overlapped ?? I think so.

'64 Impala SS 2-dr hardtop V-8 : $2947

'64 Catalina 2-dr hardtop (all were V-8s) : $2869

[daves87rs]

Cavaliers are #6. :sign0200:

[vonVeezelsnider]

Once again and forever more, IMPALA FTW!

[cletus8269]

>>"Impressive numbers...did those '64 and '65 #s include the Biscayne and Bel Air or were they split out? Amazing that a single line of cars in one market could hit such numbers in one year.."<<

As stated- those are Impala & Impala SS numbers only.

Biscayne (series 1100) : 173,900

Bel Air (series 1500) : 318,100

Impala (series 1700) : 889,600

Impala SS (series 1300) : 185,325

TOTAL full-size '64 Chevrolet production : 1,566,925

SS was an option (RPO Z03) for '61-63 and a separate series for '64-67. Still, I don't think anyone would argue the legitimacy of totalling Impala & Impala SS in this discussion.

Tho, of course, this was a far different time/market, it's still interesting to note that for the stereotypical 'car for the masses'.... the most expensive full-size (Imp & Imp SS) garnered about 70% of the full-size Chevy sales. Can a argument be made that these buyers simply preferred a Chevy over moving up to a Pontiac, because they were so thoroughly different vehicles ?? In other words- that because of product differentiation, there was no overlap, even tho the stickers overlapped ?? I think so.

'64 Impala SS 2-dr hardtop V-8 : $2947

'64 Catalina 2-dr hardtop (all were V-8s) : $2869

yeah the impala took a hit starting in 66 when the caprice started stealing numbers