August 2009 Sales: General Motors - 246,479

[Drew Dowdell]

GM August Sales Total 246,479; Highest Total and Retail Sales in 2009; "Cash for Clunkers" Vehicles Up 42 Percent Retail Compared with Last Year

• August month-over-month retail sales increase led by core brands: Chevrolet, GMC, Buick and Cadillac, which were up 21 percent collectively
• Chevrolet, led by the Camaro – the hottest car in America ¬– Cobalt, Aveo and the all-new Equinox, had a 35 percent month-over-month total sales improvement
• Sales of the all-new Chevrolet Equinox up 189 percent compared with August 2008
• CARS (Cash for Clunkers) program drives showroom traffic to GM's strong portfolio of fuel-efficient new vehicles: Chevrolet Aveo total sales up 159 percent; crossovers Equinox and HHR up 189 and 26 percent respectively; Cobalt up 14 percent. GMC Canyon and Chevrolet Colorado mid-pickup total sales climb 18 percent over last year
• Inventory at an all-time low – about 379,000 vehicles in stock
• GM responds to dealers by extending California eBay sales program through the end of September

DETROIT – General Motors continued to rebuild sales momentum in August as dealers in the United States delivered 246,479 vehicles, far and away the company's highest total and retail sales performance of 2009. The August total, when compared with a very strong sales performance in August 2008 and lower fleet sales this year, was down 20 percent. Retail sales were down 17 percent while fleet sales declined 29 percent. However, when comparing GM's strong August total sales with July, volume was up more than 57,000 vehicles, or 30 percent month-over-month. The hugely successful Federal "Cash for Clunkers" program contributed to the increase, and GM has announced it will ramp up production to restock already tight dealer inventories.

"The Cash for Clunkers program was certainly a success, but our momentum continues to build on the strength of our new cars and crossovers such as the Chevrolet Malibu, Equinox and Camaro. Now we have the Buick Lacrosse, Cadillac SRX and GMC Terrain hitting the market," said Mark LaNeve, vice president, U.S. sales. "We believe the program was a strong shot in the arm for the economy and that our four core brands – Chevrolet, GMC, Buick and Cadillac – are well positioned with new products to take advantage of the ongoing recovery in the market. Our new vehicles are contributing to our stable share performance for the past five months – running in the 20 percent range."

Compared with a strong performance in August 2008, driven by the "Employee Discount for Everyone" promotion that resulted in the highest monthly sales total last year, GM's overall sales declined 62,338 vehicles, or 20 percent. Retail sales of 187,410 vehicles were down 17 percent, while fleet sales of 59,069 vehicles were off 29 percent. GM total car sales of 118,744 were down 5 percent compared with a year ago and truck sales of 127,735 were down 31 percent.

When compared with July's retail performance, there were several product highlights in August for GM's core brands:

• Core brand (Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac) total sales increased 29 percent with retail sales increasing 21 percent.
• Chevrolet retail sales increased 28 percent. Chevrolet Aveo, Cobalt, Impala, Malibu and Camaro contributed to a Chevrolet car retail increase of 53 percent. Aveo had its best sales month ever. Chevrolet truck sales increased 13 percent, led by increases by Silverado, Colorado, HHR, and the all new Equinox and Traverse.
• GMC retail sales increased 3 percent. The Canyon mid-pickup saw a total sales increase of 51 percent. The Sierra pickup and Acadia crossover also reported retail increases compared with the prior month.

GM/eBay Program Extended in California
"We're very pleased with the sales performance in our Western region (basically the western third of the country), where sales were up more than 41 percent compared with July, led by Chevrolet, GMC and Buick," LaNeve said. "We've put a lot of advertising into the California eBay project, and it appears customers are responding. Nearly 4,000 shoppers negotiated a new vehicle price with our California dealers in the first three weeks of the program.

"Our California dealers support the program and with more than one million visitors and 1.4 million completed searches so far, dealers feel the eBay project is generating significant awareness and consideration of Chevy, Buick, GMC and Pontiac products. So, we're extending the eBay program through the end of the month. Once the California program winds up, we'll take a look at the results and determine if we should roll it out nationally later this year," he added.

A total of 1,708 GM hybrid vehicles were delivered in the month. So far, in 2009, GM has delivered 11,544 hybrid vehicles.

Noncore brand total sales were mixed, largely due to the Cash for Clunkers program. When compared with July, Pontiac increased 36 percent; Saturn was up 42 percent, however HUMMER dropped 3 percent and Saab declined 16 percent.

GM inventories dropped compared with a year ago, and remained significantly below the half-million mark at historically low levels. At the end of August, about 379,000 vehicles were in stock, down about 357,000 vehicles (or 49 percent) compared with last year, and down approximately 19 percent compared with July. There were about 150,000 cars and 229,000 trucks (including crossovers) in inventory at the end of August.

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 30,084 vehicles, up slightly from last month.
GM Certified Used Vehicles showed a small gain in August sales of 26,321 vehicles from last month; however, sales were down 25 percent from August 2008. Saturn Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles sold 875 vehicles, down 13 percent. Cadillac Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles sold 2,285 vehicles, down 43 percent. Saab Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles sold 432 vehicles, down 45 percent. HUMMER Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles sold 171 vehicles, down 32 percent.
"We and our GM Certified Used dealers remain optimistic and are seeing success in certain markets," said LaNeve. "While the CARs program did not directly benefit our certified dealers, it has renewed consumer confidence and is driving traffic into our dealerships. Our Certified Used dealers remain diligent in providing consumers the largest selection of vehicles in the industry, along with our industry-leading 100,000 mile/five-year (whichever comes first) limited powertrain warranty, and the 12-month/12,000 mile bumper-to-bumper warranty."

GM North America reports August 2009 production; Q3 2009 production forecast remains unchanged at 535,000 vehicles; Initial Q4 2009 production forecast at 655,000 vehicles, a significant improvement from previous 2009 levels.
In August, GM North America produced 196,000 vehicles (78,000 cars and 118,000 trucks). This is down 145,000 vehicles or 43 percent compared with August 2008 when the region produced 341,000 vehicles (158,000 cars and 183,000 trucks). (Production totals include joint venture production of 15,000 vehicles in August 2009 and 18,000 vehicles in August 2008.)

The region's 2009 fourth-quarter production forecast is initially set at 655,000 vehicles (262,000 cars and 393,000 trucks), which is down about 20 percent compared with a year ago. GM North America built 815,000 vehicles (365,000 cars and 450,000 trucks) in the fourth-quarter of 2008. However, Q4 2009 production volumes represent over a 20 percent increase vs. Q3 2009, the third consecutive quarterly increase this year.

About General Motors: General Motors Company, one of the world's largest automakers, traces its roots back to 1908. With its global headquarters in Detroit, GM employs 219,000 people in every major region of the world and does business in some 140 countries. GM and its strategic partners produce cars and trucks in 34 countries, and sell and service these vehicles through the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling. GM's largest national market is the United States, followed by China, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Canada, Russia and Germany. GM's OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. General Motors Company acquired operations from General Motors Corporation on July 10, 2009, and references to prior periods in this and other press materials refer to operations of the old General Motors Corporation. More information on the new General Motors Company can be found at www.gm.com
# # #

Contact:

John McDonald
General Motors Company
313-667-3714 (office)
313-418-2139 (mobile)
[email protected]

GM August 2009 Sales

[Justin Bimmer]

So GM sold 70,000 more cars than ford

and 50,000 more cars than last month.

[smk4565]

Cadillac and Buick took a big hit. The damage done to their brand images may be irreversible.

Malibu did pretty well, new Equinox seems to be a hit, as is the Camaro. Corvette was down 82% and is down 56% for the year; are people just buying a Camaro instead? Aveo was a clear benefactor of Cash for Clunkers, that was a rather flukey month for a mostly terrible car.

[Drew Dowdell]

Cadillac and Buick took a big hit. The damage done to their brand images may be irreversible.

Malibu did pretty well, new Equinox seems to be a hit, as is the Camaro. Corvette was down 82% and is down 56% for the year; are people just buying a Camaro instead? Aveo was a clear benefactor of Cash for Clunkers, that was a rather flukey month for a mostly terrible car.

You make Fox News reports actually look fair and balanced.

[chevelle454]

Traverse had a good month.

[Justin Bimmer]

Last time I checked, people with money are not spending as much of it right now. Maybe people are not getting expensive cars right now.

[wildcat]

Cadillac and Buick took a big hit . . . Corvette was down 82% and is down 56% for the year . . .

Fans of GM and Buick (which leaves you out) understand that, at the present time, Buick has only three vehicles to sell and sorely needs more product - which is on the way. The new models should be fully competitive, as evidenced by the latest launch, the new Buick LaCrosse and its many plaudits. GM is not cutting any other makes; they cut what they wanted to already. From here on, it's build for the future. P.S. - Do you suggest that they drop the Corvette, based on such sales?

[siegen]

August 2009:

The August total, when compared with a very strong sales performance in August 2008 and lower fleet sales this year, was down 20 percent.

August 2008:

Compared with an exceptionally strong retail and fleet month last year, August total sales were down 20 percent.

[smk4565]

It is funny how similar the August 2008 and August 2009 reports are. They dropped 20% in August 08, dropped 20% this year, and in both cases they sugar coated by saying that August was better than July and their best month of the year. I pretty much stopped reading the PR spin on these releases and just look at the sales figures of the cars.

[Drew Dowdell]

It is funny how similar the August 2008 and August 2009 reports are. They dropped 20% in August 08, dropped 20% this year, and in both cases they sugar coated by saying that August was better than July and their best month of the year. I pretty much stopped reading the PR spin on these releases and just look at the sales figures of the cars... and come up with my own spin against them.

[A Horse With No Name]

Glad to see Equinox is doing so well! If any new GM car deserves to get sales, it's the 'nox.

In other good news, the people in my neighborhood who alwys drive Toyotas, Hondas and Lexus now have a beautiful Navy Blue CTS in thier driveway. Car looks GREAT...and I know it's not a rental as it has their vanity plates on it.

AWESOME!

Glad to see the General moving cars.

Chris

[GXT]

August 2009

Ha! Good eye.

Did you check the 2007 results by chance?

[GXT]

Fans of GM and Buick (which leaves you out) understand that, at the present time, Buick has only three vehicles to sell and sorely needs more product - which is on the way. The new models should be fully competitive, as evidenced by the latest launch, the new Buick LaCrosse and its many plaudits. GM is not cutting any other makes; they cut what they wanted to already. From here on, it's build for the future. P.S. - Do you suggest that they drop the Corvette, based on such sales?

Lookout... Siegen is going to start pulling out GM CEO speeches for the past 30 years saying the exact same thing!

But seriously, then what is Cadillac's excuse?

When I saw the initial press release I thought about just how incredibly bad next month is bound to be. It is undoubtedly true that the Chevy/Honda/Toyota/etc. numbers overall are inflated because of the clunkers money. It is also likely that the Cadillac/Buick numbers are more indicative of where the market really is (or perhaps a little lower than where it should be due to some sales being siphoned by clunkers).

[GXT]

Glad to see Equinox is doing so well! If any new GM car deserves to get sales, it's the 'nox.

Glad to see the General moving cars.

What bothers me about the 'nox is the wildly inflated fuel economy numbers. I'm not sure how GM did it.

From C/D:

"...it isn’t super slow, but drive prudently, and you’ll think so. We recorded a best 0-to-60-mph time of 8.7 seconds and a quarter-mile in 16.8 seconds at 84 mph. Those figures put it near the back of the mini-SUV pack, as does our observed fuel economy of 18 mpg. "

"FUEL ECONOMY:

EPA city/highway driving: 22/32 mpg

C/D observed: 18 mpg"

"Lows: Overeager transmission stymies quickness, thirsty. "

Regarding sales, did GM have the worst month of all automakers?

GM was down 17.1% y-on-y.

I think Chrysler was only down 15%.

In comparison:

Hyundai up 47%

Ford up 17%

Honda up 14.2%

Toyota up 6.4%

[gm4life]

Chevrolet and Pontiac had very good months. Pontiac's becaues of people snatching up the great deals and G8 GT/GXP's. Malibu, Equinox, Traverse all had very good months very important for GM. I will be interested to see how the new Cruze does. The Camaro could not have done any better, think if the ECONOMY were good, how many would have sold!

Edited September 1, 2009 by gm4life

[A Horse With No Name]

Agrreed GM4life, GM is getting some great product in the pipeline. When and IF the economy does come back, they should find some buyers waiting with checkbook in hand...

Chris

[regfootball]

Fans of GM and Buick (which leaves you out) understand that, at the present time, Buick has only three vehicles to sell and sorely needs more product - which is on the way. The new models should be fully competitive, as evidenced by the latest launch, the new Buick LaCrosse and its many plaudits. GM is not cutting any other makes; they cut what they wanted to already. From here on, it's build for the future. P.S. - Do you suggest that they drop the Corvette, based on such sales?

GM sure left buick dealers pissing in the wind not having a 2010 pontiac model run.

STS is almost a collectors item for this year....

Edited September 2, 2009 by regfootball

[smk4565]

The 6 brands with the biggest decline in August were all GM brands.

GMC down 45%

Buick down 52%

Cadillac down 55%

Saturn down 58%

Hummer down 64%

Saab down 68%

Those last 3 don't matter, but the other 3 are "core" brands. Cadillac needs better product, GM neglected them big time over the past couple years. When the 08 CTS came out everyone said it was Cadillac's savior, and I said one car doesn't make a brand and the CTS isn't good enough. CTS is just over a year old and already selling only 2500 units a month. They didn't even sell 400 STS, might as well kill that car now.

Edited September 2, 2009 by smk4565

[CaddyXLR-V]

You make Fox News reports actually look fair and balanced.

Just because something negative is said about GM, that doesn't make it unfair. If it weren't for C4C, GM's sales would look even more horrible than they already do. Put any spin you want to on it, but Buick's car sales have tanked. Let's see if the new Lacrosse will change that. Better cars don't always equal higher sales. You should know that, being a fan of Olds.

[balthazar]

>>"...the CTS isn't good enough. CTS is just over a year old and already selling only 2500 units a month. "<<

Only if BMW also kills the 6-series, which sold 252 units in July.

Or the X3, which sold 472 units in July.

Or the Z4, which sold 614 units in July.

Or the X6, which sold 634 units in July.

Or the 1-series, which sold 908 units in July.

Or the 7-series, which is down to 11xx units in July.

Or the 5-series, which is down to 24xx units in July.

Perhaps it just isn't "good enough".

Or maybe sale #s aren't & shouldn't be the prime criteria for evaluating expensive lux cars.

Edited September 2, 2009 by balthazar

[smk4565]

>>"...the CTS isn't good enough. CTS is just over a year old and already selling only 2500 units a month. "<<

Only if BMW also kills the 6-series, which sold 252 units in July.

Or the X3, which sold 472 units in July.

Or the Z4, which sold 614 units in July.

Or the X6, which sold 634 units in July.

Or the 1-series, which sold 908 units in July.

Or the 7-series, which is down to 11xx units in July.

Or the 5-series, which is down to 24xx units in July.

Perhaps it just isn't "good enough".

Or maybe sale #s aren't & shouldn't be the prime criteria for evaluating expensive lux cars.

All of those BMWs are sold in other countries though. So really they sold 4600 7-series, 3700 X6, 3200 Z4, etc. The 6-series is an ugly car, but they are basically selling 5-series mechanics for $80,000, so there must be a profit margin in there. It wouldn't surprise me though if the 6-series dies when the new 5-series comes.

The CTS is priced like a 3-series, and is Cadillac's volume vehicle, they need more than 2500 units out of it, that is only 30,000 a year. The old CTS used to get 50-60,000 units in a year, and 50% of the car market didn't go away. Plus the STS and DTS are almost non-factors now, Cadillacs sedan sales are way down, and they aren't doing anything to reverse it.

[Daryl Z71]

I thought Ford had a plan an it was supposed to be working?

[gmcbob]

All of those BMWs are sold in other countries though. So really they sold 4600 7-series, 3700 X6, 3200 Z4, etc. The 6-series is an ugly car, but they are basically selling 5-series mechanics for $80,000, so there must be a profit margin in there. It wouldn't surprise me though if the 6-series dies when the new 5-series comes.

The CTS is priced like a 3-series, and is Cadillac's volume vehicle, they need more than 2500 units out of it, that is only 30,000 a year. The old CTS used to get 50-60,000 units in a year, and 50% of the car market didn't go away. Plus the STS and DTS are almost non-factors now, Cadillacs sedan sales are way down, and they aren't doing anything to reverse it.

Yeah, to see Caddy sales where they are is pretty disappointing - but hasn't Caddy been sort of at the bottom of the luxury car pack (in terms of sales) for quite a number of years now? I'm not saying that's great, but if you look at all the luxury brands out there, they're pretty much all down for the year.

The CTS is outsold by most of it's competitors, but it's more or less holding it's own I suppose. The Infiniti G Sedan only sold 3300 units last month, and it isn't like BMW 3 Series are flying out the doors like they were 2 or 3 years ago.

But GM shouldn't have let Caddy slip this bad in the first place. Typical GM stupidity.

The CTS is nice, but 2008 was too late.

I dunno, I do tend to be a bit of a realist at the end of the day. I see GM sales continuing to slide, even after the economy picks up. They have a horrible image problem all over most of the country outside of the Midwest - and perhaps even in the Midwest- and declaring bankruptcy and having Washington inject 50B into the company to keep them afloat pissed off WAAAAAY too many people. And lets face it, nobody cares about "buying American" that much anymore. Nobody really buys into the idea that supporting an American based company really means that much going into 2010- so GM can't really fall back on the notion that the American public embraces that idea and will simply start buying their products because of it. They don't. Not saying I don't, but so many people from so many varying demographics don't, that GM really doesn't even have the "buy American" crowd to fall back on either anymore I'm afraid. I have one insanely intelligent friend who has a Phd (he's actually a geologist) that believes we probably should buy American made cars. He is part of maybe 10% of the populace that believes so. And from his demographic, maybe only .005%.

GM alienating buyers with substandard product for too many years was one thing - but couple that with a down economy and being on the front pages of the news in such a negative light for the past 6 months, and it's just going to be a complete and utter disaster for them.

They can produce nectar from the Gods right now - but I think it may be too late.

By this time next year - they'll only have about 13% of the market - where they are in California right now. The monthly sales leaders will all be dominated by Toyota, Honda, Nissan and maybe Ford.

They're f*cked.

[smk4565]

Most luxury makers are down, but not down 47% like Cadillac is. Cadillac has lost half of it's sales volume in one year, that is a pretty staggering figure. Even more discouraging, is GM thinks the CTS and SRX are the types of vehicles to get Cadillac back to competing with the imports. Those vehicles aren't good enough. Cadillac has a long way to go, and GM management doesn't know how to get them there.

Around 2000 or 2001 GM sold over 5 million cars, in 2008 it was 2.9 million and they are down another 35% this year. GM is going to struggle to sell 2 million cars this year. 60% of their business gone in less than a decade, and they still haven't found a way to stop the bleeding.

[Drew Dowdell]

Most luxury makers are down, but not down 47% like Cadillac is. Cadillac has lost half of it's sales volume in one year, that is a pretty staggering figure. Even more discouraging, is GM thinks the CTS and SRX are the types of vehicles to get Cadillac back to competing with the imports. Those vehicles aren't good enough. Cadillac has a long way to go, and GM management doesn't know how to get them there.

Around 2000 or 2001 GM sold over 5 million cars, in 2008 it was 2.9 million and they are down another 35% this year. GM is going to struggle to sell 2 million cars this year. 60% of their business gone in less than a decade, and they still haven't found a way to stop the bleeding.

They are 8 weeks out of bankruptcy in an industry that has a 4 to 5 year product development cycle. What do you want them to do, stop producing everything you don't approve of (basically anything missing a BMW badge or a leaping cat) and re-launch every product in 5 years?

[A Horse With No Name]

They are 8 weeks out of bankruptcy in an industry that has a 4 to 5 year product development cycle. What do you want them to do, stop producing everything you don't approve of (basically anything missing a BMW badge or a leaping cat) and re-launch every product in 5 years?

boi, you simply must quit confusing the boy with something called reality.

Without GM, we will have fewer creative cars. Even if one never buys a GM car again, it is in their interest for GM to survive, as GM builds some pretty creative stuff and they will spur other automakers to do the sme.

[smk4565]

They are 8 weeks out of bankruptcy in an industry that has a 4 to 5 year product development cycle. What do you want them to do, stop producing everything you don't approve of (basically anything missing a BMW badge or a leaping cat) and re-launch every product in 5 years?

Cadillac basically has to redo everything, but I know it will take a long time. The problems started when they canceled the UltraV8 and let the Northstar age and become uncompetitive, then the 2008 STS mid-cycle refresh was quite lame, and the XLR never had the performance or interior it needed for its price point. Cadillac was moving in the right direction in 2003-2004, but they didn't follow it though. Now they have to suffer a few years of bad sales until they can fix their lineup, and hope that in a few years they will still have enough brand image to sell their new stuff. Even if the ATS is better than the 335i, the 3-series will likely outsell it 2-1 on badge alone, that is the biggest hurdle Cadillac has to overcome.

[gmcbob]

GM has big hurdles indeed. I dunno, I feel a little bad for being so negative in my post last night.

[Drew Dowdell]

Even if the ATS is better than the 335i, the 3-series will likely outsell it 2-1 on badge alone, that is the biggest hurdle Cadillac has to overcome.

I'm sure you (and the automotive press) will find something incoherent to bitch about on the ATS so as not to allowed Cadillac to succeed.

[ZL-1]

Cadillac was moving in the right direction in 2003-2004, but they didn't follow it though. Now they have to suffer a few years of bad sales until they can fix their lineup, and hope that in a few years they will still have enough brand image to sell their new stuff. Even if the ATS is better than the 335i, the 3-series will likely outsell it 2-1 on badge alone, that is the biggest hurdle Cadillac has to overcome.

I agree with you. Cadillac will have to offer 20 years of good and ever improving cars in order to get to the same price points as BMW, Mercedes and Audi, which I suppose is the price point set GM wants to achieve.

[smk4565]

I'm sure you (and the automotive press) will find something incoherent to bitch about on the ATS so as not to allowed Cadillac to succeed.

I want to see them succeed, but a fwd crossover that seems awfully similar to an Equinox, and the DTS/STS, aren't good enough. The CTS is too heavy to perform with the 3-series and G37, and lacks the luxury to compete with the mid-size sedans. Cadillac needs the right product though, thus they need all new product, not a refresh of existing cars (STS and DTS) or vehicles built out of the GM parts bin (Escalade, XTS).

ATS should be easy to get right; better interior than the CTS, steering/braking/handling that beat the Camaro SS, and 0-60 in 5 seconds or less, while getting 27 mpg highway.

[cletus8269]

quick someone find the numbers for maserati, lamborghini, and bently! they probably sold less than 1000 cars combined last month. its not about the PR or anything else. its about the numbers, thats whats important :AH-HA_wink: