GM Reports 355,180 Deliveries in August

[Guest Josh]

H3 Drives Record HUMMER Sales
Strong Start for Chevy HHR and Impala
Pontiac Sales Up 7 Percent, Paced by Brisk G6 Deliveries

DETROIT - General Motors dealers in the United States sold 355,180 new cars and trucks in August, down 16 percent from the same month a year ago. Car sales in August declined 15 percent and truck sales were off 17 percent.

GM's August sales performance was in line with expectations following exceptionally strong sales in June and July, spurred by the highly successful GM Employee Discount for Everyone program.

"We knew August was going to be a tough month given extremely tight inventories," said Mark LaNeve, GM North America vice president, Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing. "However, even with August sales, it's been a great summer for us, our dealers and, most importantly, our customers, who got a great deal with the GM Employee Discount Program, which hit home because of its simplicity and clarity."

GM's new models continued to deliver solid sales results in August, accompanied by favorable reviews in the press and positive reactions from consumers. For example, as Chevrolet concludes its introduction of 10 new vehicles in just 20 months, HHR and Impala are experiencing some of the fastest turn rates among GM's product portfolio, each at over 40 percent, despite low inventories (turn rates are the percentage of vehicles sold of those that are available). Chevrolet HHR deliveries surpassed the 5,000-unit mark in just its second month of sales and with the vehicle in short supply. Chevrolet's high volume car, the new Impala, is off to a strong start with more than 14,500 sales of the 2006 model in August.

The HUMMER H3 is another example of increasing consumer acceptance of GM's new vehicles. H3 sales have improved every month since its May launch, resulting in a 155 percent sales improvement for HUMMER in August and a 76 percent increase for the calendar year-to-date. Automotive reviewers in North America and Europe, where it was introduced in July, have praised H3's fidelity to its HUMMER heritage, with attractive fuel economy, enhanced maneuverability and a base price of only $29,500.

Pontiac sales were up 7 percent, driven by brisk sales of the G6 and the first deliveries of the coupe. Saturn sales rose 11 percent, led by over 6,800 deliveries of the new 2006 Vue. Cadillac delivered 19,262 vehicles in August, with calendar year-to-date sales up 11 percent.

The employee discount program was very effective in reducing GM's inventory levels. Inventory going into September is about 764,000 units, down 407,000 units compared to last year. Only 359,000 units in inventory are 2005 models.

Certified Used Vehicles

August 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, established a new monthly sales record for the certified category with sales of 50,926 units, up 20 percent from last August. This marks the second consecutive month that GM has surpassed the 50,000 mark in monthly certified used sales. Total year-to-date certified GM sales are 360,944 units, up 4 percent from the same period last year.

GM Certified Used Vehicles, the industry's top-selling manufacturer-certified used brand, set a new monthly sales record for the certified pre-owned category with August sales of 43,718, units, exceeding its record-setting performance set in July. GM Certified sales were up 24 percent from the previous August. Year-to-date sales for GM Certified Used Vehicles are 306,353 units, up 5 percent.

Cadillac Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles posted 3,457 sales, up 14 percent over last August. Used Cars from Saturn sold 2,843 units, down 16 percent. Saab Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles sold 908 units, up 19 percent.

"August was another outstanding month of certified sales for GM, surpassing our industry record-setting performance in July," LaNeve said. "The industry's top-selling certified brand, GM Certified Used Vehicles continues to set the pace for the certified segment, with a new all-time monthly sales record for the category."

GM North America Reports August Production, 2005 Third-Quarter Production Forecast Revised and 2005 Fourth-Quarter Production Forecast Set

GM North America in August produced 491,000 vehicles (181,000 cars and 310,000 trucks), compared to 492,000 vehicles (189,000 cars and 303,000 trucks) produced in August 2004. Production totals include joint venture production of 27,000 vehicles in August 2005 and 24,000 vehicles in August 2004.

The region's 2005 third-quarter production forecast is revised to 1.13 million vehicles (418,000 cars and 712,000 trucks) from the previous estimate of 1.10 million vehicles (405,000 cars and 695,000 trucks). This is down 6.5 percent from third quarter 2004 actuals, when the region produced 1.209 million vehicles (463,000 cars and 746,000 trucks). Additionally, the region's initial 2005 fourth-quarter production forecast is 1.3 million vehicles (473,000 cars and 827,000 trucks), up 1.8 percent from fourth quarter 2004 actuals. This is the first time this year that quarterly production is forecast to increase compared to a year-ago, when the region produced 1.277 million vehicles.

GM also announced 2005 revised third-quarter and initial 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 initial 2005 fourth-quarter production forecast is 471,000 vehicles. 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 419,000 vehicles, down 11,000 units from last month's guidance. In the third quarter of 2004, GM Asia Pacific built 314,000 vehicles. In addition, the region's initial 2005 fourth-quarter production forecast is 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 209,000 vehicles, up 2,000 units from last month's guidance. In the third quarter of 2004 the region built 185,000 vehicles. Also, the region's initial 2005 fourth-quarter production estimate is 197,000 vehicles. 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.

Note: GM sales and production results are available on GM Media OnLine at http://media.gm.com by clicking on News, then Sales/Production. In this press release and related comments by General Motors management, our use of the words "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "forecast," "objective," "plan," "goal" and similar expressions is intended to identify forward looking statements. While these statements represent our current judgment on what the future may hold, and we believe these judgments are reasonable, actual results may differ materially due to numerous important factors that are described in GM's most recent report on SEC Form 10-K (at page II-20) which may be revised or supplemented in subsequent reports on SEC Forms 10-Q and 8-K. Such factors include, among others, the following: changes in economic conditions, currency exchange rates or political stability; shortages of fuel, labor strikes or work stoppages; market acceptance of the corporation's new products; significant changes in the competitive environment; changes in laws, regulations and tax rates; and, the ability of the corporation to achieve reductions in cost and employment levels to realize production efficiencies and implement capital expenditures at levels and times planned by management.

[Newbiewar]

I think this is good news for GM, I'm not sure, but I think this is better then expectations... I will agree with the HHR and the Impala thing, cause they are selling like hot cakes... already sold an SS and we just got some new ones on the lot... hopefully sales will continue to rise... and the used car sales.... great news for GM owners because that just means resale value will do better...

[Matt276]

I think it's good, the new cars seem to attract buyers, HHR, Impala, G6... YTD numbers are up. Many plants will work overtime this week. Not bad at all.

[Northstar]

Considering GM had less than 700,000 vehicles on the lots at the beginning of the month, I'd say they didn't do too bad. Selling over half of the vehicles they had to sell isn't bad at all. Obviously low inventory hurt some of the models badly; the Cobalt only had 28k units on the lots, and 22k of 35k TBs were sold. GM's new models really did pretty well, the HHR was impressive with 5700 units sold (less than 5k were on the lots at the beginning of the month), the H3 had a good month as well, and it sounds like the 06 Impala is selling very well (already surpassed the 500 in sales for the month, and that's not with EPP or including the 05 model). It appears that the facelift on the Malibu might have helped, as I think 24k is the new model's best month ever. It sounds like the G6 coupe is doing well, and the Grand Prix had a huge month (for it). Inventories will be back up in Sept., and the new vehicles appear to be doing well so they will only go up in sales for a while. I think GM will do pretty well in Sept. with the EPP on the '06 GMT800s and labor day just around the corner. Oh, and FWIW, GM's market share in August was only 23.6%. For the year it's at 27% vs. 27.4% last year.

[I hope GMRULES again]

GM has a tough road ahead after seeing these numbers. So much is down compared with last year and even YTD numbers on many models are down. Despite what the execs say Lacrosse still hasn't equaled Century/Regal #'s, LeSabre sales have evaporated and Lucerne isn't even available yet, G6 hasn't passed Grand Am, Impala is down 30K and MC is off 20K. With all the problems in the gulf coast and Gas prices rising like flood waters its going to be very,very tough to move SUV's and big trucks especially since a lot of people who wanted one got one in the last 3 months.

[Chicagoland]

"the most popular make of used car we sell is? It starts with an O and was uncerimoniously dumped " That was "O's" problem, popular used, but not new. Loyalists "smartly" bought used rentals to save money, but now look where O is? Anyway, to those that flat out called the HHR a "flop", what to say now?