April 2006 Sales: General Motors Corp.

[Newbiewar]

http://media.gm.com/servlet/GatewayServlet...=74&docid=25435

GM Reports 345,404 Deliveries in April

Launch Vehicle Sales Continue to Gain Momentum, Led by All-New Full-Size SUVs

Chevy Tahoe Sales Up 35 Percent, Paced by Best Sales-To-Date of 2007 Model

Cadillac Escalade Sales Rise 127 Percent; GMC Yukon Sales Up 36 Percent

Full-Size Pickup Sales Rise 4 Percent

DETROIT - General Motors dealers in the United States sold 345,404 new cars and trucks in April, down 7 percent compared to year-ago levels. Total car sales were down 18 percent, and truck sales were up 2 percent.

GM's retail sales in April were down 5 percent compared to year-ago deliveries. Fleet sales were down 10.5 percent. Daily rental sales declined by 23 percent compared to last year.

"Given that the industry came in somewhat below our initial expectations, we are pleased that our retail sales were in line with the targets established in our North America turnaround plan," said Mark LaNeve, General Motors North America vice president, Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing. "Consumers continue to respond very favorably to our new products, particularly the all-new Chevy Tahoe, GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade, resulting in a combined 15 percent sales increase compared to last month."

Total sales of all GM launch vehicles were up 5 percent compared to March and accounted for 28 percent of GM's total deliveries for the month. The success of GM's launch vehicles is another critical component of GM's North America restructuring plan.

Despite increases in fuel prices and contrary to industry trends, GM posted a 2 percent improvement in total truck deliveries, driven by continuing strong sales results for its all-new full-size sport utility vehicles and full-size pickups. Chevrolet Tahoe sales were up 35 percent in April. Of the 13,138 total deliveries, 10,607 were 2007 models. GMC Yukon posted a 36 percent sales gain in April, with 5,978 total deliveries. There were 4,862 2007 Yukon deliveries. April sales of the 2007 model were 48 percent greater than March results. Cadillac Escalade sales improved dramatically, with a 127 percent improvement over last year. There were 4,109 total sales, of which 3,258 were the all-new 2007 model. 2007 Escalade sales in April rose 23 percent compared to March.

Chevrolet Silverado deliveries rose 9 percent in April, and GMC Sierra sales were up 4 percent. The continuing strength of GM's full-size pickups is noteworthy, given that the product is approaching the end of its lifecycle. The new full-size pickups begin arriving in dealers' showrooms in the fourth quarter of this year.

LaNeve explained that the impact of the recent upward movement in fuel prices is being partially offset by the fuel economy leadership across GM's lineup, particularly its industry-leading truck and utility portfolio. "We know that fuel economy is an important issue for consumers, and every tenth of a gallon improvement counts," LaNeve said. "We worked hard during the development of our new large utilities to squeeze out every possible ounce of fuel savings, and the result was the best fuel economy in the segment. Combine this with the E85 capability of these vehicles, which reduces America's dependency on oil, and you've got a significant, measurable benefit for all consumers."

GM's newest entries in the small sport utility category also contributed to the improvement in overall truck sales. Chevrolet HHR and Equinox and Pontiac Torrent posted solid results. HHR had its best-ever sales month and Equinox achieved record April sales. The new Saturn Vue continued its sales momentum with its eleventh consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases (+25 percent).

HUMMER posted a year-over-year sales record for the twelfth consecutive month, with total sales up 231 percent. Retail deliveries rose 210 percent. H3 continues to drive HUMMER's record-setting pace and leads the entry luxury utility segment by a wide margin.

Saturn posted a year-over-year sales gain of 14 percent with retail sales up 3 percent. The improvement was led by a solid sales month for Vue and Ion. The first sales of Saturn Sky (612) were recorded in April. Demand for the all-new two-seat roadster continues to outpace supply, with vehicles remaining on dealers' lots an average of only 10 days.

Saab also posted a sales gain compared to year-ago levels (+3 percent). Its retail deliveries were up 10 percent, paced by deliveries of the 9-7X.

Certified Used Vehicles

April sales for all certified GM brands, including GM Certified Used Vehicles, Cadillac Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, Used Cars from Saturn, Saab Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles and HUMMER Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, were 46,735 units, up nearly 7 percent from last April. Total year-to-date certified GM sales are 175,580 units, comparable to the same period last year.

GM Certified Used Vehicles, the industry's top-selling manufacturer-certified used brand, posted 40,562 sales, up 10 percent from last April. Year-to-date sales for GM Certified Used Vehicles are 153,052 units, up 2 percent from the same period in 2005.

Cadillac Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles posted 3,572 sales in April, up 8 percent from last year. Used Cars from Saturn sold 1,773 units, down 32 percent. Saab Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles sold 713 units, down 19.5 percent. In its fourth month of operation, HUMMER Certified Pre-Owned sold 115 units.

"The industry's top-selling certified brand, GM Certified Used Vehicles, continues to lead all manufacturer-certified programs, with one of its strongest sales months ever," LaNeve said. "GM Certified sold 40,562 units for the month, up 10 percent from last April. This is a terrific start to the second quarter and marks the second consecutive month that GM Certified sales have surpassed the 40,000-unit mark."

GM North America Reports April Production, 2006 Second-Quarter Production Forecast Remains Unchanged

In April, GM North America produced 352,000 vehicles (131,000 cars and 221,000 trucks). This is down 68,000 units, or 16 percent, compared to April 2005 when the region produced 420,000 vehicles (163,000 cars and 257,000 trucks). Production totals include joint venture production of 24,000 vehicles in April 2006 and 22,000 vehicles in April 2005.

The region's 2006 second-quarter production forecast remains unchanged at 1.2 million vehicles (445,000 cars and 755,000 trucks). In the second quarter of 2005, the region produced 1.247 million vehicles (458,000 cars and 789,000 trucks).

GM also announced 2006 final first-quarter production and revised second-quarter production forecasts for its international regions.

GM Europe - In the first quarter of 2006, the region produced 494,000 vehicles. This is down 8,000 units compared to the first quarter 2005 when the region produced 502,000 vehicles. The region's revised 2006 second-quarter production forecast is 502,000 vehicles, up 12,000 units from last month's guidance. In the second quarter of 2005, the region built 501,000 vehicles.

GM Asia Pacific - GM Asia Pacific produced 472,000 vehicles in the first quarter of 2006. This is up 137,000 units compared to the first quarter of 2005, when the region produced 335,000 vehicles. The region's revised 2006 second-quarter production forecast is 504,000 vehicles, up 30,000 units from last month's guidance. In the second quarter of 2005, the region built 398,000 vehicles.

GM Latin America, Africa and the Middle East - In the first quarter of 2006, the region produced 194,000 vehicles. This is up 9,000 units compared to the first quarter of 2005, when the region produced 185,000 vehicles. The region's 2006 second-quarter production estimate remains unchanged at 215,000 vehicles. In the second quarter of 2005, the region built 195,000 vehicles.

General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world's largest automaker, has been the global industry sales leader for 75 years. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 327,000 people around the world. With global headquarters in Detroit, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 33 countries. In 2005, 9.17 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Vauxhall. GM operates one of the world's leading finance companies, GMAC Financial Services, which offers automotive, residential and commercial financing and insurance. GM's OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. 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.

[Matt276]

To sum it up,

Good month for trucks, really bad one for cars.

If the new Silverado is as good as the new Tahoe, it could become the best selling pickup in the US in 2007.

[ZL-1]

Car total down 18.1% Apr-06 vs. Apr-05 and down 12.5% YTD Jan-Apr? Surely this drop can't just be justified by the 'moving away from the fleet/rental business' PR talk.

[Matt276]

GM cars are not competitive enough. We all knew this would happen. The G6 dropped below 10K units. Fortunately, the 3.6 will be offered this fall, and the Aura could help a bit.

[sciguy_0504]

How come truck sales are only up 2% when so many of those vehicles posted huge gains?

It would be interesting to see truck sales for the first two weeks of April vs. the last two weeks when gas prices skyrocketed.

[ocnblu]

Some of the trucks must be dragging the percentages down. I didn't click on the link... how did the 360s do, the 355s... the vans? They had to at least stagnate for such a low overall increase, I would think.

[Northstar]

How come truck sales are only up 2% when so many of those vehicles posted huge gains?

It would be interesting to see truck sales for the first two weeks of April vs. the last two weeks when gas prices skyrocketed.

Well, the Uplander, Astro, Suburban, Trailblazer, Colorado, Canyon, Envoy, Yukon XL, and Rendezvous were all down significantly.

Car sales were pretty bad, but if they really cut fleet sales by 10.5% then maybe it wasn't so bad afterall.

[ZL-1]

Car total down 18.1% Apr-06 vs. Apr-05 and down 12.5% YTD Jan-Apr? Surely this drop can't just be justified by the 'moving away from the fleet/rental business' PR talk.

I apologise for quoting myself, but I went straight to the totals and didn't read the PR text. It says in there that fleet sales were down 10.5% and daily rental sales were down 23%, while retail sales were down 5%.

I'd like to throw question out there: is GM trying to make fleet managers to look to other manufacturers?

[Chicagoland]

Well, if the fleet customers are not money makers, like rental firms, yeah they should.

Having more competitors in rental fleets will kill the bad 'rental car' image that the domestics got. Also, will bring down their re-sale.

Sure people want to rent a car for pennies, but then someone ends up losing.

[Flybrian]

Does anyone else find it hillarious that so far the SSR has outsold the 9-5? Or that the entire Oldsmobile line sold 45% of what the 9-2x has so far this year...and Olds has been dead for two years? Or that without the 9-3, GM's 'dead fleet' outsells SAAB 2-to-1?

[DBeaSSt]

They're still selling two year old Aleros? How on earth do you have a car sitting on the lot for two years?

[sciguy_0504]

Well, the Uplander, Astro, Suburban, Trailblazer, Colorado, Canyon, Envoy, Yukon XL, and Rendezvous were all down significantly.

Car sales were pretty bad, but if they really cut fleet sales by 10.5% then maybe it wasn't so bad afterall.

Ahh...thanks.

[Ravenfreak13]

Not too terrible...I was surprised to see ION and VUE sales up...

[Intrepidation]

They're still selling two year old Aleros? How on earth do you have a car sitting on the lot for two years?

I saw for the longest time a 1992 DOdge Ram sitting in the far corner of a Chrysler dealership. Only recently did I notice it was gone.

Not too terrible...I was surprised to see ION and VUE sales up...

Ion surprises me, the Vue not to much...I've bseen seeing a lot of new ones, and they're more appealing since the refresh I think.

[Newbiewar]

I apologise for quoting myself, but I went straight to the totals and didn't read the PR text. It says in there that fleet sales were down 10.5% and daily rental sales were down 23%, while retail sales were down 5%.

I'd like to throw question out there: is GM trying to make fleet managers to look to other manufacturers?

GM is trying to increase its resale value... because who wants a car that when you drive it off the lot it looses 50% of its value? by cutting fleet you have less used cars running around 3-9 months later...

They're still selling two year old Aleros? How on earth do you have a car sitting on the lot for two years?

they are still selling Aleros... but apparently they are selling negative amounts of Chevy classics... i guess financing didnt go through for one lucky bastard...

[Matt276]

they are still selling Aleros... but apparently they are selling negative amounts of Chevy classics... i guess financing didnt go through for one lucky bastard...

LOL :rotflmao:

[turbo200]

Caddy isn't doing well. DTS is below old Deville sales, and STS is off, the new S-Class is getting more sales than it....at higher prices. Something must be done fast to fix both these issues. I wish for once, GM could renew all thier lineups in good time, and together to get good attention, like Saturn is doing. Cadillac needs a new STS, or a dramatically better one, yesterday. DTS needs to be dropped in favor of larger STS with better acoutrements and better pricing for the V8 model. ULS needs to be brought in above STS, though I hate the name ULS.

[VenSeattle]

Caddy isn't doing well. DTS is below old Deville sales, and STS is off, the new S-Class is getting more sales than it....at higher prices. Something must be done fast to fix both these issues. I wish for once, GM could renew all thier lineups in good time, and together to get good attention, like Saturn is doing. Cadillac needs a new STS, or a dramatically better one, yesterday. DTS needs to be dropped in favor of larger STS with better acoutrements and better pricing for the V8 model. ULS needs to be brought in above STS, though I hate the name ULS.

Less fleet sales are part of the reason for DTS... and the STS still outsells the groundbreaking RL.

I really don't think Cadillac needs a new STS or to adjust pricing. It's already priced lower than most of its competitors. Power & Performance is already there. The interior just needs to be upgraded and given more style/character. If it had a class leading interior, the entire package would be equal to or leading the competition.