GM dealers in the United States delivered 326,300 vehicles in June, down 24 percent, compared with year-ago monthly sales. The decline was partly attributed to a planned reduction of an additional 13,487 daily rental sale vehicles in the month. GM now has taken more than 92,000 daily rental vehicles out of the sales totals in 2007.
“Given the planned reduction in daily rental sales, we expected June would be a tough comparison to a year ago. Our retail performance for the month was also below the solid running rate we’ve experienced for the first half of the year which we attribute to a soft industry and lower incentive spending than our competitors. However, we continue to believe that maintaining a disciplined approach to both incentives and daily rental car sales is key to making our marketing strategy work in the long run,” said Mark LaNeve, vice president, GM North American Sales, Service and Marketing.
“We continue our focus on the retail side of the equation and first-half results were solid,” LaNeve added. “We are delighted with the continuing success of new products, especially the GMC Acadia, Saturn OUTLOOK and Buick Enclave. As with many of our vehicles, these all-new crossovers offer great fuel economy, terrific performance and outstanding value. For example, a year ago we were selling only about 3,000 mid-utility crossover vehicles. This June we blew the doors off the segment with deliveries in excess of 15,000.”
Increased sales of the Saturn AURA, as well as the new mid-size crossovers GMC Acadia, Saturn OUTLOOK and Buick Enclave, demonstrate GM’s strong positioning in the marketplace for fuel-efficient vehicles. The GMC Acadia, Saturn OUTLOOK and Buick Enclave had retail sales of more than 12,000 vehicles, pushing a significant retail increase in GM’s mid-crossover segment. GM’s total sales of more than 15,000 vehicles in this segment pushed monthly performance up more than 377 percent, compared with the same month last year.
The all-new Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickup trucks – fuel efficiency leaders in their class – helped the GM full-size pickup segment post a first half 2007 sales increase, compared with the same period a year ago, in a challenging industry environment. The Silverado and Sierra also offer the best warranty coverage and residual values in segment, a winning combination for these products.
“We’re seeing increased residual values for our products as a result of staying aligned and disciplined to our North American turnaround and market growth plans. For customers, this means providing industry-leading products in terms of design, segment fuel economy, warranty coverage and performance,” LaNeve added. “This translates to a beneficial cost of ownership experience. With new products such as the Cadillac CTS and Chevrolet Malibu coming to dealer showrooms later this year, we expect to build on this customer enthusiasm.”
Certified Used Vehicles
June 2007 sales for all certified GM brands, including GM Certified Used Vehicles, Cadillac Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, Saturn Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, Saab Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, and HUMMER Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, were 45,876 units, up 6 percent from last June. Total year-to-date certified GM sales are 273,241 units, up 4 percent from the same period last year.
GM Certified Used Vehicles, the industry’s top-selling manufacturer-certified used brand, posted 40,423 sales, up 9 percent from last June. Year-to-date sales for GM Certified Used Vehicles are 240,138 units, up 5 percent from the same period in 2006.
Cadillac Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles posted June sales of 3,108 units, down 14 percent from last June. Saturn Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles sold 1,484 units in June, down 9 percent. Saab Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles sold 764 units, down 11 percent from last June, and HUMMER Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles sold 97 units, up nearly 7 percent.
“GM Certified Used Vehicles, the industry’s top-selling manufacturer-certified brand, posted a strong performance in June, leading the segment with sales of 40,423 units, up 9 percent from last June,” said LaNeve. “GM Certified is on track to build on this momentum toward another record performance for the category for 2007.”