General Motors dealers in the United States sold 301,317 new cars and trucks in October, a 22 percent increase compared with last year. Retail sales were up 36 percent on a sales-day adjusted basis. Retail truck sales were up 52 percent, led by a doubling of full-size pickup retail sales such as Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra and a 46 percent increase in luxury utility retail sales, including the entire Cadillac Escalade lineup. Retail car sales were up 9 percent, led by Chevrolet Impala, Pontiac G6 and Saturn Aura.
"GM's industry-leading truck business was boosted in October by lower fuel prices - that's one reason our trucks, SUVs and crossovers are gaining share. Of course, offering customers great fuel economy coupled with having the industry's most comprehensive coverage, including the 5-year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty, helps too," said Mark LaNeve, General Motors North America vice president, Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing. "Consumers are responding to our lineup of new vehicles, including Saturn Aura, Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, and we'll have even more new products arriving soon, including our mid-crossovers -- Saturn Outlook, GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave."
GMC, Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, Saturn, Pontiac and Saab all had retail sales increases in October. GMC was up 75 percent retail, with sales more than doubling for the Sierra, Yukon and Yukon XL.
The all-new 2007 Sierra pickups arrived at dealerships in October. Chevrolet retail sales were up 39 percent, with double-digit retail jumps by Silverado, up 107 percent; Tahoe, up 104 percent; and Suburban, up 83 percent. The all-new 2007 Silverado pickups also arrived at dealerships in October. Buick retail sales were up 28 percent, led by Lucerne. Cadillac retail sales were up 30 percent, with a 14 percent increase in CTS, a 28 percent increase in SRX and triple-digit increases for the entire Escalade lineup. Saturn retail sales were up 16 percent as the all-new 2007 Aura and Sky continue to bring new customers into the Saturn family. Pontiac retail sales were up 1 percent due to sales increases for the new G5, G6, and Solstice. Lastly, Saab retail sales were up 83 percent, driven by a 54 percent retail increase for 9-3, an 80 percent hike for 9-5 and a 338 percent increase for 9-7X.
"We continue to experience strong customer demand for our lineup of fuel efficient vehicles and new launch products," LaNeve said. "In October we were very pleased to learn that for the second year in a row, according to the U.S. EPA, GM offers more vehicle models (23 total) that achieve an estimated 30 mpg on the highway, or higher, than any other automaker."
GM continues to reduce its reliance on daily rental sales. Sales to daily rental companies were down 14 percent compared to year-ago levels, while non-daily rental fleet business was up 6 percent. Overall fleet sales of 75,000 vehicles were down 8 percent compared with last October.
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