FXSTD – Alternative Energy Center

By: Anthony Fontanelle
General Motors Corp. dealers in the United States delivered 326,300 vehicles in June, down 24 percent as 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. The Detroit automaker now has taken over 92,000 daily rental vehicles out of the sales totals this year.

“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, the 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 Buick Enclave, Saturn Aura, GMC Acadia, and the Saturn Outlook reflect the automaker’s strong positioning in the market for fuel-efficient product lines. The Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and the Saturn Outlook had retail sales of over 12,000 vehicles, making a noteworthy retail increase in the automaker’s mid-crossover segment. GM’s total sales of over 15,000 vehicles in this segment raised monthly performance up over 377 percent, compared with the same month in 2006.

The Chevrolet Silverado and the GMC Sierra full-size pickups, fuel efficiency leaders in their segment, bolstered GM’s 2007 first half sales increase segment post, compared with the same period a year ago. The Silverado and the Sierra also offer the best residual values and warranty coverage in segment - a winning combination that functions as an efficient performance exhaust aimed at releasing the annoying sales doldrums.

“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.”

GM’s Certified Used Vehicles are also etching a great milestone in the automaker’s sales history. 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 by six percent from last June. Total year-to-date certified GM sales are 273,241 units, up four percent from the same period in 2006.

“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 nine 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.” Year-to-date sales for GM Certified Used Vehicles are 240,138 units, up five percent from the same period in the previous year.