GM Canada Sales up 21.6% for February!

[delco583]

GM Canada Sales Up For Febuary!


Oshawa, Ontario (March 1, 2005) - General Motors of Canada dealers and retailers delivered 32,370 vehicles in February, an increase of 21.6 per cent from the same period last year. Compared to February 2004, passenger car sales for the month were 15,988 units up 26.1 per cent, while truck sales were 16,382 units, up 17.5 per cent.

Marc Comeau, GM of Canada’s vice president of sales, service and marketing said, “There was nothing cold about the month of February at GM of Canada. Compared to the same period in 2004, February car and truck sales were hot including a 39.8% increase in total Cadillac sales, a record February for Saturn with almost 1,500 deliveries and a record for Saab.”

“Customers just love our sports utility vehicles including the Ingersoll-built Chevrolet Equinox and the Saturn Vue with sales over 1,200 in the month representing a 105% increase in the small truck utility segment. Our new midsize van segment increased by 26.4% in February demonstrating great sales momentum with the Chevrolet Uplander, Pontiac Montana SV6, Buick Terraza and Saturn Relay,” said Comeau.


For sales data click here: http://email.gmcanada.com/corpdb/cac...5?OpenDocument

[Perian]

Anyone find it just a little strange that this news release does not mention the word "Pursuit" as in Pontiac?

-----------------------------------------------------------------

General Motors of Canada February 2005 Sales

Oshawa, Ontario (March 1, 2005) - General Motors of Canada dealers and retailers delivered 32,370 vehicles in February, an increase of 21.6 per cent from the same period last year. Compared to February 2004, passenger car sales for the month were 15,988 units up 26.1 per cent, while truck sales were 16,382 units, up 17.5 per cent.

Marc Comeau, GM of Canada’s vice president of sales, service and marketing said, “There was nothing cold about the month of February at GM of Canada. Compared to the same period in 2004, February car and truck sales were hot including a 39.8% increase in total Cadillac sales, a record February for Saturn with almost 1,500 deliveries and a record for Saab.”

“Customers just love our sports utility vehicles including the Ingersoll-built Chevrolet Equinox and the Saturn Vue with sales over 1,200 in the month representing a 105% increase in the small truck utility segment. Our new midsize van segment increased by 26.4% in February demonstrating great sales momentum with the Chevrolet Uplander, Pontiac Montana SV6, Buick Terraza and Saturn Relay,” said Comeau.

[tgagneguam]

This is good news, and I hope that GM can perpetuate this success throughout the year (and in other markets). Anyone have an idea how the whole Canadian market has done YTD? I ask because GM is ahead by a thin +0.8%. If the market is ahead by anything more than 0.8%, that would [obviously] translate into lost share.

Of course, after reading this article, I got to wondering. How is it that the winter cold stopped people from buying GM's cars and trucks in the USA, but the same doesn't apply to Canada? Has Canada been unseasonably warm? Is Canadian gas that much less expensive than in the US? Both of these seem unreasonable explanations, though GM uses a permutation of this to explain falling US sales. I wish GM could just state the obvious: they're really struggling in the USA and in Europe, where their products are struggling with a shrinking audience of enthusiasts, and that this seems to be less of a problem outside of these two primary markets for the automaker. Admitting the problem is the first step in making longterm change.

[delco583]

It's been a pretty cold and snowy winter here in Oshawa and our gas is hovering around $0.75/litre. Not cheap.

I have only seen one or two Pontiac Pursuits driving around the area so maybe it hasn't caught on yet. Only time will tell.

I, for one, am very excited for GM Canada. They have lots of great products that have just hit the market and Canadians seem to be eating them up. The Canadian car magazines love the new Cobalt/Pursuit aswell as the G6 and Equinox. And now with GM investing a couple billion dollars here, I would imagine enthusiasm will just get better.

[marinerbc]

tgagneguam, it depends on where you live; here in the west, it has been warm, in the east much more seasonal (and most of our population is in the east, Toronto Montreal Ottawa area) Canadian gas here on the coast is selling for (US Dollars and today's exchange rate) $2.83 per US gallon. We do tend to buy smaller cars than you do in the US.

I am hoping that the end of the myth is in sight. Pursuit has met with great success here from those here who have driven or bought one. My mother, 66 years old, has ordered a "come arrest me" red, Supercharged Cobalt SS. God bless the seniors

I just wish my dad were here to see it. Hey dad, that Volkswagen still giving you electrical problems in heaven?

[Family Man]

Good news for GM...

I was quite surprised to see the increases in sales for the Equinox and CSVs. Given Canada's tendency towards purchasing smaller cars, this news was quite a shock since these are quite large vehicles, with "big, thirsty" V6s (when compared to I-4s). News of the CSVs sales are good, considering the somewhat poor reception they've received in some press, but it just confirms what I seen on the roads.

[paul8488]

Canada rules! I'm so proud of our GM-buying citizens! It might be, Family Man, that these CSV and Equinox/Vue sales are downsized purchases that might otherwise have been bigger SUV's and trucks? Not sure... just a guess. Either way, it's good to see GM's newly renovated fleet is moving along, at least north of the border. Wonder how many of these vans and SUV's were AWD...