February 2008 Sales: GM (down 13%)

[artrix]

• Car Retail Sales Driven By Malibu Up 62 Percent; CTS Up 71 Percent; Cobalt Up 24 Percent; Aura Up 21 Percent; and G6 Up 6 Percent
• Cadillac Car Sales Up 24 Percent; Chevrolet Cars Up 3 percent
• Enclave, Acadia and Outlook Drive Mid-Utility Crossover Segment Up 15 Percent

http://www.gm.com/corporate/investor...on/sales_prod/

[igor]

full release with table:

http://media.gm.com/servlet/GatewayS...=6&docid=44112

Igor

[igor]

Originally Posted by artrix

• Car Retail Sales Driven By Malibu Up 62 Percent; CTS Up 71 Percent; Cobalt Up 24 Percent; Aura Up 21 Percent; and G6 Up 6 Percent
• Cadillac Car Sales Up 24 Percent; Chevrolet Cars Up 3 percent
• Enclave, Acadia and Outlook Drive Mid-Utility Crossover Segment Up 15 Percent

http://www.gm.com/corporate/investor...on/sales_prod/

one bit of worry: so retail G6 sales are up 6% - but overall, its sales are up 50%(!) that means - all the rest went to fleets.

Sign of good times: Retail Malibu up 62% - overall up 6% - Man how many fleet sales did Malibu have!?!? - and it seems it is finally shedding them (passing them over to G6)

Igor

[BrickTamland]

Originally Posted by igor

- Man how many fleet sales did Malibu have!?!? - and it seems it is finally shedding them (passing them over to G6)

Igor

If it is a white, gold, or gray lower-trim Malibu, it is probably a fleet model. Our rental on vacation last year was a white Malibu.

[artrix]

It's nice to see Cadillac's sales increase by 24%

[VCDJ]

This is what happens when you make a ugly trucks and, use four speed trans. Ofcours sales will be down 20%. Just think what is going to happen when new f150 and ram are out. GM is in big trouble. IF stupid rick and lutz did not invest all money in truck and suvs. they would not have this problem now. But as lutz keeps saying. People want big powerfull cars not small fuel efficient. When are these two going to quiet or be fired. First we lose billions, then gm market cap is almost nothing. We get rid of thousands of employees close plants and what we get from rick and lutz? Sales decline, more money being lost. It is time for those two to go. sooner the better.

[Hunter]

Wow, truck sales took a huge (but expected) hit. However, GM's good cars are selling well.

[osv_alero]

What plant did you come from. Lutz and Rick have turned out the most acclaimed trucks & SUVs in history. Add to that, the new Malibu, CTS, and other cars coming out in their name are getting great praise. Those guys are doing a great job with a company that was in a world of hurt. It takes time to turn the biggest ship in the ocean around. At this point they seem to be doing a better turn around job than anybody else in GM's history.

[Hitman1970]

I seen about half a dozen 2008 Malibu LSs driven by private owners around Huntsville in the past few days. They are really starting to show up a lot around here now.

[GMC-70]

Originally Posted by VCDJ

This is what happens when you make a ugly trucks and, use four speed trans. Ofcours sales will be down 20%. Just think what is going to happen when new f150 and ram are out. GM is in big trouble. IF stupid rick and lutz did not invest all money in truck and suvs. they would not have this problem now. But as lutz keeps saying. People want big powerfull cars not small fuel efficient. When are these two quiet or be fired. First we lose billions, then gm market cap is almost nothing. We get rid of thousands of employees close plants and what we get from rick and lutz? Sales decline, more money being lost. It is time for those two to go. sooner the better.

[dindak]

GM is in for a rough year. That said, nice to see some bright spots.

We did our part, took delivery of a new Montana SV6 last week for my wife.

[mtndrew1]

Originally Posted by igor

one bit of worry: so retail G6 sales are up 6% - but overall, its sales are up 50%(!) that means - all the rest went to fleets.

Sign of good times: Retail Malibu up 62% - overall up 6% - Man how many fleet sales did Malibu have!?!? - and it seems it is finally shedding them (passing them over to G6)

Igor

This is a worry to me as well. The only models up at all were G6, Cobalt, LaCrosse, Malibu, CTS, and the Lambdas.

The G6's sales increase was all due to fleet, even though retail was a smidge higher. Without the fleet bump, G6 would have been down dramatically.

Based on the press release, LaCrosse retail was flat or down, the entire bump from fleet.

Cobalt is the same as G6, a small retail bump and sales would have been down if not for fleet.

The Lambdas are doing ok, but they sold more Rendezvous last year than Enclaves this year, and the others haven't offset the GMT360 sales-death-spiral.

The OMG Malibu is up 2%, although they're whoring a lot less of them to fleets it seems.

So, basically, the CTS is up (rightfully so), while all the other cars are flat or declining. All the big truck cash-cows are way, way, way down.

And GMAC just had its credit rating downgraded today, meaning it will cost more for them to lend money.

Scary stuff.

-Drew

[bangstudios]

Originally Posted by VCDJ

This is what happens when you make a ugly trucks and, use four speed trans. Ofcours sales will be down 20%. Just think what is going to happen when new f150 and ram are out. GM is in big trouble. IF stupid rick and lutz did not invest all money in truck and suvs. they would not have this problem now. But as lutz keeps saying. People want big powerfull cars not small fuel efficient. When are these two quiet or be fired. First we lose billions, then gm market cap is almost nothing. We get rid of thousands of employees close plants and what we get from rick and lutz? Sales decline, more money being lost. It is time for those two to go. sooner the better.

With all due respect, I just cross-shopped the big three's truck offerings, each with the small V8 (Ford 4.6, Dodge 4.7 and GM 4.8), highway gears and short box / reg. cab (or as close to regular cab as offered) with 4x4. It really wasn't a contest: even with the four-speed transmission (which, although tough, isn't the slickest unit on the planet), the Silverado simply destroyed the others. Perhaps Ford can play catch-up next year with the new F-150 (and long-awaited new powertrains), but the Silverado simply provided the best combination of interior style / usability, fuel economy and overall ability. Yes, I bought the Chev. (and am so impressed with the build quality that I'll be heading back to my local dealer to check out a C6 in the next few days).

[mtndrew1]

Originally Posted by artrix

It's nice to see Cadillac's sales increase by 24%

That would be a 2.1% decrease, which is not nice to see.

-Drew

[Olds88]

Originally Posted by VCDJ

This is what happens when you make a ugly trucks and, use four speed trans. Ofcours sales will be down 20%. Just think what is going to happen when new f150 and ram are out. GM is in big trouble. IF stupid rick and lutz did not invest all money in truck and suvs. they would not have this problem now. But as lutz keeps saying. People want big powerfull cars not small fuel efficient. When are these two quiet or be fired. First we lose billions, then gm market cap is almost nothing. We get rid of thousands of employees close plants and what we get from rick and lutz? Sales decline, more money being lost. It is time for those two to go. sooner the better.

For the last time drop he 4sp trans issue, its stupid. GM owns 80% of the full-size SUV market with 4sp transmissions. And Tahoe outsells all the Lambda's combined. People still want big SUVs and by and large they pick GM to buy them from. The 4sp GM truck is more efficient, smooth and reliable than any competitor.

The new Ram will do no better than the current one. Ford has ALWAYS outsold Chevy regardless of which truck is better. Generally the Silverado is viewed as the most handsome truck on the market. Ugly can be fought over by Ram and Tundra. The new trucks will change almost nothing. Just like every other new truck intro from the big 3. The truck market isn't as fickle as the sedan market. Generally if a truck buyer's current truck served him well (and 99% of the time Ford and GM pickups are impossibly reliable) then he'll buy the same brand again without even considering competition.

People DO want big powerful cars. You can't ignore the single largest market in the USA, trucks. GMT900 sells nearly 2 million copies a year, Camry + Accord + Malibu + Fusion + Altima can't touch that and that's only GM. Add the f-series platform and the number goes over 3.5 million.