GM July sales down 26.7%

[doh]

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080801/gener...ales.html?.v=1

GM's US sales tumble 26 percent in July on drop in demand for trucks, sport utility vehicles


DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors Corp. said Friday its U.S. sales tumbled in July, as soaring gas prices drove down sales of sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks.
GM sold a total of 233,340 vehicles in July, down 26.1 percent from 315,870 in the same month last year.

The Detroit-based automaker said a tough U.S. economic environment, higher fuel prices and inventory shortages all contributed to the sales decline.

Light truck sales dropped 34.7 percent to 128,005 vehicles from 196,004, while car sales fell 12.1 percent to 105,335 units from 119,866.

For the first seven months of this year, GM sales are down 18 percent to 1.8 million vehicles, compared with 2.2 million at the same time last year.

[pinyon]

Trucks down 41.5%.

At least they're not alone with Toyota down 17%. Pretty grim though.

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

One bright spot imho is that Aura+G6+Malibu are within 5000 of Camry and Epsilon+Impala soundly outsells Camry+Avalon. That said GM continues to get killed in the compact segment. The Cruze has to be great and is way too far out.

DETROIT – GM today announced July sales results, highlighted by continued strong performance in small and midsize cars and crossovers. GM dealers in the United States delivered 235,184 vehicles in July, down 26.7 percent. Weak industry conditions caused by a challenging U.S. economic environment, higher fuel prices and inventory shortages in critical segments such as compact cars contributed to the overall sales decline for the month.

“In July, we saw strong performance once again in our launch products, including the Cadillac CTS, Chevrolet Malibu, Saturn Astra, and Pontiac Vibe and G8. In addition, we continued to see strong retail demand for our fuel efficient Chevrolet Aveo and HHR, Saturn Vue and Buick Enclave. So, despite an overall weak market, there are pockets of strength,” said Mark LaNeve, vice president, GM North America Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing. “Obviously, the weakness in the truck market persisted in July, yet we continue to hold share due to our fuel economy leadership in many truck segments despite dramatic competitive incentive spending increases.” Overall, GM truck sales in July declined 41.5 percent.

Chevrolet cars continued to show strength in the marketplace with Malibu total sales up 79 Percent, Aveo up 17 percent and Cobalt up 4 percent compared with last July.

Cadillac CTS dominated the mid-car luxury category with sales increasing 38 percent compared with the same month a year ago.

Pontiac met consumers’ needs for fuel efficient vehicles with a performance edge with G5 sales up 17 percent, Vibe up 7 percent and G6 up 6 percent compared with July 2007.

Saturn’s award-winning Aura midsize car saw a sales increase of 24 percent with the two-seat Sky selling 14 percent more vehicles than July last year. Astra monthly sales of more than 1,500 vehicles were the best to date, and show a 75 percent increase compared with June 2008 (Astra was not available last July).

GM’s popular midsized crossovers -- Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook -- together accounted for more than 11,600 vehicle sales in the month.

GM hybrid vehicles continue to gain in popularity in the marketplace with 228 hybrid Chevrolet Tahoe and 123 GMC Yukon 2-mode SUVs delivered. There were 349 Chevrolet Malibu, 29 Saturn Aura and 362 Vue hybrids sold in July. For the month, a total of 1,091 hybrid vehicles were delivered, with 5,467 hybrids sold so far this year.

“We’re working hard to change perceptions and gain awareness of GM as the leader in advanced propulsion technology and fuel efficiency,” LaNeve added. “Customers can experience that each time they visit a dealer’s showroom to see the full lineup – including five hybrid models -- that provide industry-leading value, great fuel economy and the best warranty coverage of any full-line automaker. We don’t just talk about technology, fuel efficiency and value – we have the cars and trucks available today to back it up.”

GM has aggressively managed inventories to low levels. In July, only about 747,000 vehicles were in stock – a three-year low – down about 201,000 vehicles (21 percent) compared with last July. There were about 236,000 cars and 511,000 trucks in inventory at the end of July.

Certified Used Vehicles

July 2008 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 41,594 vehicles, down 2 percent from July 2007. Year-to-date sales are 298,137 vehicles, down nearly 6 percent from the same period last year.

GM Certified Used Vehicles, the industry’s top-selling certified brand, posted July sales of 35,799 vehicles, down 4 percent from a strong July 2007 sales performance. Cadillac Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles sold 3,700 vehicles, up 22 percent. Saturn Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles sold 1,164 vehicles, down 24 percent. Saab Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles sold 770 vehicles, up 21 percent, and HUMMER Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles sold 161 vehicles, up 89 percent.

“Our luxury certified pre-owned programs – Cadillac, Saab and HUMMER Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles – each posted strong sales increases last month, and GM Certified Used Vehicles is again setting the pace to lead the segment in sales this year,” said LaNeve. “We’re confident more shoppers will seek the quality and value that manufacturer certification offers.”

GM North America Reports July, 2008 Production; Third-Quarter Production Forecast Remains at 900,000 Vehicles

In July, GM North America produced 238,000 vehicles (116,000 cars and 122,000 trucks). This is down 16,000 vehicles or 6 percent compared with July 2007 when the region produced 254,000 vehicles (91,000 cars and 163,000 trucks). (Production totals include joint venture production of 14,200 vehicles in July 2008 and 13,000 vehicles in July 2007.)

The GM North America third-quarter production forecast is unchanged from last month at 900,000 vehicles (456,000 cars and 444,000 trucks) which is down about 12 percent compared with a year ago, due to production adjustments in response to market changes that will reduce the number of trucks produced by about 209,000 and increase the number of cars by about 89,000. GM North America built 1.020 million vehicles (367,000 cars and 653,000 trucks) in the third-quarter of 2007.

[megeebee]

The Saturn Astra is "strong"?





.

[dindak]

Good news keeps rolling.

[paul8488]

GM needs to get the XFE engine into the G5 and HHR. The delta vehicles are doing well (I'm surprised but pleased to see the HHR having a strong year), and even more XFE models would only help.

Vibe is doing well, which is nice to see. It's a likeable little car, and a decent alternative to a larger crossover or even SUV, for those that don't use them to two or haul tons of cargo.

Equinox and Torrent replacements are sorely needed. It's nice seeing Aura sales steadily creeping up. Malibu is doing very well... I hope G6 isn't like 95% fleet! CTS is floating Cadillac. Getting another, fuel-efficient motor into Aveo should be a priority. Buick will be lucky to hit 250,000 units this year. Hummer should be sold already. Saab as well.

GM replacement several high-volume vehicles with lower-volume ones... Grand Prix with G8, Ion with Astra... they're really hurting those brand's numbers. If they're making decent profit then it's a little easier to swallow... but it's still got to hurt alot.

[AMERICA 123]

Originally Posted by pinyon

Trucks down 41.5%. < Light truck ? >

<Late add - should be Light truck at >

< -34.7% - RAW VOLUME DIFFERENCE JULY'08 vs. JULY'07 >

< -39.7% - DSR ADJUSTED % VOLUME ..."......."......." >


At least they're not alone with Toyota down 17% < - 18.7% - dsr% adjusted or -11.9% non adjusted. >.

Not sure where you got "down 17%".

All percentages dsr adjusted - and all dsr% are negative.

TOYOTA RETAIL SALES
(INCLUDES FLEET & HAWAII)
July, 2008

..................................................----- CURRENT MONTH -----
.................................................. ......................................DSR %
.................................................. ......2008.........2007........CHG

TOTAL TOYOTA DIV. PASS. CAR......114,880....112,153........-5.4 < SCION / TOYOTA >



TOTAL LEXUS PASS. CAR.................13,219.......16,755......-27.2

TOTAL TOYOTA PASS. CAR.............128,099.....128,908.......-8.3

*****

TOTAL SUV.....................................26,561.... ...36,052.....-32.0

*****


TOTAL TACOMA...............................11,662......1 3,963......-22.9

TUNDRA.........................................13, 413......23,150.......-46.5

TOTAL PICKUP.................................25,075..... .37,113......-37.6

*****

TOTAL TOYOTA DIV. LT TRUCK........60,362......84,764......-34.3 < SCION / TOYOTA - includes Minivans >

TOTAL LEXUS LIGHT TRUCK...............8,963......10,386......-20.3

TOTAL TOYOTA LIGHT TRUCK...........69,325......95,150......-32.7 < LEXUS, SCION, TOYOTA - includes Minivans >

*****

TOTAL TOYOTA DIV.......................175,242.....196,917.....-17.9 < SCION / TOYOTA >

TOTAL LEXUS.................................22,182...... .27,141.....-24.6

TOTAL TOYOTA.............................197,424.....224 ,058.....-18.7 < ALL >

SELLING DAYS......................................26...... .......24

[GMC-70]

Wow--I would have expected this extremely bad news to generate all sorts of activity. I guess everyone is tired of hearing about the doom and gloom and posting would basically be rehashing the same things over and over and over again. Not much left to say really....sort of depressing. Wake me up when some good news occurs--if that ever happens!

[mbukukanyau]

Originally Posted by paul8488

GM needs to get the XFE engine into the G5 and HHR. The delta vehicles are doing well (I'm surprised but pleased to see the HHR having a strong year), and even more XFE models would only help.

Vibe is doing well, which is nice to see. It's a likeable little car, and a decent alternative to a larger crossover or even SUV, for those that don't use them to two or haul tons of cargo.

Equinox and Torrent replacements are sorely needed. It's nice seeing Aura sales steadily creeping up. Malibu is doing very well... I hope G6 isn't like 95% fleet! CTS is floating Cadillac. Getting another, fuel-efficient motor into Aveo should be a priority. Buick will be lucky to hit 250,000 units this year. Hummer should be sold already. Saab as well.

GM replacement several high-volume vehicles with lower-volume ones... Grand Prix with G8, Ion with Astra... they're really hurting those brand's numbers. If they're making decent profit then it's a little easier to swallow... but it's still got to hurt alot.

Changing names does not help either

[Ambalanche]

Wow! 26%!!

[zete]

The bright side of all this is that the era of cars has definitely returned.

[pontiacjs]

only down 26% for July is going to be great news compared to how bad August will be.

[emh]

GM hybrid vehicles continue to gain in popularity in the marketplace with 228 hybrid Chevrolet Tahoe and 123 GMC Yukon 2-mode SUVs delivered. There were 349 Chevrolet Malibu, 29 Saturn Aura and 362 Vue hybrids sold in July. For the month, a total of 1,091 hybrid vehicles were delivered, with 5,467 hybrids sold so far this year.

228 Tahoe hybdrids? 123 Yukon Hybrids? Gaining popularity? Does anyone know if GM has any plans for any real hybrid (not BAS) cars?

Originally Posted by zete

The bright side of all this is that the era of cars has definitely returned.

And the bad news is that outside of the Malibu and CTS, GM has no competitive cars.

[zabolots]

Originally Posted by emh

And the bad news is that outside of the Malibu and CTS, GM has no competitive cars.

The G8 is a pretty good car for what it's trying to be. Not saying that it couldn't use a little better interior though. Too much black/gray. Need some lighter colors mixed in like CTS/Malibu for more contrast.

[Jkujo]

Originally Posted by paul8488

GM replacement several high-volume vehicles with lower-volume ones... Grand Prix with G8, Ion with Astra... they're really hurting those brand's numbers. If they're making decent profit then it's a little easier to swallow... but it's still got to hurt alot.

That's something that I noticed as well. If you still had their volume instead of their replacement they probably don't have as much of a drop % wise.

Look the whole industry is hurting, everyone! Except maybe Honda, no one is immune to this horrible economy. Its just that when someone is down like the domestics it is so much easier to pile on.

How much is Toyota getting press about the almost 50% drop in Tundra sales? They are right in line with the rest of the industry in sales.

One positive about GM and trucks is they are not like Ford or Dodge in that they are just launching new product that they probably spend Billions of R&D dollars on. GM at least got some form of profit from that. Just imagine what would happen if GM was trying to launch the 900's now? It would be much more of a meltdown than it already is.

Like someone else said, they need an Aveo that gets 45+ MPG and they need it now!

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by emh

228 Tahoe hybdrids? 123 Yukon Hybrids? Gaining popularity? Does anyone know if GM has any plans for any real hybrid (not BAS) cars?

I SAW A TAHOE HYBRID TODAY.

Brings my grand total of GMT-900 Hybrid sightings to...two.