GM APRIL SALES DOWN 34%, 614 CAMAROS SOLD

[FenwickHockey65]

Link with Sales Chart

*Total sales up 11 percent compared with March as spring selling season begins
*Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra drive increase in full-size pickup market share compared with March
*Chevrolet Traverse sales of more than 8,200 drives GM's mid-crossover segment sales up 16 percent
*"Total Confidence" plan extended into May

DETROIT - General Motors dealers in the United States delivered 173,007 vehicles in April, down 34 percent compared with a year ago. However, when comparing GM's April sales with March, total volume was up 11 percent, or about 16,600 cars, crossovers and trucks, largely driven by a return to more normal volumes of fleet sales compared with a very weak first quarter. GM's car sales compared with March were up nearly 2,900 vehicles (4 percent), truck sales increased more than 9,500 vehicles (16 percent), and crossover sales were up nearly 4,200 vehicles (14 percent).

"From a retail standpoint, GM and the industry continued at about the same selling rate as February and March. We see that stabilization, along with a firming up of our fleet business and improvement in Silverado and Sierra sales, as an encouraging sign," said Mark LaNeve, vice president, GM North America Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing. "We're pleased to see R.L. Polk information this week indicating that a majority of consumers plan to buy a vehicle in the next two years - that shows pent-up demand is building. With our full line-up of cars, crossovers, trucks and hybrids - and some very competitive incentive offers - we're well-positioned to meet this growing consumer demand in the months ahead. For example, we have more than 15,000 sold orders for the white-hot Chevy Camaro."

GM total truck sales (including crossovers) of 102,032 were down 28 percent and car sales of 71,775 were off 41 percent compared with a year ago.

GM's four core brands performed strongly compared with March. Total Chevrolet sales of more than 115,000 vehicles were up 22 percent; Cadillac sales of more than 8,300 vehicles increased 2 percent; GMC sales of more than 20,400 vehicles were up 7 percent; and Buick sales of nearly 9,000 vehicles were up 21 percent.

Specifically, when April sales are compared with March:

*Driven by double-digit increases in Silverado, Tahoe, Traverse and HHR sales, Chevrolet trucks and crossovers were up 22 percent; Chevrolet cars were powered by Cobalt, Impala and Corvette sales, driving an increase of 21 percent.
*Cadillac trucks and crossovers were down 11 percent; however, STS and DTS sales hikes pushed *Cadillac car volume up 7 percent.
*GMC trucks and crossovers increased 7 percent with Sierra and Yukon leading the way.
*The Buick Enclave saw a 17 percent increase in sales; while a double-digit increase in Lucerne sales pushed cars up 25 percent.

"We're hearing very positive feedback from dealers and customers, so we're keeping the rally going by extending the Total Confidence plan for Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac, GMC and Saturn customers in May," LaNeve said. "More than 750,000 people visited our Total Confidence website in April, and about 70 percent of those folks came to us from third-party sites."

"We'd also like to see continued actions by the government to stimulate sales, such as the proposed scrappage program. The President's comments yesterday encouraging customers to buy American cars and trucks was also very positive. We have said many times that Americans should consider our products because they are the best. The economic advantages are a plus to that," LaNeve added. "The President restated our shared belief that GM will be a part of a strong and viable auto industry for many years to come, and customers should feel very comfortable buying our vehicles."

A total of 1,534 GM hybrid vehicles were delivered in the month, illustrating the wide range of hybrid product offerings available. GM offers the Chevrolet Malibu, Tahoe and Silverado, GMC Yukon and Sierra, Cadillac Escalade, Saturn Aura and Vue hybrids. So far, in 2009, GM has delivered 5,156 hybrid vehicles.

GM inventories dropped compared with a year ago. At the end of April, about 742,000 vehicles were in stock, down about 82,000 vehicles (or 10 percent) compared with last year. There were about 313,000 cars and 429,000 trucks (including crossovers) in inventory at the end of April. Inventories were reduced about 25,000 vehicles compared with March. Importantly, last week, GM announced that it would lower production by approximately 190,000 vehicles through the early part of the third quarter as it continues to reduce inventories to an expected level of about 525,000 vehicles by the end of July. The schedule for launch vehicles including the all-new Chevrolet Camaro, Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac SRX and GMC Terrain is being maintained so that customers will continue to see a full selection of new and launch vehicles in dealer showrooms.

[FenwickHockey65]

The competition...

Ford: 134,401 units sold, down 32%
Chrysler: 76,682 units sold, down 48%
BMW: 19,362 units sold, down 38.4%
Mercedes Benz: 14,565 units sold, down 28.1%
Toyota: 126,540 units sold, down 42%
Honda: 101,029 units sold, down 25%
Nissan: 47,190 units sold, down 36%

[Zabo]

173K.. Mmm, delicious butt-hurt incorrect congress is delicious..

[FenwickHockey65]

Updated competition sales figures...

Ford Fusion sold 18,321 units in March, better than the Malibu and the altima...and only 7,000 units away from camry.

[Hylton]

Originally Posted by FenwickHockey65

Ford Fusion sold 18,321 units in March, better than the Malibu and the altima...and only 7,000 units away from camry.

That thing really surprises me. It looks kind of bloated and bland to me but they are everywhere you look.

[BigRigMike]

Originally Posted by Hylton

That thing really surprises me. It looks kind of bloated and bland to me but they are everywhere you look.

There are big discounts on the 2009 Fusion right now because the redesigned 2010 Fusion's are starting to hit the lots.

[TAG UR IT]

we'd need a lot more than just camaro sales to bring that number up. but, its good to hear sales are up from last month. now....if they would just authorize some overtime so they could fix and clear out all the rest of the back logged Camaros. again....good news.

[Ctrain24]

Toyota got their ass kicked by everyone.

[Tanner]

I did my part. I bought three Silverado's yesterday. They had $4,000 rebates on them with 0%.

[Nexus6]

Originally Posted by Hylton

That thing really surprises me. It looks kind of bloated and bland to me but they are everywhere you look.

Nah it doesn't suprise me , i mean,brittany spears sold albums, so that tells you where alot of peoples tastes are at .

[UCF w00t]

Does anyone else think that 614 is a pathetic number? Production started a month and a half ago.... I know of the issues (reflash, etc) but still... That's 3 days worth of cars at the early build rates, 2 days now.

[AngryAmish]

Well, We got a decent idea how many were pre-ordered, so it doesn't bother me. The thing I cant understand is if Avis bought a fleet of these for renting, where are the numbers? Something fishy with that number me thinks.

I'm almost positive that number will probably more then triple the next time we see sales figures. 614 just doesn't compute.

Originally Posted by UCF w00t

Does anyone else think that 614 is a pathetic number? Production started a month and a half ago.... I know of the issues (reflash, etc) but still... That's 3 days worth of cars at the early build rates, 2 days now.

[Zabo]

Avis probably got priority due to the fact that having the cars to rent to joe public may be a good thing. He could then turn around and either pre-order or pick one up at a hike from a dealership depending on how bad he would want one. Indirect GM sponsored mass test drives..

Hmm.. veddy intehreztink..

[Hylton]

Originally Posted by Nexus6

Nah it doesn't suprise me , i mean,brittany spears sold albums, so that tells you where alot of peoples tastes are at .