“We’re very pleased with consumer acceptance to our newest cars, crossovers and trucks,” said Susan Docherty, GM vice president, U.S. Sales. “While we have more work to do, we are making progress and will continue our focus on delivering vehicles and a sales and service experience that brings consumers to Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac – and keeps them coming back.”
October quick facts:
Chevrolet Retail Sales Up 31 Percent
Strong retail sales of Chevrolet’s launch vehicles – Camaro, Equinox, and Traverse – led to a year-over-year increase in total sales of 9 percent, and a 31 percent increase in retail sales for the same period.
Chevrolet key facts:
"Chevrolet had a solid sales month in October supported by our 2009 launch products Camaro, Equinox and Traverse," said Brent Dewar, vice president, global Chevrolet. "Our broad lineup appeals to a range of consumers, whether it's the modern sports car, Camaro, appealing to performance enthusiasts or the Equinox and Traverse delivering what today's families care about: safety, styling and efficiency."
Buick – GMC Total Sales Up 20 Percent
Buick car and crossover sales showed improvement in October vs. a year ago, led by the all-new LaCrosse and Enclave. Sales of the all-new GMC Terrain and GMC’s “Truck Month” promotion helped lift GMC total sales 20 percent, and retail sales 35 percent for the month, compared with last year.
Buick key facts:
GMC key facts:
“We like the momentum we’ve seen in the sales of new Buick and GMC models,” said Susan Docherty, Buick-GMC general manager, and GM Vice President of U.S. Sales. “In October, Buick and GMC both had their best sales months of 2009, and in fact, total sales for these two brands were up 33 percent over October 2008 for the combined total of Buick, Pontiac and GMC.”
Cadillac Total Sales Up 22 Percent
Led by the performance of the all-new SRX, Cadillac sales increased by 22 percent compared to a year ago, and were up 2 percent vs. September.
Cadillac key facts:
"The interest customers are showing in the new SRX is exciting – we are seeing Lexus, BMW and Mercedes customers trading their vehicles for the SRX," said Bryan Nesbitt, Cadillac General Manager.
Other brands Sold 15,089 Vehicles in October
Total combined sales for Saturn, Pontiac, Saab and HUMMER were 15,089 for the month. As a percent of total GM sales, these brands represented 9 percent of sales, compared with 15 percent in October 2008.
Management Discussion of October Sales Results
The U.S. October 2009 SAAR of 10.6 million is a 13-percent improvement compared to last month, but is the second-lowest SAAR for October since the early 1980s. The U.S. economy and auto industry are showing signs of recovery:
Economy
Auto Industry
GM Reports October Production; Fourth Quarter Production at 620,000 Vehicles
In October, GM produced 228,000 vehicles (92,000 cars and 136,000 trucks). This is down 90,000 vehicles, or 28 percent compared with October 2008, when GM North America produced 318,000 vehicles (151,000 cars and 167,000 trucks). (Production totals include joint venture production of 15,000 vehicles in October 2009 and 11,000 vehicles in October 2008)
GM third-quarter production was 531,000 vehicles (205,000 cars and 326,000 trucks), which was down 42 percent compared to the same quarter in 2008. GM North America built 915,000 vehicles (436,000 cars and 479,000 trucks) in the third quarter of 2008. However, third-quarter production was substantially higher than production volumes for Q1 and Q2 2009 of 371,000 (up 43 percent) and 395,000 (up 34 percent), respectively.
GM’s 2009 fourth-quarter forecast at 620,000 vehicles (239,000 cars and 381,000 trucks), which is down about 24 percent from a year ago. GM North America built 815,000 vehicles (365,000 cars and 450,000 trucks) in the fourth quarter of 2008. However, Q4 2009 production volumes represent a 17 percent increase compared to Q3 2009.
At October month-end, inventories of vehicles for U.S. dealers increased to 444,000 (172,000 cars and 272,000 trucks) compared to September, 2009 (157,000 cars and 267,000 trucks), an increase of 5 percent. Compared to month-end inventories for October 2008 (336,000 cars and 464,000 trucks), inventories decreased by 356,000 (164.000 cars and 192,000 trucks), or 45 percent.