GM says global vehicle sales in Q2 up 20% vs. Q1

Strong sales performance in General Motors' Asia Pacific region helped GM sell 1.94 million vehicles globally during the second quarter of 2009. When compared with the first quarter 2009, sales were up nearly 20 percent. GM sales outside the United States grew to 72 percent of total sales. Compared to second quarter 2008, GM's total sales were down 15 percent, reflecting continuing economic pressures and production cuts in the U.S. market, which pushed North America sales down 32 percent (307,000 vehicles).

The strength of GM's portfolio of fuel-efficient and affordable products carried the company through some very difficult times. Despite ongoing negative publicity regarding the company's restructuring and eventual Chapter 11 filing, GM's second quarter global market share of 12 percent was down only 0.3 ppts compared with a year ago and up 0.8 ppts from the first quarter.

GM sold 3.55 million vehicles in the first half of 2009. On a year-over-year basis, GM total global sales were down 22 percent for the first six months of 2009.

"We believe the strength of our products, including the Chevrolet Camaro, Spark and Malibu; award-winning Opel/Vauxhall Insignia; Wuling Sunshine Minivan and others around the world enabled us to weather an historically difficult rebirth of the new General Motors," said Jonathan Browning, vice president, global sales, service and marketing. "We are moving quickly to respond to new market opportunities around the globe and meeting customer needs with fuel-efficient products that offer advanced technology, compelling designs and great value."

Chevrolet sales in Asia Pacific, the industry's largest region so far in 2009, grew 17 percent compared with the second quarter a year ago. In addition, GM's Asia Pacific regional sales were up more than 22 percent compared with the first quarter boosting GM's market share in the region to 8.8 percent, up 0.8 ppts versus the first quarter. Chevrolet sales in China (up 39 percent) powered much of this year-over-year growth. The Wuling brand continued strong growth in China with sales up 67 percent in the second quarter compared to the same period a year ago. For the first half of the year, GM China set a sales record, made even more impressive by global news surrounding the company's restructuring.

In the Latin America, Africa and Middle East region, sales were up slightly compared with the previous quarter, but declined 21 percent compared with a year ago. Chevrolet accounted for nearly 90 percent of the region's second quarter sales. There were several bright spots in the region as GM brands in nine countries (Boliva, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Egypt and Kenya) saw market share gains compared with the second quarter a year ago. Sales volume in Brazil also set a second quarter record.

Chevrolet sales in Europe also contributed to the brand's solid second-quarter results, with market share gains in Eastern, Central and Western Europe. Chevrolet sales of more than 115,500 vehicles resulted in a record brand market share of 2.3 percent. Chevrolet sales increased in Germany (up 40 percent), France (up 101 percent), Turkey (up 120 percent) and the United Kingdom (up 25 percent). The Opel/Vauxhall Insignia, European Car of the Year for 2009, continues to perform strongly with more than 73,000 vehicles sold in the first half of the year. Overall, GM's market share in Europe increased to 9.2 percent in the second quarter, up 0.2 ppts versus the first quarter.

Chevrolet sales in North America were down 28 percent for the quarter, due in part to planned pickup truck production cuts to reduce inventory levels. However, GM has seen very strong demand for the new Camaro which had nearly 10,000 orders on hand to be filled at the end of the quarter. Overall GM sales in the U.S. enabled it to slightly improve market share in the quarter compared with a year ago. In addition, sales in the U.S. were up 31 percent when compared with the first quarter of the year, boosting GM's market share from 18.4 percent in first quarter to 20.5 percent in the second quarter. Additionally, GM share in North America increased nearly two percentage points, to 19.9 percent, when comparing Q1 with Q2, 2009.

Cadillac global sales in the second quarter were down 40 percent, in part due to the difficulty in getting competitive leases in the U.S. and overall economic pressure elsewhere around the world. Cadillac expects a positive impact with the CTS coupe and restyled SRX crossover vehicle.