GM posts solid numbers; 410,332 vehicles sold in July

General Motors' dealers in the United States sold 410,332 new cars and trucks in July, the company's best retail and second-best monthly sales performance year-to-date.

"July was our best retail month of 2006, with our strong performance led by launch vehicles such as the Pontiac Torrent and G6, Saturn Sky, Chevrolet Cobalt and Impala and Buick Lucerne," said Mark LaNeve, General Motors North America vice president for vehicle sales, service and marketing. "Importantly, our performance in June and July shows we're gaining substantial sales momentum and stabilizing market share. We remain optimistic moving into the launches of the Saturn Aura, fuel-efficient Vue Green Line hybrid and Outlook crossover, GMC Acadia crossover, the all-new Chevrolet Silverado pickup and Aveo economy car, and the exciting new GMC Sierra full-size pickup."

Average monthly sales of all GM launch vehicles in June and July were up 67 percent compared with the average monthly sales in the January through May 2006 period.

Chevrolet continues its sales supremacy with 244,080 vehicles sold, propelled by an 18.2 percent increase in Chevrolet car sales compared to last year. Chevrolet sold 81,430 cars in July 2006, compared with 71,634 in July 2005, and had its best selling month since "Keep America Rolling" in October 2001.

Chevrolet had its best retail performance of the year and Cobalt had its best retail sales month since launch. Of note, retail passenger car sales are up versus a strong July last year, demonstrating GM can compete in all product categories.

Pontiac retail sales for the month showed a 15.9 percent increase compared with July 2005, with total sales of 40,933. Solstice continues to be one of the hottest cars in the country with a 14 day average turn time. G6 had its best selling month since introduction and the G6 convertible is red-hot with an 11 day average turn time. The GTO saw a 65.1 percent increase in sales compared with a year ago and set a July sales record. The Torrent crossover also achieved an all-time sales record, with 4,830 vehicles sold in July.

Buick Lucerne, Pontiac G6, Chevy Malibu and Impala drove the mid-car category to its highest July sales level since 2004. Buick Lucerne set an all-time retail sales record with 9,145 vehicles delivered in July and Pontiac G6 also set an all-time sales record, up 80.5 percent. Chevrolet Malibu is up 25.2 percent, while Impala had its best retail sales month since August 2003 with sales up 59.6 percent.

Other GM divisions posted solid results as HUMMER H3 showed a 24.1 percent increase compared with July 2005 and was up 36.6 percent compared to June 2006. HUMMER had its best sales month of the year with 6,991 deliveries. CYTD HUMMER sales of 39,786 vehicles are up 60.1 percent compared with the same seven months one year ago. Saturn car sales are up compared with July 2005, with 64,691 vehicles delivered, and the Sky had a strong start with 860 vehicles sold in July. Buick delivered 23,609 vehicles in the month, with Lucerne achieving its best retail sales month since launch and LaCrosse having its best retail sales month since December 2005.

Chevrolet HHR, Equinox, Saturn Vue and Pontiac Torrent pushed total small utility sales up 33.2 percent compared with a year ago, and up more than 49 percent in the first seven months of the year compared to the same period a year ago. HHR had its best retail sales month since launch, and set an all-time total sales record with 14,838 vehicles delivered, up 249.6 percent compared with July 2005, and CYTD deliveries of 66,828 vehicles. Chevrolet Equinox had its best retail sales month of the year.

On the truck side of the market, full-size pickup trucks had their strongest sales month of the year with 66,583 Chevy Silverado and 22,947 GMC Sierra trucks sold. GMC had its best retail sales month of the year, with 48,085 vehicles delivered, and the GMC Canyon had its best retail month of the year, delivering 2,717 trucks. GM sold 4,455 all-new 2007 Chevy Avalanche, 12,950 Tahoe, 6,269 Suburban, 6,022 GMC Yukon, and 3,385 Yukon XL vehicles in July. GM's luxury utilities posted solid sales results in July, with the all-new 2007 Cadillac Escalade selling 2,105 vehicles; 2007 Escalade ESV selling 1,120 vehicles; and Cadillac SRX delivering 1,822 vehicles. July was the best sales month of the year for large utilities (including large luxury) with 37,455 vehicles sold.

GM sports cars also posted solid July sales results, with a 100.1 percent improvement compared with year-ago levels. Corvette sales were up 55.2 percent, with 2,794 vehicles delivered. Pontiac Solstice (1,342 vehicles) and Saturn Sky (860 vehicles) are continuing their brisk sales pace.

Despite total sales being down 19.5 percent compared with July 2005, LaNeve was very encouraged by strong June and July sales results, led by GM's launch vehicle and passenger car performance.

"Our 'Go To Market' strategy of offering industry-leading products and value, and doing the right thing for the customer, is showing positive results," he said.