GM Reports Best December Since 1979

GM Reports Best December Sales Since 1979

• GM sales up 36 percent to 473,663 - Widening GM's Calendar Year Sales Leadership
• Truck Sales Set All-Time Industry Record - Up 6 Percent For The Year
• GM Gains Market Share For Second Consecutive Year, First Time Since 1976

DETROIT - General Motors Corp. dealers sold 473,663 new cars and trucks in December in the United States, a 36 percent increase versus December 2001. For the calendar year, GM dealers delivered 4,858,705 new vehicles, down a modest 1 percent from 2001. GM's overall truck sales (2,789,500) and overall SUV sales (1,239,074) set all-time industry records.

"Our December results were outstanding, as was our overall performance for the calendar year," said John Smith, group vice president of North America Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing. "GM had an excellent year in 2002 on all fronts…exciting new products, quality and productivity improvements -- all leading to market share gains and an increased customer base. We set all-time industry records for truck and SUV sales, and we continued the strong sales pace we have established with our new vehicle introductions for Cadillac, Saturn and HUMMER."

GM truck performance was led by calendar year sales records for Chevrolet trucks, GMC trucks, Cadillac trucks and HUMMER. Cadillac sales improved 16 percent for the year on the strength of the CTS, Escalade and Escalade EXT. Saturn increased 7 percent in large part due to the VUE, which continues to gain momentum in the small utility segment. The HUMMER H2 is one of the hottest selling vehicles in the country and recently won the Detroit News 'Truck of the Year' award.

GM Truck Sales
For December, GM truck sales (301,528) were up 36 percent. December utility vehicle sales were an all-time monthly record for GM (139,749) and were up 56 percent as GM became the first manufacturer ever to top 1.2 million SUV sales in a calendar year. GM's midsize utility sales for the month were 57,967, an increase of 50 percent. GM's December sales of full-size utility vehicles (69,630 units) were up 47 percent from year-ago levels. GM also posted strong full-size pickup sales in December (108,226), an increase of 21 percent.

GM Car Sales
For December, GM had very strong car sales (172,135), increasing 37 percent overall. The Buick LeSabre (up 105 percent), the new Saab 9-3 (up 88 percent), Chevrolet Corvette (up 80 percent), Chevrolet Malibu (up 74 percent), Chevrolet Impala (up 50 percent), and the Cadillac DeVille (up 24 percent) all had substantial gains over last December. The new Cadillac CTS posted another healthy sales month of 4,623 units and the new Pontiac Vibe had another solid month, selling 5,003 units.

Certified Used Cars
GM's industry-leading certified used car program sold approximately30,149 total certified used vehicles in December, including the Cadillac, Saturn and Saab certified brands. The GM Certified Used Vehicle brand posted strong sales once again, selling 24,559 units. " For the year, we achieved more than 385,000 sales, a phenomenal effort by GM dealers, GMAC and the entire VSSM organization," Smith said. "Certified used vehicle sales exceeded our expectations and we expect to continue strong growth in 2003."

Click here to view the General Motors Corporation December 2002 Sales and Production data

GM Announces December and Fourth Quarter
Production Results, First-Quarter 2003 Production Forecasts In December, GM produced 382,000 vehicles (158,900 cars and 223,100 trucks) in North America, compared to 362,000 vehicles (162,000 cars and 200,000 trucks)produced in December 2001. (Production totals include joint venture production of 10,800 vehicles in December 2002 and 5,200 vehicles in December 2001.)

In the fourth-quarter of 2002, GM built 1.425 million units (601,000 cars and 824,000 trucks) in North America. In the fourth-quarter of 2001, GM produced 1.294 million units (573,000 cars and 721,000 trucks) in North America.

In addition, GM's 2003 first-quarter production forecast for North America remains unchanged at 1.4 million units (560,000 cars and 840,000 trucks). In the first quarter of 2002, GM North America produced 1.353 million vehicles (600,000 cars, 753,000 trucks).

GM also announced current production forecasts for the first quarter of 2003 for its international regions:

• GM Europe -- The region's revised first -quarter production forecast is 490,000 vehicles, down 4,000 vehicles from last month's initial forecast.
• GM Asia Pacific -- GM Asia Pacific's current first-quarter forecast remains unchanged at 72,000 vehicles.
• GM Latin America, Africa and the Middle East -- The regions' current first-quarter production forecast is 138,000 units, up 4,000 units from last month's initial forecast.

More information on GM can be found at www.gm.com.

Note: GM sales and production results are available on GM Media OnLine at http://media.gm.com by clicking on News, then Sales/Production. In this press release and related comments by General Motors management, our use of the words "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "forecast," "objective," "plan," "goal" and similar expressions is intended to identify forward looking statements. While these statements represent our current judgment on what the future may hold, and we believe these judgments are reasonable, actual results may differ materially due to numerous important factors that are described in GM's most recent report on SEC Form 10-K (at page 11-15, 16) which may be revised or supplemented in subsequent reports on SEC Forms 10-Q and 8-K. Such factors include, among others, the following: changes in economic conditions, currency exchange rates or political stability; shortages of fuel, labor strikes or work stoppages; market acceptance of the corporation's new products; significant changes in the competitive environment; changes in laws, regulations and tax rates; and, the ability of the corporation to achieve reductions in cost and employment levels to realize production efficiencies and implement capital expenditures at levels and times planned by management.