GM Offers Additional Employee Purchase Incentives

DETROIT, Sept 24, 2003; Reuters reported that General Motors Corp. said on Wednesday it was offering its 159,000 U.S. employees a $1,000 discount on a new car or truck in an attempt to boost U.S. vehicle sales this month.

The $1,000 incentive, which expires on Sept. 30, is also being extended to tens of thousands of employees at GM suppliers and dealers, the company said.

The discount can be applied to most of GM's 2003 and 2004 models, even the Hummer H2, which had been excluded from most of GM's sales incentive programs.

Excluded from the program is the Cadillac CTS sedan, the Cadillac SRX sport utility vehicle, the Cadillac XLR roadster and the new Chevrolet SSR sports pickup, said GM spokeswoman Deborah Silverman.

A Dearborn, Michigan, car salesman said the new incentive immediately boosted sales.

"It's made for some extremely cheap payments," he said. "We sold 10 or 11 (vehicles) yesterday. That's pretty good for a Tuesday."

GM has led Detroit's price war, increasing sales incentives as the U.S. economy slowed. Sales incentives have continued to grow even though the economy is showing signs of recovery.

In August, GM led all major automakers in incentives, offering an average of $4,370 per vehicle, compared to the industry average of $3,004, according to industry tracking firm Autodata Co