GM SALES RESULTS
FOR RELEASE: October 2, 2001 Industry on Track for Third-Best Sales Year
GM Announces September and 3rd Quarter Production Results and 4th Quarter Estimates
- GM SUVs on Industry Record Pace
- GM September Truck Sales up 10%, GM Car Sales Off 14%
- Overall September Sales Down 3%
DETROIT --General Motors dealers sold 388,365 new cars and trucks in September in the United States, a 3 percent decline from September 2000. Industry sales -- obviously adversely impacted by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 -- appear to be performing stronger than expected, keeping the industry on pace for the third-best year ever.
"As the leading U.S. automaker, we have a responsibility to help stimulate the economy by making it easier and more affordable for Americans to buy our vehicles," said Bill Lovejoy, group vice president of North America Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing. "Consumers, by their actions, have provided a great deal of encouragement for our retail program "Keep America Rolling." And, we are pleased and gratified by the positive response of our dealer network and the way they are actively supporting this program."
Lovejoy continued, "The message is clear for all Americans in the weeks and months ahead -- business and consumers need to pull together to strengthen our nation's confidence and to keep the economy moving forward. At General Motors, we are working closely with our dealers to keep pushing to build sales and we have every reason to maintain our long-term confidence in the U.S. economy and we are committed to doing what we can to keep the economy strong and to improve consumer confidence."
GM SALES HIGHLIGHTS
GM sales were up six percent in the first ten days of September versus last year, then declined significantly following September 11th before increasing 22 percent in the last week of the month.
GM increased its truck leadership with 205,710 sales in September, led by the strength of its midsize utilities, full-size utilities and full-size pickups. The strongest results in September came once again from sport utility vehicle (SUV) sales, keeping GM on pace to set an all-time industry SUV calendar year record. GM's full-size utilities (44,381 units - up 33% over last year) dominated the industry once again in September led by the Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon, Yukon XL as well as increased sales of the all-new Cadillac Escalade. GM's all-new midsize SUVs, the Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy, Oldsmobile Bravada and Buick Rendezvous continued to gain sales momentum (34,385 units), increasing GM's midsize utility sales by 36% from last September. GM maintained its leadership in full-size pickups in September (81,874 units - up 23% over last year) and is on pace for the best year since 1978.
New and innovative entries Buick Rendezvous, Chevrolet Avalanche and Cadillac Escalade are increasing in availability and GM expects its strong truck performance to continue in the fourth quarter.
GM reported another positive sales month of approximately 12,400 total used certified vehicles, including the Cadillac and Saturn certified brands. The GM Certified Used Vehicle brand achieved record numbers for the fourth consecutive month (9,893 units).
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September Sales Records CYTD Records | Third Quarter Records Chevrolet Impala Saab 9-5 Chevrolet Trucks GM Utilities GM Midsize Utilities GM Full-Size Utilities Chevrolet Full-Size Utilities Chevrolet Tahoe GMC Yukon and Yukon XL Cadillac Escalade |
Due to relative marketplace uncertainties in the near term, GM is modestly revising its outlook for U.S. industry vehicle sales for the 2001 calendar year to the mid-16 million unit level, with expectations that retail vehicle sales will hold up reasonably well through the fourth quarter. Additionally, GM is revising its U.S. industry sales forecast for 2002 calendar year to between 15.5 - 16 million vehicle sales.
GM Announces September and 3rd-Quarter Production Results, 4th-Quarter 2001 Estimate
In September, GM produced 448,000 vehicles (210,000 cars and 238,000 trucks) in North America, down from 499,000 vehicles (255,000 cars and 244,000 trucks) produced in September 2000. (Production totals include joint venture production of 8,000 vehicles in September 2001 and 12,000 vehicles in September 2000.)
In the third quarter, GM produced 1.237 million vehicles (573,000 cars and 664,000 trucks) in North America, down from 1.319 million vehicles (689,000 cars and 630,000, trucks) produced in the third quarter of 2000.
Additionally, GM modestly reduced its fourth-quarter production estimate to a range of 1.270 million to 1.290 million vehicles, a reduction of about 30-50,000 below its most recent estimate and about 5-7 percent below last year. GM's forecast revision is the result of a reduction in overtime and reduced orders from daily rental companies.
GM also announced the following production estimates for its international regions:
- GM Europe - The fourth-quarter estimate is 439,000 vehicles, up from the previous estimate of 436,000 vehicles.
- GM Asia Pacific - The fourth-quarter estimate is 83,000 vehicles, down from the previous estimate of 84,000 vehicles.
- GM Latin America, Africa and the Middle East - The fourth-quarter estimate is 145,000 vehicles, down from the previous estimate of 154,000 vehicles.
As the company continues to monitor consumer confidence and the economy, it will make appropriate changes to its sales and production estimates. GM expects to provide any update when it reports third-quarter financial results on October 18, 2001.
Note: GM sales and production results are available on GM Media Online at http://media.gm.com by clicking on the Sales/Production icon.
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 judgement on what the future may hold, and we believe these judgements 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 II-20) 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.
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Click here to view the General Motors Corporation September 2001 Sales and Production data
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Curr S/D: 24 | ||||||
|
September |
Calendar Year-to-Date | |||||
|
2001 |
2000 |
% Chg |
2001 |
2000 |
% Chg | |
|
Vehicle Total |
388,365 |
416,070 |
-2.8 |
3,623,473 |
3,887,031 |
-6.8 |
|
Car Total |
182,655 |
221,596 |
-14.1 |
1,757,143 |
2,008,952 |
-12.5 |
|
Truck Total |
205,710 |
194,474 |
10.2 |
1,866,330 |
1,878,079 |
-0.6 |
|
Light Truck Total |
203,361 |
192,294 |
10.2 |
1,835,438 |
1,846,639 |
-0.6 |
|
Light Vehicle Total |
386,016 |
413,890 |
-2.8 |
3,592,581 |
3,855,591 |
-6.8 |
|
Market Division Vehicle Total | ||||||
|
Buick |
36,845 |
37,150 |
3.3 |
300,654 |
321,923 |
-6.6 |
|
Cadillac |
16,945 |
19,396 |
-9.0 |
124,973 |
148,390 |
-15.8 |
|
Chevrolet |
212,075 |
213,515 |
3.5 |
1,957,652 |
2,047,653 |
-4.4 |
|
GMC |
41,500 |
40,855 |
5.8 |
391,757 |
411,525 |
-4.8 |
|
Hummer |
44 |
65 |
-29.5 |
571 |
714 |
-20.0 |
|
Oldsmobile |
16,782 |
22,636 |
-22.8 |
189,470 |
224,637 |
-15.7 |
|
Other - Isuzu |
1,024 |
0 |
***.* |
11,856 |
0 |
***.* |
|
Pontiac |
43,281 |
57,154 |
-21.1 |
418,899 |
486,771 |
-13.9 |
|
Saab |
3,075 |
3,781 |
-15.3 |
27,414 |
28,914 |
-5.2 |
|
Saturn |
16,794 |
21,518 |
-18.7 |
200,227 |
216,504 |
-7.5 |
|
Sales of Domestically Produced Vehicles | ||||||
Car |
178,978 |
216,575 |
-13.9 |
1,720,897 |
1,966,318 |
-12.5 |
Light Truck |
203,361 |
192,294 |
10.2 |
1,835,438 |
1,846,639 |
-0.6 |
|
Twenty-four selling days for the September period this year and twenty-five for last year. | ||||||