GM Reports January Sales of 299,050, Down 2 Percent

Record Sport Utility Sales Up 27 Percent

DETROIT – General Motors dealers sold 299,050 new cars and trucks in January, down 2 percent compared to January 2003. GM's truck sales(174,597) were up 13 percent. Car sales (124,453) were down 17 percent.

“January sales results were below expectations. While we had good results in some divisions with sales increases at Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac, a new industry record in sport utility sales and strong truck sales overall, car sales and sales in certain regions were disappointing,” said John Smith, group vice president of GM North America Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing. “However, we're beginning our launch of 29 new vehicles this year, including the Chevrolet Equinox, Cadillac STS, Saturn ION Coupe Redline and Pontiac G6, and we expect these vehicles to further build on the momentum we achieved during the second half of 2003.”

GM Truck Sales

GM's industry-leading truck lineup posted healthy sales in January. Total truck sales were up 13 percent, and sales of sport utility vehicles (89,965) were up 27 percent, setting a new January record. Full-size pickup sales (59,104) increased 15 percent. Chevrolet full-size pickup sales (47,041) improved 14 percent, and GMC Sierra sales (12,063) were 17 percent above year-ago levels. Deliveries of large utilities (32,524) improved 50 percent, paced by Chevrolet Tahoe (13,395), up 50 percent and GMC Yukon (6,532), up 77 percent.

GM Car Sales

GM's overall car sales declined 17 percent in January, although key luxury models continued to perform well. Cadillac CTS had 3,278 deliveries, up 12 percent and a monthly record. Chevrolet Corvette sales (2,986) were up 96 percent. Additionally, key new products such as the Cadillac XLR, Chevrolet Malibu, SSR and Aveo and Pontiac GTO are continuing to ramp up.

Divisional Highlights

Chevrolet – Chevrolet had a solid sales performance in January with 167,199 deliveries, 8 percent above last year. Truck deliveries (112,387) were up 10 percent, led by Silverado (40,966), with a 9 percent improvement and Tahoe (13,395), which was up 50 percent. Other Chevrolet trucks with sales increases included Avalanche (6,075), up 65.5 percent, TrailBlazer (20,274) with a 24.5 percent improvement and Suburban (8,373), up 32 percent. Impala had record sales of 19,161 units, a 10 percent increase over last year. SSR sales (948) continued to build with its third consecutive month of sales improvements.

Cadillac – Cadillac sales in January (14,761) were up 1 percent compared to last year. Truck sales established a new January record (5,234), up 77 percent. Continuing strong sales of the Escalade portfolio (3,727) resulted in a 26 percent improvement over last year. Escalade ESV set a monthly record with 787 deliveries, up 99 percent. EXT also had record monthly sales with 722 deliveries, a 5 percent increase. CTS sales improved 12 percent with 3,278 deliveries, setting a January record. The XLR, Cadillac's latest entry into the luxury car market, continues to garner very favorable reactions from consumers, dealers and the press.

GMC – GMC continued its strong sales performance establishing a new January record with 38,902 deliveries, a 33 percent increase. Sierra sales (12,063) were up 17 percent. Other GMC trucks that had sales improvements included Envoy (10,004) with a 38 percent increase; Yukon (6,532), up 77 percent and a new January record; and Yukon XL (4,224), which improved 59 percent.

HUMMER – HUMMER's January sales were 1,927 units. H2 sales (1,897) were affected by low stock due to an exceptionally high level of H2 sales in December 2003.

Pontiac – Grand Prix deliveries totaled 10,873, up 6 percent over last year. GTO sold 476 vehicles in January.

Saturn – VUE sales were 5,589, representing a 31 improvement over year-ago levels and a new monthly record. ION sales (7,460) were up 33 percent.

Certified Used Vehicles

Across all GM certified brands, January sales were 42,147 units, up 15 percent from 2003.

GM Certified Used Vehicles, the top selling manufacturer-certified brand, had strong January sales of 35,390 units, an increase of 15 percent over January 2003. Cadillac Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles had sales of 2,875 units in January, up 18 percent. Saturn Certified sold 3,123 units, a 10 percent improvement. Saab Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles had 759 deliveries, up 52 percent.

“GM Certified Used Vehicles had a strong start to 2004 with robust January sales, the second-highest monthly sales performance ever for the certified segment,” Smith said. “Each of the GM certified brands, including Cadillac, Saab and Saturn, posted double-digit increases for the month.”

GM North America Announces January Production Results; 2004 First-Quarter Production Forecast Remains Unchanged

In January, GM North America produced 380,500 vehicles (144,500 cars and 236,000 trucks), compared to 484,000 vehicles (216,000 cars and 268,000 trucks) produced in January 2003. Production totals include joint venture production of approximately 11,500 vehicles in January and 15,500 vehicles in January 2003.

In addition, GM's current first-quarter production forecast for North America remains unchanged at 1.35 million vehicles (533,000 cars and 817,000 trucks). In the first quarter of 2003, GM built 1.451 million vehicles (591,000 cars and 860,000 trucks).

GM also announced current first-quarter production estimates for its international regions:

GM Europe – The region's 2004 current first-quarter production estimate is 468,000 vehicles, down 2,000 vehicles from last month's forecast. In the first quarter of 2003, the region built 491,000 vehicles.

GM Asia Pacific – The region's current 2004 first-quarter production forecast is 116,000 vehicles, down 6,000 vehicles from last month's guidance. In the first quarter of 2003, the region built 77,000 vehicles.

GM Latin America, Africa and the Middle East – The region's revised 2004 first-quarter production forecast is 157,000 vehicles, down 12,000 vehicles from last month's estimate of 169,000 vehicles. In the first quarter of 2003, the region built 127,000 vehicles.