GM Sales Anaylsis U.S. Market

GM Truck Sales

• GM’s May truck sales were up 11 percent compared to last year, establishing a new industry record for May truck sales and best ever May sales for sport utility vehicles.  GM continues to lead the industry in truck sales with 67,700 more deliveries for the month than its nearest competitor.  Through the first five months of the year, GM established nearly a 202,000 unit sales lead. 

Full-Size Pickups

• GM again led the industry in full-size pickup sales, with 90,531 deliveries, widening its lead over the competition to more than 30,000 units for the year.  GM full-size pickup sales in May were paced by Chevrolet Silverado sales (63,029), up 3 percent and GMC Sierra sales, which gained 13 percent (19,338) over May 2003.  Chevrolet Avalanche deliveries were down 3 percent (8,164).  The combined April sales of Chevrolet Silverado and Avalanche and GMC Sierra accounted for 39.5 percent of the segment.   

GM Utility Vehicles

• Deliveries of GM utility vehicles achieved best-ever May sales with 131,411 deliveries, a 19 percent gain over last May.   This was the third month this year that GM utility sales surpassed 100,000 units, a monthly sales level no other manufacturer has ever achieved.  Every utility segment was up versus last May.  Medium utilities were up 2.5 percent, large utilities improved 8 percent, small utility sales climbed 130 percent; and large luxury utilities were up 13 percent. 

GM Cars

• GM car sales in May were flat compared to year-ago levels (-0.4 percent).  Large car deliveries were up 15 percent, led by Buick LeSabre, which was up 11 percent.  Sales of luxury vehicles increased 0.5 percent, paced by strong sales of Cadillac CTS, up 25 percent and Chevrolet Corvette, which gained 45.5 percent.  Among GM’s launch vehicles, the Chevrolet Aveo had its best sales month to date (4,993), 28 percent above April.  GM’s calendar year-to-date share of the passenger car market is up 0.2 share points.

*Calculated on a selling days basis.

May 2004 GM segment performance:  GM increased its share of the following vehicle segments vs. May 2003.

Cars

Economy cars (+30.3 points)
Large cars (+4.8 points)
Large luxury cars (+1.4 points)
Ultra luxury cars (+3.0 points)
High sport cars (+7.1 points)
Regular sport cars (+2.2 points)

Trucks
Light duty (+0.8 points)
Small utilities (+8.5 points)
Medium luxury utilities (+8.1 points)
Large utilities (+3.6 points)
Large luxury utilities (+1.5 points)
Large vans (+6.6 points)

• Best-selling GM trucks: GM ranked four trucks on the industry’s Top 20 best-selling truck list for May: Chevrolet Silverado (#2), Chevrolet TrailBlazer (#7), GMC Sierra (#8) and Chevrolet Tahoe (#10).
   
• Best-selling GM cars: GM ranked six cars on the industry’s Top 20 best-selling car list for May: Chevrolet Impala (#7), Pontiac Grand Am (#9), Chevrolet Cavalier (#10), Pontiac Grand Prix (#13), Buick LeSabre (#14) and Chevrolet Malibu (#15). 

Divisional Sales Highlights

BUICK

• Buick truck sales were up 53 percent over last year.
• Rendezvous sales improved 23.5 percent, a new monthly record.
• Rainier sales were up 32 percent over April.
• LeSabre deliveries gained 11 percent compared to last year.

CADILLAC

• Cadillac truck sales increased 108 percent, led by Escalade sales, which improved 40 percent, setting a new May record.
• Escalade ESV sales improved 59 percent, achieving its best-ever sales, and Escalade EXT deliveries gained 12 percent.
• SRX had its best sales month since launch.
• CTS sales continued strong, up 25 percent from year-ago levels and setting a new monthly record.

CHEVROLET

• Chevrolet had its highest sales volume for the year, with 225,936 deliveries.  Sales momentum continued with 5,000 more deliveries than last year.
• This was the third-best May sales for Chevrolet full-size pickups in the last 25 years.
• Aveo and Colorado posted their best sales since their launch.
• Suburban deliveries were 14.5 percent higher than last year.
• Malibu sales were 28 percent higher than the previous month.
• Equinox sold almost 9,000 vehicles in May, surpassing the Toyota RAV4.

GMC

• Yukon, Yukon XL and total Yukon sales achieved record May sales.  It also was a record sales month for Yukon Denali and Denali XL.  The Yukon family continues to set the pace for another record-breaking year.  Yukon sales remain strong in the west, with almost 30 percent of sales taking place in that region.
• Canyon sales continue to rise.  As inventory levels build, sales performance continues to improve.  Canyon Crew Cab sales have been particularly strong.

HUMMER

• HUMMER sales were 1,982 and H2 SUV sales were 1,919.  HUMMER June sales will include the 2005 H2 SUT, which began shipping to dealers in late May.

PONTIAC

• Bonneville sales increased 34 percent compared to year-ago levels.  Calendar year-to-date sales were up 14 percent.
• Grand Prix sales gained 45 percent versus last May and were up 49 percent through the first five months of the year.

SAAB

• Saab 9-5/9000 deliveries improved 13 percent compared to last May.

SATURN

• Saturn achieved its fourth consecutive month of sales increases this year.
• Vue sales performance was solid.  May sales were up 78 percent compared to last year and up 24 percent for the calendar year-to-date.

VSSM Certified Used Vehicles – May 2004

• Total GM certified used vehicle sales were 44,182 units, up 8 percent from the previous month and up 4 percent from May 2003.
• GM Certified Used Vehicles, the industry’s top-selling certified brand, had 36,556 sales in May, up 8 percent from the previous month and up 3 percent from last May.
• Cadillac Certified Pre-Owned May sales were down 5 percent from the previous month and down 13 percent compared to year-ago levels.
• Saab Certified Pre-Owned sales were up 1 percent from April 2004, but down 19 percent versus year-ago levels.
• Used Cars from Saturn sales improved 30 percent from the previous month and 25 percent from last May.
• GM Certified Used Vehicles leads the certified pre-owned category in sales, selling 180,175 units for the calendar year-to-date, up more than 8 percent compared to the same year-ago period.
• Through May, GM certified pre-owned sales for all GM brands were 214,946, up 8 percent from the same period last year.

Street Talk
The following statement on GM’s efforts regarding advanced technology vehicles is from Autos Insider, by John McCormick (May 27, 2004):

“In the long term, General Motors Corp. has a strategy that may well make an even bigger difference (regarding fuel consumption).  GM’s plan to roll out a series of hybrid versions of several large truck and sport utility models, as well as cars, could put up to one million extra fuel-efficient vehicles on the roads by 2007.”

Note:  GM sources sales data (including competitive data) from Ward’s Communications on a monthly basis.