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GM Europe February 2006 Sales Results


March 2006
 Filed under: GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATE Car News | GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATE Headlines

Best-ever February for Saab; Opel strong number two in home market; Vauxhall strong with Corsa and Zafira; Chevrolet maintains sales momentum with 22 percent increase

Zurich. In February 2006, GM Europe was able to increase vehicle sales of its brands in total Europe to over 135,400 units, an increase of 1.6 percent over the year-ago period. GME's February market share was 9.1 percent.
GME's February market share for passenger cars (excluding commercial vehicles) in total Europe was 9.8 percent. With total sales of 123,800 passenger cars, the company gained 1.3 percent with its Cadillac, Saab, Opel/Vauxhall and Chevrolet brands. In Western and Central Europe, GM sold 114,533 passenger cars and achieved a market share of over 10 percent.

Jonathan Browning, GME Vice President, Sales & Marketing, said: "Our sales volume is growing steadily. We are particularly pleased about the rapid development at Chevrolet and Saab set another record volume in February. For Opel and Vauxhall we have concentrated on improving revenue and product mix, emphasizing the quality rather than quantity of sales. This will be the pattern for 2006.”

Cadillac

The new Cadillac BLS goes on sales in the near future. It will be available from April 8, 2006 and will be distributed via a network of 164 dealerships and 17 experience centers in Europe. This will be the first ever European-build Cadillac, which will also be available with a diesel engine. In February, the brand sold 258 Cadillacs in Europe.

Saab on the road to success

Saab achieved its best-ever February sales results in Europe. With 5,554 units sold, the Swedish brand registered an increase of 31 percent over the year-earlier period. Globally, Saab sold 8,974 vehicles, an increase of 21 percent compared to February 2005. In its home market of Sweden, Saab saw a 26 percent gain. Saab’s best-selling model of the month in Europe was the Saab 9.3 Sport Combi.

Opel remains number two in home market

In February 2006, Opel passenger-car sales in its home market of Germany were up by some 900 units, or 0.3 percentage points, from the same month last year. Opel sold a total of 22,172 units, had a market share of 10.3 percent and was thus able to maintain its number-two position in Germany. The largest gains were registered by the Vectra (plus 21 percent) and the Zafira (plus 41 percent). Astra registrations also grew (plus 2.6 percent), making the model the number one among compact wagons and the number two in the compact segment. At 95,315 units, passenger-car sales of Opel and its U.K. sister brand, Vauxhall, in total Europe this February were slightly below those of the year-ago period (97,453 units). Market share in February was 7.6 percent.

Opel/Vauxhall was able to grow its total Europe commercial-vehicle sales in the past month by over 6 percent, to 11,474 units, versus February 2005.

Vauxhall, Opel’s sister brand in the U.K., sold 13,861 passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in the U.K. in February. Although the U.K. market continued to be difficult in February, there were still enough buyers around to ensure that the Corsa and Zafira both topped their segment sales charts. This helped Vauxhall to see a rise in retail sales of 5.8 percent compared to the same month last year in a retail market that was actually down by a massive 11 percent. It was a strong month for Vauxhall van sales, too. The Combo was the best-selling light van once again, and Vivaro registrations increased by 21 percent in February compared to the same month last year. Both these strong performances saw Vauxhall’s share of the van market rise to 19.5 percent in February, up from 18.6 percent in 2005. The year-to-date figures are even more impressive: up at 19.6 percent from 16.3 percent in 2005.

Chevrolet Europe sales up 22.6 percent

Chevrolet Europe posted strong rising sales in the first two months of 2006. In February, Chevrolet sold 19,660 cars versus 16,040 in February 2005 (plus 22.6 percent). The sales increase over the first two months of 2005 was over 16 percent – from 31,757 vehicles to over 36,800. In the month of February, market share rose from 1.11 to 1.31 percent in total Europe. The highest growth rate in February was recorded in Russia, where sales increased from 938 units to over 3,200 units (+ 243 percent). In all of Central and Eastern Europe, sales grew by 34 percent. Outstanding February results were recorded in Spain (plus 54.5 percent), in Italy (plus 51.8 percent), in Portugal (plus 43.9 percent), in Belgium (plus 33.6 percent) and in Greece (plus 47 percent). In the Ukraine, Chevrolet achieved a market share of over 9.8 percent in February.

General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world’s largest automaker, has been the global industry sales leader for 75 years. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 327,000 people around the world. It has manufacturing operations in 33 countries and its vehicles are sold in 200 countries. In 2005, GM sold 9.17 million cars and trucks globally, up 2 percent and the second-highest total in the company’s history. In Europe, GM sells its Opel, Vauxhall, Saab, Chevrolet, Cadillac, Corvette and Hummer ranges in over 30 markets. It operates 11 production and assembly facilities in eight countries and employs around 64,500 people. GM operates one of the world’s leading finance companies, GMAC Financial Services, which offers automotive, residential and commercial financing and insurance. More information on GM can be found at http://media.gmeurope.com and http://www.gmeurope.com.

Source: GM

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