Sales up 15.2 Percent Compared To MayDETROIT - General Motors' dealers in the United States sold 413,473 new cars and trucks in June, the company's best sales performance year-to-date, up 15.2 percent, or about 68,000 units, compared with May."I am proud of our June sales results, especially since they reflect our highest sales month so far this year," said Mark LaNeve, General Motors North America vice president, Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing. "Our launch vehicles had their best sales results so far this year, as evidenced by the sales gains of our all-new full-size utilities. We also had strong sales of the Chevrolet Impala (30,716 vehicles), HHR (9,503), Buick Lucerne (10,690), Pontiac G6 (17,074) and Torrent (4,789)." GM posted strong passenger car sales with Pontiac leading the way, up 28.7 percent over May and up 12.1 percent over June 2005 on the strength of G6 and G6 convertible hardtop sales. G6 set an all-time sales record and is up 39.9 percent for the first six months of the year. Solstice continues to be one of the hottest cars in the country, and the Torrent crossover also achieved an all-time sales record, up 35.8 percent over May. Other GM divisions posted solid results with Saturn sales up 49.1 percent over May levels. Chevrolet small cars posted robust sales with Cobalt up 21.9 percent, and Aveo up 23.5 percent, compared with May. Also, Impala sales were up 24.6 percent over May. On the truck side of the market, GM sold 33,148 2007 full-size utilities (including Luxury) in June. Total sales of all GM launch vehicles were up 21.8 percent compared with May and accounted for 25.5 percent of GM's total deliveries for the month. The success of GM's launch vehicles is one of the key components of GM's North America turnaround plan. "Our customers have told us that success in the marketplace depends on a combination of great new products, strong brands and segment-leading fuel economy, and that is exactly the turnaround strategy we are executing," LaNeve said. Chevrolet HHR, Equinox, Saturn Vue and Pontiac Torrent pushed total small utility sales up 25.3 percent compared with a year ago. HHR had its best retail sales month since launch setting an all-time sales record for June and CYTD. GM sports cars also posted solid June sales results, with a 60.1 percent improvement compared with year-ago levels. Corvette sales were up 21.6 percent and Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky continue their brisk sales, with Solstice remaining on dealers' lots an average of 13 days and Sky remaining on lots 10 days. GM's luxury utilities posted strong sales in June, with the all-new 2007 Cadillac Escalade selling 2,604 units; 2007 Escalade ESV selling 1,782 units; and Cadillac SRX sales increasing 31.6 percent compared with one year ago with 2,489 units sold. GM will continue to introduce an array of new vehicles throughout 2006, including the Saturn AURA, all-new Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickups, the fuel-efficient Saturn Vue Green Line Hybrid, and GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook crossovers. June 2005 was the strongest sales month in 19 years with 558,092 deliveries. Compared with last year, June 2006 sales were down 25.9 percent with total car sales down 2.3 percent, and truck sales down 36.8 percent. "By any measure... quality of share, launch performance, mix and revenue ... June was a very solid month for GM. Comparing our total volume with last year's employee discount-driven phenomenon is like comparing a home run to a grand slam. Either way, you are scoring runs," said LaNeve. Certified Used Vehicles June sales for all certified GM brands, including GM Certified Used Vehicles, Cadillac Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, Used Cars from Saturn, Saab Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles and HUMMER Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, were 43,352 units, equivalent to results last June. Total year-to-date certified GM sales are 263,597 units, up 1.5 percent from the same period last year. GM Certified Used Vehicles, the industry's top-selling certified pre-owned brand, posted 37,155 sales in June, up 4 percent from June 2005. Year-to-date sales for GM Certified Used Vehicles are 228,678 units, up 4 percent. GM Certified Used Vehicles, which sells Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac, GMC and Oldsmobile models, reached a major milestone in June with the sale of its 2 millionth unit. GM Certified, the first manufacturer-certified brand to cross the 2 million sales threshold, set new category records for certified sales each of the last four years, and Chevrolet has been the industry's top-selling single-line make certified used vehicle since 2004. More than 1 million GM Certified units have been sold since 2004 and GM Certified is on track to set another annual sales record for the category this year. Cadillac Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles posted 3,618 sales in June, up 6 percent from last June. Used Cars from Saturn sold 1,631 units, down 51 percent. Saab Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles sold 857 units, down 10 percent. In its sixth month of operation, HUMMER Certified Pre-Owned sold 91 units. "June was another strong month for GM Certified Used Vehicles, the industry's top-selling certified pre-owned brand, with sales up 4 percent over last June and up more than 4 percent year-to-date over the same period last year," LaNeve said. "This month GM Certified Used Vehicles became the industry's first manufacturer-certified brand to reach 2 million sales and is key to our strategy to give customers terrific value on both new and certified used vehicles." GM North America Reports June and 2006 Second Quarter Production; 2006 Third Quarter Production Forecast Remains Unchanged at 1.050 Million Vehicles In June, GM North America produced 458,500 vehicles (172,500 cars and 286,000 trucks). This is up 40,000 units or 10 percent compared to June 2005 when the region produced 418,500 vehicles (144,500 cars and 274,000 trucks). (Production totals include joint venture production of 27,000 vehicles in June 2006 and 23,000 vehicles in June 2005.) Also, GM North America built 1.237 million vehicles (462,000 cars and 775,000 trucks) in the second quarter of 2006. This is down 10,000 units or 1 percent compared to second quarter 2005 when the region produced 1.247 million vehicles (458,000 cars and 789,000 trucks). Additionally, the region's 2006 third quarter production forecast remains unchanged at 1.050 million vehicles (405,000 cars and 645,000 trucks). 9; GM also announced 2006 revised second and third quarter production forecasts for its international regions. GM Europe - The region's 2006 second quarter production forecast remains unchanged at 502,000 vehicles. In the second quarter of 2005 the region built 501,000 vehicles. The region's 2006 third quarter production forecast also remains unchanged at 372,000 vehicles. In the third quarter of 2005 the region built 412,000 vehicles. GM Asia Pacific - GM Asia Pacific's 2006 second quarter production forecast is revised at 489,000 vehicles, down 15,000 units from last month's guidance. In the second quarter of 2005 the region built 398,000 vehicles. The region's 2006 third quarter production forecast is revised at 506,000 vehicles, down 10,000 units from last month's guidance. In the third quarter of 2005 the region built 409,000 vehicles. GM Latin America, Africa and the Middle East - The region's 2006 second quarter production estimate is revised at 207,000 vehicles, down 8,000 units from last month's guidance. In the second quarter of 2005 the region built 195,000 vehicles. The region's 2006 third quarter production forecast remains unchanged at 217,000 vehicles. In the third quarter of 2005 the region built 207,000 vehicles. 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. With global headquarters in Detroit, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 33 countries. In 2005, 9.17 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Vauxhall. GM operates one of the world's leading finance companies, GMAC Financial Services, which offers automotive, residential and commercial financing and insurance. GM's OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. More information on GM can be found at www.gm.com. Note: GM sales and production results are available on GM Media OnLine at http://media.gm.com by clicking on News, then Sales/Production. In this press release and related comments by General Motors management, we use words like "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "forecast," "objective," "plan," "goal" and similar expressions to identify forward looking statements, representing our current judgment about possible future events. We believe these judgments are reasonable, but actual results may differ materially due to a variety of important factors. Among other items, such factors might include: the pace of introductions and market acceptance of new products; the effect of competition on our markets and significant changes in the competitive environment; price increases or shortages of fuel; and changes in laws, regulations or tax rates. GM's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly report on Form 10-Q provide information about these factors, which may be revised or supplemented in future reports to the SEC on Form 10-Q or 8-K. Source: General Motors Corp. |