September 2012: General Motors

DETROIT – General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) today reported its highest September U.S. sales since 2008: 210,245 vehicles, up 1.5 percent compared with a year ago. New products helped drive a 29 percent increase in passenger car sales. Sales of GM’s mini, small and compact cars alone were up a combined 97 percent, and all GM brands increased their retail sales.

“Passenger cars have been the launch point for a broad and deep GM product offensive,” said Kurt McNeil, vice president of U.S. sales operations. “Auto sales will continue to be a bright spot for the U.S. economy, which is particularly good news for GM as we walk into an even stronger cadence of new products in 2013 and 2014.”

GM has moved aggressively to replace existing vehicles with better designs, more technology and improved fuel economy. At the same time, GM is entering growth segments and offering new entry points for each brand. Seventy percent of GM nameplates will be all new or redesigned in 2012 and 2013.

September’s car sales increase reflected a strong start for the new Chevrolet Spark and Cadillac XTS, continued strong sales of the Buick Verano, Chevrolet Cruze and Chevrolet Sonic, and a second consecutive sales record for the Chevrolet Volt. September also marked the first deliveries of the all-new Cadillac ATS.

The GMC Terrain and Acadia crossovers had strong months as well, with sales up 8 percent and 16 percent, respectively. This helped drive a 3 percent increase for all GM crossovers versus a year ago.

Truck sales were down 20 percent due to a 46 percent year-over-year reduction in fleet sales due to the timing of customer deliveries. In the large pickup segment, GM’s total sales were down 12 percent and fleet sales were down 56 percent. However, GM reduced its large pickup inventories by approximately 8,600 units compared with August, and earned average transaction prices more than $2,300 per unit above a year ago with the lowest incentive spending in the industry, according to J.D. Power PIN data.