FOR RELEASE: 2008-11-03


GM Reports 170,585 Deliveries in October



  • U.S. auto industry at lowest monthly SAAR in more than 25 years

DETROIT – General Motors dealers in the United States delivered 170,585 vehicles in October, down 45 percent compared with a year ago. GM truck sales of 97,119 were down 51 percent and car sales of 73,466 were off 34 percent. The steep decline in vehicle sales was largely due to a significant drop in the market’s retail demand as uncertainty over the deepening credit crisis impacted consumer confidence.
“The market has been shrinking for three years, but in October we saw a dramatic decline for the industry and GM,” said Mark LaNeve, vice president, GM North America Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing. “ We are obviously disappointed in our results which reflect a difficult comparison with a strong year-ago October performance. More importantly, it also reflects an unprecedented credit crunch that is dramatically impacting the entire U.S. economy – from the housing market to big and small companies to banks to family run businesses. The credit freeze has also had a very negative impact on consumers’ confidence and their purchase behavior across America.”
“We outpaced the competition with our sales results in August and September, and fell back with the industry in October. If you adjust for population growth, this is probably the worst industry sales month in the post-WWII era,” LaNeve added. “We believe there is considerable pent-up demand from the last three years, but until the credit markets open up and consumer confidence improves, the entire U.S. economy, and any industry like autos that relies on financing, will suffer.
“We’ll do our part to continue fighting against these significant economic headwinds by bringing consumers the highest quality, most fuel efficient and affordable cars, trucks and crossovers that we can,” he said.
To that end, LaNeve announced that GM’s no-haggle Red Tag Event starts nationwide tomorrow, Nov. 4. The Red Tag Event will provide great deals on most new vehicles in GM’s portfolio by offering a special Red Tag vehicle price and customer cash back. In addition, GM’s recently announced “Financing That Fits” program enables consumers to find financing at affordable rates from GMAC and thousands of other banks, credit unions and financing institutions.
Despite the poor results in October, there were a number of bright spots for individual GM car and truck lines, including:

  • Chevrolet Malibu retail sales were up 129 percent. For the month, Malibu total sales reached nearly 11,000 vehicles. For the year, Malibu retail sales have totaled nearly 98,000 cars, up 134 percent from year-ago figures.
  • The all-new Pontiac Vibe recorded a 6 percent total sales increase in October. Almost 42,000 Vibes have been sold this year, up 36 percent from the prior year.
  • Saab retail sales were up 7.4 percent compared with a year ago, driven by the strong retail performance of the 9-3, which was up more than 16 percent.
  • GM sold 44,500 Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Avalanche full-size pickups in October, further solidifying its segment leadership.
  • GM hybrids continue to build sales momentum and the company has broken through the 10-thousand vehicle sales mark. A total of 1,496 hybrid vehicles were delivered in the month. Hybrid sales included: 372 hybrid Chevrolet Tahoe, 193 GMC Yukon and 230 Cadillac Escalade 2-mode SUVs delivered. There were 325 Chevrolet Malibu, 22 Saturn Aura and 354 Vue hybrids sold in October. GM has sold 10,549 hybrids so far in 2008.

GM continues to proactively manage inventories to align supplies with market demand. In October, only about 799,000 vehicles were in stock, down about 146,000 vehicles (or about 15 percent) compared with last year. There were about 336,000 cars and 463,000 trucks (including crossovers) in inventory at the end of October.
“These are extraordinary times for the U.S. economy, for consumers and for an auto industry that is running at deep recessionary levels relative to 1999-2006,” LaNeve said. “We are offering the highest quality and best value vehicles to customers in our history – along with great incentives. But we can’t do it alone as GM or the auto industry. It will take a coordinated national effort to turn this economy around.”
Certified Used Vehicles
October 2008 sales for all certified GM brands, including GM Certified Used Vehicles, Cadillac Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, Saturn Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, Saab Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, and HUMMER Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, were 33,735 vehicles, down 15 percent from October 2007. Year-to-date sales are 408,451 vehicles, down 7 percent from the same period last year.
GM Certified Used Vehicles, the industry’s top-selling certified brand, posted October sales of 29,167 vehicles, down 16 percent from October 2007. Saturn Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles sold 783 vehicles, down 11 percent. Cadillac Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles sold 3,051 vehicles, down 6 percent. Saab Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles sold 506 vehicles, down 2 percent, and HUMMER Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles sold 228 vehicles, up 75 percent.
“October sales were disappointing for certified GM programs, as consumer uncertainty over the growing credit crisis had a negative impact on consumer confidence and retail demand for both new and used vehicles,” said LaNeve. “Going forward, we will continue offering consumers the tremendous peace of mind and value that comes with a factory-backed, fully inspected and reconditioned, late-model used vehicle from the GM brands they know and trust.”
In October, GM North America produced 318,000 vehicles (151,000 cars and 167,000 trucks). This is down 105,000 vehicles or 25 percent compared with October 2007 when the region produced 423,000 vehicles (152,000 cars and 271,000 trucks). (Production totals include joint venture production of 11,000 vehicles in October 2008 and 18,000 vehicles in October 2007.)
The GM North America fourth-quarter production forecast remains at 875,000 vehicles (407,000 cars and 468,000 trucks) which is down about 16 percent compared with a year ago. GM North America built 1.042 million vehicles (358,000 cars and 684,000 trucks) in the fourth-quarter of 2007.
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world’s largest automaker, has been the annual global industry sales leader for 77 years. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 266,000 people around the world. With global headquarters in Detroit, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 34 countries. In 2007, nearly 9.37 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, Vauxhall and Wuling. 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: market acceptance of our products; shortages of and price increases for fuel; significant changes in the competitive environment and the effect of competition on our markets, including on our pricing policies; our ability to maintain adequate liquidity and financing sources and an appropriate level of debt; and changes in general economic conditions. 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.
*S/D Curr: 27
October
(Calendar Year-to-Date)
January - October
*S/D Prev: 26
2008
2007
% Chg Volume
%Chg per S/D
2008
2007
%Chg Volume
Vehicle Total
170,585
310,008
-45.0
-47.0
2,603,828
3,279,513
-20.6
Car Total
73,466
111,738
-34.3
-36.7
1,111,189
1,267,753
-12.3
Light Truck Total
95,253
195,670
-51.3
-53.1
1,470,196
1,973,748
-25.5
Light Vehicle Total
168,719
307,408
-45.1
-47.1
2,581,385
3,241,501
-20.4
Truck Total
97,119
198,270
-51.0
-52.8
1,492,639
2,011,760
-25.8
GM Vehicle Deliveries by Marketing Division
2008
2007
%Chg Volume
%Chg per S/D
2008
2007
%Chg Volume
Buick Total
7,642
14,231
-46.3
-48.3
120,772
158,146
-23.6
Cadillac Total
9,541
21,267
-55.1
-56.8
139,109
176,249
-21.1
Chevrolet Total
107,313
179,825
-40.3
-42.5
1,567,684
1,928,373
-18.7
GMC Total
21,109
44,456
-52.5
-54.3
326,999
425,694
-23.2
HUMMER Total
1,368
3,864
-64.6
-65.9
23,861
46,624
-48.8
**Other-Isuzu Total
0
0
***.*
***.*
0
7,906
**.*
Pontiac Total
13,054
25,182
-48.2
-50.1
238,762
301,771
-20.9
Saab Total
1,975
2,275
-13.2
-16.4
19,337
27,960
-30.8
Saturn Total
8,583
18,908
-54.6
-56.3
167,304
206,790
-19.1
GM Vehicle Total
170,585
310,008
-45.0
-47.0
2,603,828
3,279,513
-20.6
GM Car Deliveries by Marketing Division
2008
2007
%Chg Volume
%Chg per S/D
2008
2007
%Chg Volume
Buick Total
5,398
9,698
-44.3
-46.4
80,981
112,246
-27.9
Cadillac Total
6,271
13,899
-54.9
-56.6
93,200
106,372
-12.4
Chevrolet Total
43,791
52,740
-17.0
-20.0
627,267
647,883
-3.2
Pontiac Total
12,105
23,037
-47.5
-49.4
220,895
272,164
-18.8
Saab Total
1,659
1,959
-15.3
-18.5
16,187
23,605
-31.4
Saturn Total
4,242
10,405
-59.2
-60.7
72,659
105,483
-31.1
GM Car Total
73,466
111,738
-34.3
-36.7
1,111,189
1,267,753
-12.3
GM Light Truck Deliveries by Marketing Division
2008
2007
%Chg Volume
%Chg per S/D
2008
2007
%Chg Volume
Buick Total
2,244
4,533
-50.5
-52.3
39,791
45,900
-13.3
Cadillac Total
3,270
7,368
-55.6
-57.3
45,909
69,877
-34.3
Chevrolet Total
62,690
125,875
-50.2
-52.0
931,424
1,268,033
-26.5
GMC Total
20,075
43,066
-53.4
-55.1
313,549
408,045
-23.2
HUMMER Total
1,368
3,864
-64.6
-65.9
23,861
46,624
-48.8
Pontiac Total
949
2,145
-55.8
-57.4
17,867
29,607
-39.7
Saab Total
316
316
0.0
-3.7
3,150
4,355
-27.7
Saturn Total
4,341
8,503
-48.9
-50.8
94,645
101,307
-6.6
GM Light Truck Total
95,253
195,670
-51.3
-53.1
1,470,196
1,973,748
-25.5
* Twenty-seven selling days (S/D) for the October period this year and twenty-six for last year.
** Prior to Aug '07, includes American Isuzu Motors, Inc., dealer deliveries of commercial vehicles distributed by GM as reported to GM by American Isuzu Motors Inc.
Effective Aug '07, GM only includes GMC & Chevrolet dealer deliveries of commercial vehicles distributed by American Isuzu Motors, Inc.
CARS
October
(Calendar Year-to-Date)
January - October
2008
2007
% Chg Volume
%Chg per S/D
2008
2007
%Chg Volume
Selling Days (S/D)
27
26

27
26
Century
0
0
***.*
***.*
0
5
**.*
LaCrosse
1,592
3,128
-49.1
-51.0
33,336
41,073
-18.8
LaSabre
0
0
***.*
***.*
0
121
**.*
Lucerne
3,806
6,570
-42.1
-44.2
47,645
71,021
-32.9
Park Avenue
0
0
***.*
***.*
0
26
**.*
Buick Total
5,398
9,698
-44.3
-46.4
80,981
112,246
-27.9
CTS
3,997
6,586
-39.3
-41.6
51,476
44,666
15.2
DeVille
0
0
***.*
***.*
0
71
**.*
DTS
1,590
5,336
-70.2
-71.3
27,380
43,480
-37.0
STS
632
1,862
-66.1
-67.3
13,253
16,630
-20.3
XLR
52
115
-54.8
-56.5
1,091
1,525
-28.5
Cadillac Total
6,271
13,899
-54.9
-56.6
93,200
106,372
-12.4
Aveo
3,162
6,373
-50.4
-52.2
49,782
55,520
-10.3
Cavalier
0
0
***.*
***.*
0
57
**.*
Classic
0
0
***.*
***.*
0
17
**.*
Cobalt
6,478
16,505
-60.8
-62.2
168,940
169,400
-0.3
Corvette
1,170
2,484
-52.9
-54.6
24,554
28,333
-13.3
Impala
22,107
20,791
6.3
2.4
231,841
270,504
-14.3
Malibu
10,874
5,975
82.0
75.3
151,429
108,930
39.0
Monte Carlo
0
610
**.*
**.*
708
14,882
-95.2
SSR
0
2
**.*
**.*
13
240
-94.6
Chevrolet Total
43,791
52,740
-17.0
-20.0
627,267
647,883
-3.2
Bonneville
0
0
***.*
***.*
0
130
**.*
G5
812
2,519
-67.8
-69.0
21,892
23,249
-5.8
G6
6,788
10,805
-37.2
-39.5
126,494
121,278
4.3
G8
1,082
0
***.*
***.*
12,390
0
***.*
Grand Am
0
0
***.*
***.*
0
99
**.*
Grand Prix
148
5,813
-97.5
-97.5
8,252
78,380
-89.5
GTO
0
48
**.*
**.*
52
4,159
-98.7
Solstice
330
1,064
-69.0
-70.1
10,013
14,133
-29.2
Sunfire
0
0
***.*
***.*
0
39
**.*
Vibe
2,945
2,788
5.6
1.7
41,802
30,697
36.2
Pontiac Total
12,105
23,037
-47.5
-49.4
220,895
272,164
-18.8
9-2X
0
0
***.*
***.*
3
118
-97.5
9-3
1,471
1,677
-12.3
-15.5
13,877
19,774
-29.8
9-5
188
282
-33.3
-35.8
2,307
3,713
-37.9
Saab Total
1,659
1,959
-15.3
-18.5
16,187
23,605
-31.4
Astra
543
0
***.*
***.*
9,707
0
***.*
Aura
3,391
4,425
-23.4
-26.2
54,033
50,487
7.0
ION
0
5,135
**.*
**.*
314
45,138
-99.3
Saturn L Series
0
0
***.*
***.*
0
2
**.*
Sky
308
845
-63.6
-64.9
8,605
9,856
-12.7
Saturn Total
4,242
10,405
-59.2
-60.7
72,659
105,483
-31.1
GM Car Total
73,466
111,738
-34.3
-36.7
1,111,189
1,267,753
-12.3
TRUCKS
October
(Calendar Year-to-Date)
January - October
2008
2007
% Chg
Volume
%Chg
per S/D
2008
2007
%Chg Volume
Selling Days (S/D)
27
26

27
26
Enclave
2,228
4,244
-47.5
-49.4
39,128
20,726
88.8
Rainier
3
100
-97.0
-97.1
114
4,664
-97.6
Rendezvous
0
39
**.*
**.*
23
15,247
-99.8
Terraza
13
150
-91.3
-91.7
526
5,263
-90.0
Buick Total
2,244
4,533
-50.5
-52.3
39,791
45,900
-13.3
Escalade
1,556
3,499
-55.5
-57.2
19,275
30,777
-37.4
Escalade ESV
533
1,460
-63.5
-64.8
9,076
13,635
-33.4
Escalade EXT
265
716
-63.0
-64.4
3,779
6,850
-44.8
SRX
916
1,693
-45.9
-47.9
13,779
18,615
-26.0
Cadillac Total
3,270
7,368
-55.6
-57.3
45,909
69,877
-34.3
Astro
0
0
***.*
***.*
0
25
**.*
C/K Suburban (Chevy)
2,464
8,317
-70.4
-71.5
44,121
70,867
-37.7
Chevy C/T Series
61
25
144.0
135.0
320
241
32.8
Chevy W Series
95
245
-61.2
-62.7
1,398
2,286
-38.8
Colorado
2,552
5,753
-55.6
-57.3
47,396
64,878
-26.9
Equinox
2,841
5,978
-52.5
-54.2
59,130
76,587
-22.8
Express Cutaway/G Cut
1,155
1,991
-42.0
-44.1
10,944
16,646
-34.3
Express Panel/G Van
5,840
5,708
2.3
-1.5
49,822
63,475
-21.5
Express/G Sportvan
561
1,214
-53.8
-55.5
12,056
13,808
-12.7
HHR
5,265
7,979
-34.0
-36.5
85,763
88,346
-2.9
Kodiak 4/5 Series
572
786
-27.2
-29.9
5,943
7,973
-25.5
Kodiak 6/7/8 Series
104
154
-32.5
-35.0
1,332
1,957
-31.9
S/T Blazer
0
0
***.*
***.*
0
7
**.*
Tahoe
3,674
16,066
-77.1
-78.0
81,012
125,710
-35.6
TrailBlazer
2,954
11,310
-73.9
-74.8
68,235
114,760
-40.5
Traverse
1,359
0
***.*
***.*
1,585
0
***.*
Uplander
736
7,356
-90.0
-90.4
39,359
60,019
-34.4
Venture
0
0
***.*
***.*
0
25
**.*
Avalanche
1,600
5,487
-70.8
-71.9
29,810
46,305
-35.6
Silverado-C/K Pickup
31,689
48,716
-35.0
-37.4
402,191
526,575
-23.6
Chevrolet Fullsize Pickups
33,289
54,203
-38.6
-40.9
432,001
572,880
-24.6
Chevrolet Total
63,522
127,085
-50.0
-51.9
940,417
1,280,490
-26.6
Acadia
3,071
6,120
-49.8
-51.7
60,089
58,977
1.9
Canyon
649
1,543
-57.9
-59.5
12,904
17,975
-28.2
Envoy
887
4,111
-78.4
-79.2
21,864
41,614
-47.5
GMC C/T Series
33
88
-62.5
-63.9
429
893
-52.0
GMC W Series
177
323
-45.2
-47.2
2,229
3,524
-36.7
Safari (GMC)
0
0
***.*
***.*
0
13
**.*
Savana Panel/G Classic
626
1,007
-37.8
-40.1
9,089
12,601
-27.9
Savana Special/G Cut
246
239
2.9
-0.9
10,011
7,871
27.2
Savana/Rally
188
159
18.2
13.9
1,233
1,626
-24.2
Sierra
11,256
17,417
-35.4
-37.8
145,067
174,621
-16.9
Topkick 4/5 Series
368
431
-14.6
-17.8
7,133
8,086
-11.8
Topkick 6/7/8 Series
456
548
-16.8
-19.9
3,659
5,146
-28.9
Yukon
1,836
7,706
-76.2
-77.1
32,412
53,949
-39.9
Yukon XL
1,316
4,764
-72.4
-73.4
20,880
38,798
-46.2
GMC Total
21,109
44,456
-52.5
-54.3
326,999
425,694
-23.2
HUMMER H1
0
3
**.*
**.*
17
119
-85.7
HUMMER H2
260
968
-73.1
-74.1
5,488
10,323
-46.8
HUMMER H3
857
2,893
-70.4
-71.5
18,104
36,182
-50.0
HUMMER H3T
251
0
***.*
***.*
252
0
***.*
HUMMER Total
1,368
3,864
-64.6
-65.9
23,861
46,624
-48.8
Other-Isuzu F Series
0
0
***.*
***.*
0
1,116
**.*
Other-Isuzu H Series
0
0
***.*
***.*
0
61
**.*
Other-Isuzu N Series
0
0
***.*
***.*
0
6,729
**.*
Other-Isuzu Total
0
0
***.*
***.*
0
7,906
**.*
Aztek
0
0
***.*
***.*
0
25
**.*
Montana
0
0
***.*
***.*
0
26
**.*
Montana SV6
0
31
**.*
**.*
64
1,301
-95.1
Torrent
949
2,114
-55.1
-56.8
17,803
28,255
-37.0
Pontiac Total
949
2,145
-55.8
-57.4
17,867
29,607
-39.7
9-7X
316
316
0.0
-3.7
3,150
4,355
-27.7
Saab Total
316
316
0.0
-3.7
3,150
4,355
-27.7
Outlook
1,362
2,458
-44.6
-46.6
22,765
28,251
-19.4
Relay
2
50
-96.0
-96.1
159
1,305
-87.8
VUE
2,977
5,995
-50.3
-52.2
71,721
71,751
0.0
Saturn Total
4,341
8,503
-48.9
-50.8
94,645
101,307
-6.6
GM Truck Total
97,119
198,270
-51.0
-52.8
1,492,639
2,011,760
-25.8
CONTACT(S):
John McDonald
GM Corporate News
313-667-3714 (office)
313-418-2139 (mobile)
john.m.mcdonald@gm.com