GM July Sales, Down 19 Percent

American manufacturer GM posted last night its sales figures in the US for July and the numbers, they say, are encouraging. The company sold a total of 189,443 vehicles, more than last month yet less by 19 percent than in July 2008. Retail sales were down 9 percent while fleet sales declined 47 percent so, compared to June, the total volume of vehicles sold was increased by 12,000 units.

"Our performance is being driven by the outstanding products in our core Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac and Buick brands. While still challenging, the market is firming and GM sales are still tracking ahead of what we projected in our reinvention plan,"Mark LaNeve, GM vice president, US sales said in a release.

Compared to the same month of 2008, GM overall sales declined 45,741 vehicles, mostly due to a planned reduction in fleet sales of 30,423 vehicles. GM total truck sales dropped 18 percent, while car sales (83,736) were off 21 percent compared with a year ago.

As for the stars of the month, or at least of the past week, GM sold 1,487 hybrids, bringing the total number this year to 9,836. To "blame" is, of course, the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), who, says GM, "drove showroom traffic to GM's strong portfolio of fuel-efficient new vehicles."

"Assuming the Cash-For-Clunkers program stays in place, we look to continue this positive momentum in August," LaNeve said. "We offer twice as many vehicles that qualify for the Cash-For-Clunkers program than any other manufacturer - vehicles such as Chevrolet Aveo, Cobalt, Malibu,
HHR, Silverado and GMC Sierra. Additionally, we have the best selection of crossovers in the industry with Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia, Buick Enclave, and the all-new GMC Terrain, Chevrolet Equinox and Cadillac SRX. Clearly, GM dealers have the cars and trucks that customers demand."