GM Sales Still Down, Despite CARS Thrust

Despite a very good performance in China and the success of the CARS program, American manufacturer GM still didn't manage to beat its own sales record, set in August 2008. And, despite August being the best month in 2009, the figures still show a 20.2 percent decrease when compared to the same period of 2009.

GM blames the 246,479 units sold on the incredible performance in August 2008 and the poor fleet sales of 2009. Optimism however runs high within GM, with the 30 percent increase over July 2009 giving the manufacturer hopes for the better.

"The Cash for Clunkers program was certainly a success, but our momentum continues to build on the strength of our new cars and crossovers such as the Chevrolet Malibu, Equinox and Camaro. Now we have the Buick Lacrosse, Cadillac SRX and GMC Terrain hitting the market," Mark LaNeve, GM vice president said in a release.

"We believe the program was a strong shot in the arm for the economy and that our four core brands - Chevrolet, GMC, Buick and Cadillac - are well positioned with new products to take advantage of the ongoing recovery in the market. Our new vehicles are contributing to our stable share performance for the past five months - running in the 20 percent range."

The company's total car sales of 118,744 mean a 5 percent decrease when compared with an year ago, while truck sales of 127,735 mean a 31 percent drop. The fleet sales mentioned by GM as the main contributor to the negative numbers stood at 59,069 vehicles, down 29 percent.

Out of the brands GM considered "non-core" assets, only Hummer and Saab posted 3 and 16 percent decrease in volume. Pontiac increased 39 percent and Saturn 42 percent.