GM Releases 2008 Sales Reports, Posts Modest Success Abroad

Posted in auto industry, Car Buying, Cars, Chevrolet, GM, Newsworthy by Suzanne Denbow | January 21st, 2009 | 1 Response |

Although General Motors continues to struggle in the tumultuous North America market, GM’s global market managed to achieve a surprising, albeit small, success in 2008. According to reports, GM’s global sales for 2008 totaled 8.35 million vehicles and included the posting of record sales tallies in both Europe and Asia. In Europe, GM was able to exceed their 3-year sales average of 2 million vehicles with Chevrolet surpassing a record-breaking 500,000 units while GM’s European subsidiary, Opel, boasted a 13% overall jump in sales volume. A little to the east, GM Asia Pacific record a modest 3% growth in sales volume with a 6% growth in China alone providing the largest increase.

Nowhere near as dismal as North American sales numbers would have indicated, GM vice president of global sales, service, and marketing, Jonathan Browning said that despite the success abroad, 2008 was by no means a profitable year for General Motors. “The challenges in the global financial markets, including credit tightening, the drop in commodity prices, and economic uncertainty continue to negatively impact overall demand for new vehicles,” Browning explained. “For the total global industry, we saw about 3.5 million fewer vehicles sold in 2008 than the previous year.”

	General Motors Corporation Global Vehicle Sales ¹
		Q4 2008	2007	% Chg	CYTD 2008	2007	% Chg
GMNA
	Chevrolet	422,040	614,281	-31.3	2,156,288	2,654,019	-18.8
	GMC	85,958	142,567	-39.7	438,176	578,845	-24.3
	Pontiac	62,812	110,742	-43.3	382,949	485,885	-21.2
	Saturn	32,382	56,207	-42.4	206,733	265,901	-22.3
	Cadillac	33,348	62,576	-46.7	170,481	225,032	-24.2
	Buick	27,643	45,219	-38.9	154,275	201,690	-23.5
	HUMMER	5,810	14,057	-58.7	29,968	59,141	-49.3
	Saab	4,349	7,514	-42.1	23,186	35,175	-34.1
	Opel/Vauxhall	418	736	-43.2	1,935	2,248	-13.9
	Other	0	0	0	0	7,906	0
	Total	674,760	1,053,899	-36.0	3,563,991	4,515,842	-21.1
GME
	Opel/Vauxhall	284,295	378,336	-24.9	1,458,769	1,629,863	-10.5
	Chevrolet	121,856	128,012	-4.8	508,124	459,436	10.6
	Saab	12,857	20,613	-37.6	66,582	85,206	-21.9
	Cadillac	619	1,166	-46.9	4,556	4,759	-4.3
	HUMMER	474	704	-32.7	2,286	2,322	-1.6
	Other	63	188	-66.5	216	1,008	-78.6
	Total	420,164	529,019	-20.6	2,040,533	2,182,594	-6.5
GMLAAM
	Chevrolet	240,391	308,699	-22.1	1,143,874	1,107,685	3.3
	GMC	7,633	9,604	-20.5	42,384	34,209	23.9
	Other	8,116	9,078	-10.6	40,950	35,883	14.1
	Opel/Vauxhall	8,177	11,619	-29.6	39,764	49,353	-19.4
	Cadillac	801	914	-12.4	4,377	3,596	21.7
	HUMMER	758	1,165	-34.9	3,781	4,179	-9.5
	Buick	83	250	-66.8	679	974	-30.3
	Saab	172	100	72.0	521	451	15.5
	Total	266,131	341,429	-22.1	1,276,330	1,236,330	3.2
GMAP
	Wuling²	149,020	132,047	12.9	606,499	516,435	17.4
	Chevrolet	69,136	77,826	-11.2	311,971	274,773	13.5
	Buick	68,758	95,575	-28.1	280,440	333,131	-15.8
	Holden	32,569	37,059	-12.1	139,407	158,234	-11.9
	Daewoo	19,244	34,550	-44.3	121,081	134,528	-10.0
	Cadillac	1,394	2,188	-36.3	7,624	7,770	-1.9
	Saab	543	890	-39.0	3,006	3,894	-22.8
	Opel/Vauxhall	479	1,249	-61.6	2,632	5,251	-49.9
	HUMMER	204	328	-37.8	1,538	703	118.8
	Other	147	215	-31.6	895	956	-6.4
	Total	341,494	381,927	-10.6	1,475,093	1,435,675	2.7
GLOBAL
	Chevrolet	853,423	1,128,818	-24.4	4,120,257	4,495,913	-8.4
	Opel/Vauxhall	293,369	391,940	-25.1	1,503,100	1,686,715	-10.9
	Wuling	149,020	132,047	12.9	606,499	516,435	17.4
	GMC	93,591	152,171	-38.5	480,560	613,054	-21.6
	Buick	96,484	141,044	-31.6	435,394	535,795	-18.7
	Pontiac	62,812	110,742	-43.3	382,949	485,885	-21.2
	Saturn	32,382	56,207	-42.4	206,733	265,901	-22.3
	Cadillac	36,162	66,844	-45.9	187,038	241,157	-22.4
	Holden	32,569	37,059	-12.1	139,407	158,234	-11.9
	Daewoo	19,244	34,550	-44.3	121,081	134,528	-10.0
	Saab	17,921	29,117	-38.5	93,295	124,726	-25.2
	HUMMER	7,246	16,254	-55.4	37,573	66,345	-43.4
	Other	8,326	9,481	-12.2	42,061	45,753	-8.1
	Total	1,702,549	2,306,274	-26.2	8,355,947	9,370,441	-10.8
Notes: (1) Quarterly sales data is preliminary and subject to change (2) We own 34% of SGMW and under the joint venture agreement have significant rights as a member as well as the contractual right to report SGMW global sales in China as part of our global market share.