GM Reports its February sales

[xcel]

Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Wayne Gerdes – CleanMPG – Mar. 3, 2009

Saturn Astra – Starting with an MSRP of $16,495 and offers 27 mpgUS combined w/ a stick. Just 706 units sold, up 30.3% from February a year ago and only one of only two models with sales increases from all of GM.

Detroit - GM dealers in the United States delivered just 127,296 vehicles in February, down 52.9 percent compared with a year ago.

Retail sales for the month were off 43 percent compared with a year ago in a total industry vehicle market estimated to be the weakest February since 1967.

"It remains a tough and challenging market, but seeing some upticks in volume and showroom traffic compared with last month is encouraging. Our new products continue to take hold in the market and we are estimating retail share increases with Malibu, Traverse, Enclave, HHR, Cobalt and G6. This is in line with our viability plan which is focused on passenger cars and crossovers in addition to our strong truck lineup," said Mark LaNeve, vice president, GM North America Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing.

GM February total car sales of 53,813 were off 50 percent and total truck sales (including crossovers) of 73,483 were down 55 percent compared with a year ago.

Chevrolet's crossover portfolio of HHR, Equinox and Traverse combined for 11,796 retail sales in February, a 7 percent increase compared with last year. Malibu retail sales were up 33 percent compared with a year ago while its total sales were off 7.6 percent.

"All of our new product launches in the 2009-2014 timeframe are cars or crossovers, and with outstanding products like Malibu and Traverse already in the market, we're building on a strong foundation," LaNeve added. "We saw customers respond to our 0 percent reduced rate APR and bonus cash offers last month, so we're doing what we can to keep sales rolling by extending most of those offers into March."

A total of 1,087 GM hybrid vehicles were delivered in the month, illustrating the wide range of hybrid product offerings available. So far, in 2009, GM has delivered 2,010 hybrid vehicles.

[Taliesin]

Originally Posted by xcel

Chevrolet's crossover portfolio of HHR, Equinox and Traverse combined for 11,796 retail sales in February, a 7 percent increase compared with last year...

I wonder what the figures for just the HHR were. My room mate has one and it's a pretty decent vehicle.

He's not a hypermiler by any means (except for airing his tires up to sidewall) and he gets over 30mpg with his (20/28/23 new EPA). Not bad for a "SUV" (I still think of it as a station wagon. It doesn't have the space inside for a true SUV, but it does have a decent amount).

[MaxxMPG]

Originally Posted by Taliesin

I wonder what the figures for just the HHR were. My room mate has one and it's a pretty decent vehicle.

He's not a hypermiler by any means (except for airing his tires up to sidewall) and he gets over 30mpg with his (20/28/23 new EPA). Not bad for a "SUV" (I still think of it as a station wagon. It doesn't have the space inside for a true SUV, but it does have a decent amount).

My brother has an '08 HHR, which he purchased last summer to combat the wild fuel prices. He also is averaging mpg in the low 30s without trying too hard. And at $255 a month, the gas savings were paying for the car. Now that gas is cheap again, he's still glad he bought a fuel efficient car, because he's now commuting much farther. And having the small daily driver keeps the odometer down on the work truck, which is more expensive and harder to replace if wrecked/lost. He has been racking up the miles on the HHR and he is very pleased with the car. Chevy calls it an SUV or a Crossover because of the box shape, but it's just a small station wagon. An inch of snow will strand it with the stock Fireskid tires, but with the Blizzaks installed, it can outrun Todd Palin's snowmobile.