General Motors said Thursday its overall March US sales jumped 20.6 percent from a year ago amid a sixth consecutive month of gains at its four core brands.
“Our March results show continued progress toward our growth plan,” said Susan Docherty, GM vice president of marketing.
“By investing in our brands and remaining disciplined in our approach to the US market, we posted solid results.”
GM’s sales including brands it is in the process of winding down rose to 188,546 from 156,380 in March 2009. Total sales for the first quarter were up 15.6 percent at 477,322.
Sales of GM’s core remaining brands — Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac — rose 43.3 percent to 185,406 in March and were up 35.6 percent at 469,353 for the first quarter.
“Our new vehicles, like the Chevrolet Equinox, Buick LaCrosse, GMC Terrain, and Cadillac SRX, are being well-received by customers for many good reasons, including quality, safety, excellent fuel economy, and higher resale values,” Docherty said.
GM is “pretty encouraged” by its results and has managed to bring its incentive spending down below the industry average for the first time on record, she said.
It has also raised the average transaction price up as it focuses on “earning the customer’s trust rather than buying their business for short-term gain,” Docherty added.
The largest US automaker also plans to expand production by adding a third shift at several US plants in response to growing demand.
Docherty said the economy is showing signs of a broad recovery, which is encouraging news given the deep and extended slump the industry has been dealing with.
However, with personal spending still flat, GM is projecting that overall industry sales will reach just 11.5 to 12 million vehicles in 2010.
Docherty said it was too early in the day to predict where industry sales would come in for the month, but expected that GM “should see some increases in share” in March.
“We’ve got a disciplined plan to focus on the customer, strengthen our brands and profitability build sales and market share,” Docherty said in a conference call with analysts and reporters.
While Docherty would not discuss GM’s internal market share targets, she said GM is “not going to be satisfied unless we’re seeing month over month growth.”
The automaker, which underwent a government-funded restructuring under bankruptcy last year, is focused on its “number one mission” to “pay back the American taxpayer in full with interest,” she added.
