The Auto Writer

General Motors instituted its Employee Pricing offer late last month, an initiative that has paid off for the automaker big time. Propelled by strong sales of the Cadillac CTS, Chevrolet Malibu and Impala, and even the Pontiac Vibe, the edge was taken off of sharp losses for the month, losses which still pushed sales down by 20.4%. However, some analysts are saying GM’s drop for August 2008 could have easily topped 30% without the discount plan in place.

GM put its discount plan in place to help mark its 100th anniversary (September 16th) as well as to clear dealer inventory of 2008 models. To keep the momentum going, GM has announced that Employee Pricing will be extended through September 30th with select 2009 models also included.

“Our award-winning lineup of new products, combined with the GM Employee Discount for Everyone sale that started August 20th, helped drive additional showroom traffic and our dealers are giving us some very enthusiastic feedback. We had our best sales month so far in 2008. Today we’re announcing the extension of the sale through September 30, and we’ve added 19 additional 2009 models to the eligible list of vehicles because our 2008 stock on dealer lots is rapidly disappearing,” said Mark LaNeve, vice president, GM North America Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing.

“With the recent moderation in fuel prices, we’re seeing some relaxation of pent-up demand in pickups and utilities. Our August sales of these segment-leading trucks and utilities has been the best in nearly a year and August marked the fourth consecutive month that truck sales as a percentage of GM and industry sales increased. We also saw double-digit retail increases in our crossovers compared with July,” LaNeve added. “We saw great car retail performance in our launch products, including the Chevrolet Malibu, Cadillac CTS, Pontiac Vibe and G8, and Saturn Astra, and continued strong retail demand for our fuel efficient Chevrolet Aveo and HHR.”

The biggest benefactors of GM’s discount plan appear to be Chevrolet and Cadillac which (excluding truck sales) are barely off of last year’s sales pace. YTD, Chevrolet car sales are down 3.3% and Cadillac is off by just 1.6%. Add in trucks sales and Chevy’s losses plunge to 17.1% YTD and Cadillac falls by 13%. For the year, GM domestic sales are off by 18.3%.

(Source: General Motors)