DETROIT -
General Motors dealers sold 426,114 new cars and trucks in March with retail sales up 34 percent from February levels, led by strong retail truck sales. Overall, GM sales were down 1 percent on a selling days adjusted basis and up 3 percent on an absolute basis.

GM truck sales (255,209) were up 4 percent, and car sales (170,905) were down 9 percent. Total first quarter sales (1,015,142) were down 5 percent. Truck sales in the first quarter (596,866) were down 1.5 percent, and car sales (418,276) were down 9 percent.

"We experienced a nice improvement in both sales and share in March led by full-size pickup and launch vehicle sales," said Mark LaNeve, vice president, GM North America Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing. "Several of our launch vehicles, including Pontiac G6, Buick LaCrosse, Chevrolet Cobalt and Colorado and GMC Canyon, all posted best-ever sales.

Cobalt, in particular, had exceptional sales, breaking the 14,000-unit sales mark. We're encouraged by the sales performance of our launch vehicles and are hopeful that sales will continue to gain momentum as consumers become more aware of them and recognize the value they represent."

Sales of GM's new models continued to grow month-over-month comprising an increasingly greater percentage of GM deliveries, accounting for 24 percent of March deliveries and 26 percent for the first quarter.

Pontiac G6 had its best-ever monthly sales in March, beating its previous high in February by 21 percent. With the anticipated addition of the coupe this summer, availability of 4-cylinder engines and a retractable hardtop convertible in early 2006, G6 sales are expected to continue to strengthen.

The new Buick LaCrosse in March had its best sales month since introduction. Total deliveries were up 21 percent compared to February. LaCrosse retail sales again outpaced year-ago combined Century and Regal retail sales achieving a 16.5 percent improvement.

Additionally, Buick's new crossover sport van, Terraza, also posted its best-ever monthly sales with a 37 percent increase over February deliveries. Buick plans to introduce its third all-new vehicle in just over a year with the launch of Lucerne later this year.

The first launch vehicles in Chevrolet's product blitz of 20 new models are showing strong sales results. Cobalt achieved best-ever sales in March with deliveries that were 66 percent above February results. Production of the Cobalt SS coupe and Cobalt SS sedan is scheduled to begin this summer.

Aveo sales were up 34 percent compared to year-ago levels, and Colorado sales rose 58 percent.

Chevrolet's new crossover sport van, Uplander, posted its second-best sales month. Continuing its strong sales results, Equinox deliveries in March broke the 10,000-unit mark for the fifth time in the last seven months.

Next up for Chevrolet are the new HHR, which is scheduled for introduction in the late summer/early fall of 2005 and the new Impala and Monte Carlo, scheduled to arrive in dealers' showrooms later this year.



Highlights of GM's truck sales:
Sales of GM's industry-leading truck lineup were up 4 percent in March, led by a 17 percent increase and the best March full-size pickup sales since 1978.

Chevrolet Silverado sales climbed 18 percent, and GMC Sierra sales increased 23 percent, setting new March sales records. In the very competitive full-size pickup segment, Silverado and Sierra sales continue to outperform the segment, for which total sales are down for the calendar year-to-date.

Mid-size pickup sales rose 38 percent in March, led by best-ever monthly sales of the Chevrolet Colorado (up 58 percent) and GMC Canyon (up 77 percent).

In addition to solid sales for the crossover sport vans Chevrolet Uplander and Buick Terraza, Saturn Relay also posted its best sales to date, a 22 percent increase over February deliveries.



Highlights of GM's car sales:
Consumers continued to respond enthusiastically to Cadillac STS, which achieved its second-best monthly sales since launch. March sales were 31 percent higher than February deliveries.

Entry-level car sales in March were up 7 percent, led by strong sales of Chevrolet Aveo and Cobalt and Saturn Ion, which was up 1 percent compared to last year.

Pontiac GTO deliveries were up 84 percent compared to year-ago levels, and Chevrolet Corvette sales rose 2 percent.

2. I wonder how many new Mustang GTs were sold (at or above MSRP!) for the month of March 2005? The number is a whole lot bigger than 1375.

All I know is that the new 2004 GTO that's still sitting at my local Pontiac dealership sure "doesn't sell somehow."

Darth Xed project GTO sales of 16,500 for CY2005. Even dear ol' Darth can't fudge the numbers to project the GTO's intended 18,000/year sales volume.

....which still doesn't explain the XLR production cut.

Just one more month of strongly increased sales that people with an anti-GTO agenda can bend to say it still doesn't sell somehow. Let's see how many months I can get this in a signature