GM's U.S. Divisions Deliver 338,380 Vehicles In September 2006

DETROIT - General Motors' dealers in the United States sold 338,380 new cars and trucks in September. The company sold 1,385 more retail vehicles in September than the year before. Retail truck sales, led by full-size pickups and utilities, were up 2 percent. Retail car sales were down 12 percent, partly due to inventory constraints of Chevrolet Aveo, Cobalt and Malibu. Retail sales of 246,797 vehicles were down 3 percent on a sales day-adjusted basis.

"GM's truck business was boosted in September by our segment-leading fuel economy and the addition of the industry's best coverage, including the 5-year/100,000 mile warranty program," said Mark LaNeve, General Motors North America vice president, Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing.

GM continues to reduce its reliance on low-margin daily rental sales. Sales to daily rental companies were down 26 percent compared to year-ago levels, while our commercial fleet business was up 12 percent. This ongoing planned pull-down of low-margin daily rental sales resulted in total September sales of 338,380 being down 6.8 percent compared with a year ago on a sales day-adjusted basis.

"Our retail business was solid in September and in line with expectations. Importantly, we continue to experience strong customer demand for our launch products and industry-leading lineup of fuel efficient vehicles. Having products like the Chevrolet Cobalt, Malibu and newly redesigned 2007 Aveo in such high demand in the market place is gratifying," LaNeve said. "We're on track to sell more than a million 2006 model year vehicles this year that achieve 30 mpg or better on the highway. We will go even further for the 2007 model year by increasing the number of fuel-sipping vehicle models in the '30 mpg or Over Club' by 9 vehicles, or more than 60 percent, to 23 models. More Americans every day are realizing we have a great story in fuel economy." (A list of the 2007 '30 mpg or Over Club' is shown further down in this document.)

"In addition to our great lineup of fuel efficient vehicles, we have launched the best warranty coverage of any full-line automaker with 5 years/100,000 mile powertrain, courtesy transportation and roadside assistance for each of our 2007 models," LaNeve added. "And, there is no deductible for the warranty, which is fully transferable."

Due to the success of new products, and recent support of the best warranty coverage of any full-line automaker, GM has seen sales over the last few months above the targets set in the North America Turnaround Plan. GM market share has improved in every quarter of 2006, and was at about 25 percent for the third quarter 2006. Calendar year-to-date, GM's retail selling rate remains above 3 million vehicles on an annualized basis and was 3.15 million in the third quarter.

Saab, Cadillac, Hummer, Buick and GMC all saw retail sales increases in September. Saab led the pack with retail sales up a powerful 45 percent, driven by 9-3 and 9-7X. Cadillac sales are up 22 percent retail, with strong showings by DTS, STS, SRX and the entire Escalade lineup. Hummer continued to show very positive results with H3 sales up 19 percent, helping the division sport an overall 10 percent retail hike. Buick retail sales are up 4 percent led by Lucerne, LaCrosse, Rainier and Terraza. GMC was up 3 percent retail, with sales increases of the Sierra, Yukon, and Yukon XL.

"Customers are recognizing GM's leadership position when it comes to products that offer outstanding value and fuel economy, whether that's a small car or a full-size pickup," LaNeve said.

"We just revealed our brand new 2007 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full size pickups at the State Fair of Texas - two vehicles that lead their segment in estimated highway fuel economy and outstanding value." GM has announced carry-over pricing on the most popular versions of the all-new 2007 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups.