General Motors Sees 18 Percent Sales Increase in Summer Months

In the wavering economy, consumer confidence remains low. Despite all the factors against them, however, General Motors saw an 18 percent increase in sales last month, and in July- thanks especially to their new small sedan, the Chevrolet Cruze, according to Business Week and ABR, While sales have slowed slightly since earlier this year, GM hopes to continue its impressive sales numbers through the end of 2011.

Popular since the beginning of the year, the Cruze accounted for one of every 10 GMs sold and has been one of the company’s top sellers in 2011. For the fifth month in a row, Cruze sales reached over 20,000 in August. While GM has introduced smaller cars into the market before, the Cruze is the first of its kind to really take off in sales.

While automotive sales were at an all-time high this spring since the economic crisis, summer months have not seen nearly the sales pace that early 2011 saw. With the Japanese March earthquake, many automotive manufacturers were affected- slowing overall automotive sales with shortages of certain makes and models. Hurricane Irene, that hit the East Coast this last week, also had an effect on the automotive market- causing show rooms to be closed on the last weekend of the month. Traditionally, the last weekend of any given month brings better deals and advertising. But with the hit of the storm, consumers were forced to head in-land rather than shop for their next vehicle.

This summer has also seen a lack of killer deals and special financing. While some manufacturers are offering some deals, they are not the hard-to-pass up type we’re used to seeing due to model shortages. This fall, however, is set to bring replenished stock as well as new models, potentially bumping sales and availability of deals back up.

With Nissan’s new Altima Sedan and four-dour Versa on the market (helping Nissan’s sales increase by 19 percent in July), Toyota and Honda models recovering from their model shortages, and the new Camry being released later this year, only time will tell if the Cruze will continue to propel GM’s sales upward. While competition will get more intense, we’re confident GM will be able to hold their own. After all, they did see an 18 percent sales increase in an already competitive compact car market.