Posts for 'GM' Category

Detroit-based General Motors Corp. and Japan-based Toyota Motor Corp. are in a neck-and-neck competition when it comes to U.S. customer loyalty.

GM had the top loyalty for manufacturers during the 2007 model year, while Toyota was tops for brand loyalty, according to the 12th annual Polk Automotive Loyalty Awards.

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The results, released Tuesday night during the 2008 Automotive News World Congress, mirror the photo-finish global sales race between the two automotive giants.$HOMEG$

"GM and Toyota have proven that they know what it takes to keep customers coming back to their brands," said Stephen R. Polk, chairman, president and CEO of R.L. Polk & Co. "GM won a total of seven awards, including three vehicles that have won for the first time, which is a great testament to their overall manufacturer loyalty."

In all, 63% of GM customers returned to buy another GM brand product during the year, compared with an average of 55% for the industry.

Meanwhile, 57% of Toyota brand purchasers went back for seconds, compared with 45% for the industry.

GM and Toyota also had impressive performances in individual vehicle categories.

GM's Saturn Ion was the top-performing small car, while the Toyota Prius had the best repeat purchases among buyers of midsize cars.

Toyota's Lexus brand took top awards in the luxury car and midsize SUV segments.

GM's Chevrolet Silverado, meanwhile, was rated tops among full-sized pickups in 2007 -- unseating Ford Motor Co.'s F-Series, which had maintained the No. 1 place for the first 11 years of the study.

GM and Ford both are seriously cutting back on the rental fleet sales that pretty much have kept them alive the last half-decade.In May in the United States "GM dealers delivered 375,682 vehicles, up 4.7 percent compared with year-ago monthly sales." Key words are "GM dealers ... delivered,"

Iin the mid-crossover segment beside the, cough, 415-percent jump, GM touts the Pontiac G6, Saturn Aura and Chevrolet Impala as showing a 31 percent increase in the mid-car segment. For these sedans the GM lots are full of two-year-old Tahoes traded in, in May y about Chevy selling 35,665 front-drive Impalas, up 44.7 percent. This is what has GM rethinking a switch to RWD for '10, not harsher CAFE standards.

General Motors reported a 2006 net loss of $2.0 billion, or $3.50 per share Wednesday morning. Still a loss, yes, but vastly improved from '05's loss of $10.4 billion (adjusted by $0.2 billion to GM's favor, versus the adjusted loss it reported a year ago).

And GM posted net income in the fourth quarter of '06, of $180 million.

The numbers back this up: GM is recovering, but it's not back to full health. GM made $422 million on cars and trucks globally last year ($228 million in the fourth quarter). It lost $14 million on cars and trucks in North America in the fourth quarter, and lost a total of $779 million here for the year. Blame that on vast cuts in its deliveries to daily rental fleets combined with the costs of launching several major new models. GM North America (GMNA) built 207,000 fewer vehicles in '06 versus '05....