Shortage leaves Cobalt with lowest August sales

Dealers are glad to have 2009 model on lots.

STAFF AND WIRE REPORT

A lean supply of Chevrolet Cobalts contributed to the GM car’s lowest sales ever for August.

Though the car posted its worst August since its 2004 debut, dealers are not panicking.

Barry Gonis, general manager of Spitzer Chevrolet in North Jackson, said he has so much faith Cobalt sales will rebound, 104 cars are on his lot. Normally, he has about 30.

For much of August, however, he didn’t have any Cobalts on the lot because of the strong demand in previous months.

“I don’t want that to happen again,” Gonis said.

Overall, Cobalt sales remain well ahead of the 2007 pace, and Gonis thinks Cobalt sales are about to shoot back up because high gasoline prices have brought attention to the car that’s produced at General Motors’ Lordstown complex.

Cobalt sales dropped 27 percent in August because people were buying the 2008 models and the 2009 models weren’t out yet, he said. The 2009 models didn’t start arriving at dealerships until the middle of August and weren’t available in large numbers until about a week ago, he said.

GM said Wednesday it sold 15,281 Cobalts in the U.S. last month, which was down from 20,814 in August of last year. GM had never sold fewer than 18,000 Cobalts in August.

Last year, August was the second-best month for Cobalt sales in 2007. This year, August was the second-worst month.

GM also sold 2,664 Pontiac G5s last month, which was one fewer than in August 2007. The G5 is a sister car of the Cobalt and also is made at the Lordstown plant.

GM’s best-selling car last month was the Chevrolet Impala, which had sales increase by 21 percent to 30,271.

The Cobalt slide came, however, amid a general decline for GM. Most GM cars had sales drops last month. Overall, GM car sales were down 14 percent and truck sales were off 24 percent.

GM noted, however, its overall sales were up 31 percent over its July totals, which it attributed to a program that offers all buyers employee pricing on many models. On Wednesday, GM extended the offer until Sept. 30.

Ford Motor Co. said its sales fell 27 percent in August, as the struggling automaker’s results — even worse than July’s dismal figures — showed the U.S. auto sales slump may not have bottomed out.

Toyota’s sales dropped 9 percent from August of last year, a further indication the woes in the U.S. auto market are continuing, but Nissan — the only major automaker to show a sales gain in July — reported another improvement, with a 14 percent increase in August sales.

Analysts have predicted a seasonally adjusted annual sales rate for August of just over 13 million, far below the August 2007 rate of 16.2 million. They would have reduced August predictions even further had it not been for GM’s steep discounts.

U.S. sales in July fell to an annual rate of 12.5 million vehicles.