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Cobalt Halts Sales Skid
Photo
In this Vindicator archive photo, Cobalts are seen on the assembly line at GM Lordstown.
Clunkers aid Lordstown car, but GM slide lingers
STAFF/WIRE REPORT
The Cash for Clunkers program boosted sales of the Chevrolet Cobalt in August to its highest monthly total since June 2008.
General Motors said Tuesday that it sold 17,393 Cobalts last month, up 14 percent from the 15,281 sold in August 2008. It was the first time in 12 months that Cobalt sales topped numbers from the same month a year earlier.
The Cobalt is produced at GM’s Lordstown assembly plant.
GM’s small vehicles such as the Chevrolet Aveo subcompact, the Cobalt sedan and Equinox crossover all got a lift from the clunkers program. No GM vehicles made the closely watched list of top-10 Cash for Clunkers sales, but they had the largest market share behind Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp.
The program, which ended on Aug. 24, drew hordes of buyers into quiet showrooms by offering up to $4,500 toward new, more fuel-efficient cars and trucks. The hefty rebates gave automakers and dealers a much-needed lift, spurring 690,114 new sales, many of them during August, at a taxpayer cost of $2.88 billion.
During the first eight months of the year, GM has sold 78,504 Cobalts, which is down 46 percent from the 145,941 that were sold during those months last year.
Overall, the Cash for Clunkers program boosted sales at Ford, Toyota and Honda in August as consumers snapped up their fuel-efficient offerings, but rivals Chrysler Group LLC and General Motors Co. withstood another month of falling sales.
Combined, the results are likely to mark the first year-over-year monthly sales gain since October 2007.
Ford Motor Co. sold 181,826 cars and light trucks compared with 115,117 in August 2008, when high gas prices and growing economic uncertainty kept people away from showrooms.
Two of Ford’s vehicles — the Focus and Escape — were among the top selling cars under the clunkers program. Sales of the Focus rose 56 percent while those of the Escape crossover vehicle climbed 49 percent.
Japanese automakers Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. also posted gains year-over-year gains in August. Toyota sales rose 6.4 percent to 225,088, lifted by small cars like the Corolla, the best-selling clunkers vehicle.
Chrysler sales fell 15 percent to 93,222 units.
At GM, sales fell 20 percent to 245,550. GM said its inventory levels hit an all-time low of 379,000 during August.
GM also said it was extending through the end of September its test program selling vehicles on eBay.
Consumers are expected to steer clear of dealers this autumn now that the clunker rebates are no longer available.