GM Europe first quarter 2008 sales reach all-time record

In the first quarter of 2008, General Motors (GM) Europe sales reached an all-time record of 572,137 vehicles, an increase of 18,111 units compared to Q1 2007. The company market share was 9.6 percent.

“The Chevrolet brand’s strong growth – especially in Eastern and Central Europe – continued in the first quarter of 2008. As the new Aveo, Chevrolet’s European best-seller, is just being launched in many markets, we are confident to see this trend continue throughout the year,” said Jonathan Browning, GM Europe Vice President for Sales, Marketing and Aftersales.

“Market share increase of three percentage points for the GM group in Russia and volume growth of 78 percent compared to the same period last year are remarkable results,” Browning said. “Chevrolet in Russia grew sales by 60 percent, Opel by 150 percent and Saab by 75 percent. With our multibrand strategy, we were able to grow twice as fast in Russia in the first quarter than the industry.”

Opel growing sales in Central and Eastern Europe
Accounting for 73 percent of GM’s European sales, Opel/Vauxhall sold 418,496 vehicles in the first quarter of 2008. Market share was at 7 percent. Strong results in Russia and several Central European markets like Poland, Bulgaria and Romania somewhat offset a considerable weakening in the markets of Spain and Italy.

Meriva was again the leading model in the small monocab segment, Zafira and Meriva led the total monocab segment. In the month of March, Astra was the leader in the compact segment.

Chevrolet reaches all-time records for sales volume and market share
Chevrolet maintained its strong sales momentum in Europe, reaching an all-time record in the first quarter, beating last year’s first quarter record by 30,248 units, and bringing total sales for the quarter up to 131,568 vehicles. Market share also grew 0.4 point, to 2.2 percent, the highest-ever first-quarter market share for the brand.

Chevrolet experienced its highest volume growth in Russia and Ukraine. In Ukraine, Chevrolet doubled its volume by 7,919 cars to first quarter registrations of 15,853 cars.

GM Russia sales up 78 percent
GM brands in Russia maintained their fast growth rate, with sales increasing 78 percent, up to 82,725 units, in the first quarter of 2008, significantly outpacing the industry’s 37 percent growth. Market share grew 2.8 points to 12.1 percent, proving the success of GM’s aggressive Eastern Europe strategy.

Opel and Chevrolet both performed well in Russia and the Central and Eastern European markets. At 23,479 vehicles Opel sales in Russia were up 14,099 units compared to Q1 2007, with market share growing from 1.9 to 3.4 percent.

Chevrolet Q1 sales in Russia grew by 60 percent. The brand’s share in Russia grew from 7.5 to 8.5 percent, with sales of 58,498 vehicles that accounted for 44 percent of Chevrolet sales in Europe.

Saab, Cadillac and HUMMER Sales
Saab sold 19,653 cars in Europe. Cadillac grew sales by 13 percent compared to the first three months of last year, HUMMER grew sales by 59 percent.