CARS Cash For Clunkers: GM’s Top-Selling Vehicle Is…

As the C4C program comes to an end in just a few short days. Let’s take a look at how GM is faring so far. Note that these numbers are dated August 5, 2009:

Top 10 New Vehicles Purchased

1. Toyota Corolla
2. Ford Focus FWD
3. Honda Civic
4. Toyota Prius
5. Toyota Camry
6. Hyuindai Elantra
7. Ford Escape FWD
8. Dodge Caliber
9. Honda Fit
10. Chevrolet Cobalt

Looks like the only GM product to make the top ten list is the Chevy Cobalt, which is the second least-expensive product in the GM family (the Aveo being the least expensive). Toyota is in the list three times with its Corolla, Prius, and Camry. Honda makes the list twice with the Civic and Fit. The Cobalt, while a outdated compared to the recently-redesigned Corolla and semi-new Civic, is not a bad choice at all. But here is where it gets interesting:

New Vehicles Manufacturers

• General Motors       18.7%
• Toyota                       17.9%
• Ford                           16.0%
• Honda                       11.6%
• Chrysler                    10.6%
• Nissan                         7.0%
• Hyundai                     6.6%
• Kia                               3.8%
• Mazda                         2.3%
• Subaru                        2.2%
• Volkswagen                1.9%
• Suzuki                         0.4%
• MINI                            0.3%
• Mitsubishi                  0.3%
• Smart                           0.2%
• Volvo                            0.1%
• All Other                      0.1%

General Motors is the number one volume manufacturer in the program. Since the Cobalt is making up most of those sales, it’s possible that the fuel-efficient sedan and coupe are carrying the automaker through the government-funded initiative. The manual 2.2L Cobalt achieves 25mpg city and 37 highway (30mpg combined), while the automatic 2.2L drops to 24/33 respctively. The 2-liter 5-speed manual gets 22/30. (Fuel Economy numbers).

Dealer Transactions

• Number Submitted: 184,304
• Dollar Value: $775.2M

What It All Means

It’s possible that purchase decisions are influenced by slightly different factors during the C4C program compared to regular sales choices: fuel economy is perhaps the biggest determinant – since the program’s rebate requirements are federally mandated. Price also plays a big factor, since consumers are making a decision to lease/purchase a vehicle during a down economy and the only reason for doing so is the trade-in clunker credit. So bang-for-the-buck takes a top priority.

GM has recently announced that it is increasing production at its Lordstown, Ohio plant, where Cobalts are manufactured, adding that the “Chevy HHR and Colorado and the GMC Canyon are also experiencing increased demand.”  It would be interesting to find out what other models in the GM line-up are selling well. My guess would be that besides the aforementioned vehicles, the Malibu, Impala, Equinox, Buick LaCrosse would also make top of the sales list.

Once the C4C program comes to an end this coming Monday (August 24th), it will be interesting to see the updated statistics. We will be here to report on those as soon as we get our mice and keyboards on the data.