GM may extend 24-hour test drive, June sales 'OK'
06-18-2003, 04:57 PM
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GM may extend 24-hour test drive, June sales 'OK'
Reuters / June 18, 2003
DETROIT -- General Motors said Wednesday that it was considering extending a 24-hour test drive program that has helped lift U.S. new-vehicle sales in June above expectations.
Gary Cowger, president of GM North America, said June sales were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of about 16.5 million vehicles, including heavy trucks, slightly above May's levels and about flat with last year.
"From where we're at, the month looks OK," he told reporters after the dedication of a new GM engineering building in Warren, Mich. "We're well ahead of what our expectation was."
However, he said GM will have difficulty hitting last June's market share level of about 29.3 percent, one of the strongest months for GM last year.
"It'll be really tough to match that," Cowger said. "We're going to have pretty strong volume," he added.
So far, GM has claimed a U.S. market share of about 27.3 percent.
In April, GM introduced its 24-hour test drive program, allowing consumers to drive home a GM vehicle overnight before deciding whether to buy.
Cowger said the program is gaining momentum and GM is seriously considering extending it beyond the end of July, when he said it is scheduled to end.
"It looks to me like, the longer it's out there, the more people hear about it, the more people are exposed to it, the better job it's doing for us," he said.
DETROIT -- General Motors said Wednesday that it was considering extending a 24-hour test drive program that has helped lift U.S. new-vehicle sales in June above expectations.
Gary Cowger, president of GM North America, said June sales were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of about 16.5 million vehicles, including heavy trucks, slightly above May's levels and about flat with last year.
"From where we're at, the month looks OK," he told reporters after the dedication of a new GM engineering building in Warren, Mich. "We're well ahead of what our expectation was."
However, he said GM will have difficulty hitting last June's market share level of about 29.3 percent, one of the strongest months for GM last year.
"It'll be really tough to match that," Cowger said. "We're going to have pretty strong volume," he added.
So far, GM has claimed a U.S. market share of about 27.3 percent.
In April, GM introduced its 24-hour test drive program, allowing consumers to drive home a GM vehicle overnight before deciding whether to buy.
Cowger said the program is gaining momentum and GM is seriously considering extending it beyond the end of July, when he said it is scheduled to end.
"It looks to me like, the longer it's out there, the more people hear about it, the more people are exposed to it, the better job it's doing for us," he said.
06-18-2003, 06:02 PM
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I wouldn't mind taking a 24hr test drive of a Saab 9-3 convertible.....
I would imagine the dealers hound you and bother the hell out of u more just so only serious customers test-drive. Is this true?
I would imagine the dealers hound you and bother the hell out of u more just so only serious customers test-drive. Is this true?
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