Having just scored its best U.S. sales month in 19 years, General Motors announced yesterday that it was extending through Aug. 1 the “Employee Discount” program it began last month. The offer had been originally scheduled to end July 5.
The embattled automaker said last week that its dealers sold 558,092 new cars and trucks in June, a 41% increase over the prior year and its best month since September 1986. Of the total vehicles reported, 382,601 were trucks were sold— industry all-time record.
“We were confident that our program would hit a responsive cord, but we were a little surprised by just how strong the results were, including bringing over 150,000 new customers into the GM family,” said Mark LaNeve, sales and marketing chief for GM North America, in a statement. “This definitely moves us in the right direction as we gear up to introduce our 2006 models.”
American rivals Ford and Chrysler indicated last week they are weighing similar pricing discount offers. The Detroit Free Press reported on Saturday that Ford was ready to match GM’s deal with its own discounts that might result in buyers paying $400 to $500 less per vehicle than they would have this past spring.
Network
