GM South Africa General Motors South Africa Kempston Road, Sidwell P.O. Box 1137 Port Elizabeth For Release: Immediate 6000 Place of Issue: Port Elizabeth www.gmsa.com
GM Sets Sales Record of Over 1 Million Vehicles in Latin America, Africa & Middle East Region in 2006
GM Latin America, Africa & Middle East sold a record 1,035,200 units in 2006 GM LAAM sales up more than 153,500 units, an increase of 17.4 percent Calendar Year GM LAAM market share improves to 17.0 percent Sales performance led by strength of Chevrolet and GM premium brands GM has been the vehicle sales leader in LAAM for nine consecutive years
Miramar, FL - For the first time in its history, General Motors sold more than one million cars and trucks in its Latin America, Africa & Middle East (LAAM) region in a year. For calendar year 2006, the region sold a record 1,035,200 vehicles, an increase of more than 153,500 units or 17.4 percent over last year. Plus, GM’s calendar year market share in the region increased to 17.0 percent - it’s highest in sixteen years – on the strength of its global brands, especially Chevrolet, which significantly outpaced industry growth in almost every market in the region.
Maureen Kempston Darkes, President of GM LAAM said, “2006 was an outstanding year for GM LAAM. We sold over one million vehicles for the first time, while improving average revenue per vehicle and laying the foundations for sustainable growth in this rapidly expanding and diverse region”.
She added, “We credit these results to exciting new vehicles, especially the new Chevrolet portfolio; a strong dealer network; and great customer service. This formula has made us the leader in the region for nine consecutive years and we plan to leverage GM’s global reach to extend that leadership going forward.”
GM set all-time annual sales records in nine of the eleven major markets in the LAAM region, including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela,
1 Egypt, South Africa, Other Africa (excludes South Africa, Egypt and Kenya), and the Middle East.
In addition, GM's 2006 vehicle sales in LAAM accounted for 11.4 percent of GM's global sales, an increase over the 9.6 percent it represented last year.
GM LAAM Posts Record 4th Quarter
GM LAAM continued its record setting pace in the fourth quarter of 2006 as vehicle sales for the period increased by 16.2 percent to a record 289,500 units, representing market share of 17.9 percent. In Q4, GM set all-time quarterly sales volume records in Brazil, Venezuela and the Middle East. Plus, it set Q4 sales records in Argentina, Colombia and South Africa.
Across the region, GM Brazil increased sales by 8.6 percent in the fourth quarter, GM Chile increased market share to 18 percent, and GM Colombia and Venezuela continued their rapid pace with sales growth of 45 and 35 percent, respectively.
With its Q4 2006 sales increasing by 14.4 percent, GM South Africa achieved ten consecutive quarters of sales volume records. GM also had strong performance in Egypt where sales increased by 42.4 percent for the quarter. And, GM’s Other Africa markets continued their strong performance with sales up 9 percent.
GM’s results in the Middle East continued to outpace the industry as sales jumped 32 percent over the same period last year, and market share for the quarter climbed to 14.8 percent. In fact, GM’s Middle East December results marked the 38th consecutive month and three consecutive quarters of record sales.
GM LAAM Regional Highlights- 2006
In December, LAAM sold 101,900 vehicles -- the highest monthly sales volume in its history and the first time it sold more than 100,000 units in a month. GM Brazil set a new all-time calendar year sales record of 410,000 units. GM Ecuador’s market share was 45.5 percent – the highest market share of any GM operation in the world. GM’s Other Africa markets increased sales by 54 percent. GM Egypt set a new yearly sales record of nearly 29,000 units, 15.5 percent higher than the previous record that was set in 1998. GM South Africa sold a record breaking 87,121 units, up 13.8 percent over last year as Chevrolet sales increased by 30 percent, and the number of Chevrolet dealerships more than doubled from 45 in 2005 to 102 in 2006. In addition, GMSA began production of the HUMMER H3
2 in South Africa in October and announced the addition of the Cadillac brand later that month. GM Colombia set a new all-time calendar year sales record of 74,200 units while maintaining its position as the country’s market leader for 21 years in a row. GM’s Middle East operations recorded sales of 140,500 units, representing an increase of 24 percent over 2005. GM’s sales in the region have almost tripled in the last three years led by the Chevrolet brand, which grew 30 percent in 2006, and GM’s premium brands (Cadillac, Hummer and Saab), which increased their performance by 56 percent.
GM LAAM is one of GM’s four regional business units. It employs approximately 31,000 people throughout the region, operating two distinct subdivisions: Latin American Operations and Africa and Middle East Operations. GM LAAM markets vehicles under the Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Hummer, Isuzu, Opel, Saab and Suzuki brands.
Ends…
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world’s largest automaker, has been the global industry sales leader for 76 years. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 284,000 people around the world. With global headquarters in Detroit, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 33 countries. In 2006, 9.1 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Vauxhall. GM’s OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. More information on GM can be found at www.gm.com.
Issued by: Denise van Huyssteen Manager, Communications General Motors South Africa P O Box 1137 Port Elizabeth 6000
Tel: 041-4032992 Fax: 041-4032922 E-mail: [email protected] website: www.gmsa.com
Additional contacts: Gishma Abrahams Communications Officer General Motors South Africa Tel: 041 403 2167 Fax: 041 4032922 Cell: 083 455 7616 [email protected]
3 GM South Africa media-on line site, www. media.gm.com
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