General Motors’ Saturn, Hummer and Saab brands aren’t quite dead yet, but some dealers are curtailing vehicle orders as if they were. Showroom traffic has slowed to a trickled since GM announced the three brands were up for ‘strategic review’, giving Saturn, Hummer and Saab dealers little incentive to order new vehicles.
February sales were dismal for all three brands, with Saturn posting the best month with a 57 percent sales decline. Hummer and Saab saw sales dip 68 and 62 percent, respectively, during the month of February.
As such, many dealers have virtually stopped all vehicle orders. Stocked vehicle inventories aren’t helping, either. “Ordering cars wouldn’t be on my agenda or a lot of other GM dealers. I’ve got plenty,” Dan Jonuska, a Saturn dealer inArizona, told The Detroit News. “People are hearing about Saturn’s future and are looking for huge discounts, going out of business sales.”
That’s bad news for GM on several fronts. Following a massive first quarter production slowdown, GM is planning to ramp up production for the second quarter. However, if dealers aren’t ordering, many of those vehicles could be heading to fleets.
GM’s accounting system also books revenue as vehicles roll off the production floor, not when they are sold by dealers, which could put a chokehold on GM’s cash flow.
However, if GM receives a seal of approval from the government later this month, it could give the auto giant a bit of momentum. But if the news is bad come March 31st, GM could be facing a real uphill battle.
03/13, 5:22 PM
posted by:
iluvamcars
Lets face it! Summer and Haturn are dead.
03/13, 5:23 PM
posted by:
iluvamcars
Woops! I meant Hummer and Saturn.
03/13, 5:51 PM
posted by:
Need more oil four GM
ok ok. So this has not been GM at its best. But I feel a huge come back. saturn will offer something new and Hummer will get a new v10 engine that will out power anything on the market.
Buy a hummer
Its your duty..
03/13, 5:58 PM
posted by:
No more oil for GM
wow, a “need more oil” imposter
03/13, 6:23 PM
posted by:
tyler_is_aero_tt
Lol NMOFGM parodies are great.
03/13, 6:25 PM
posted by:
TomF
Nobody smart is going to invest in a dead-brand vehicle. You have to have some belief the car won’t be worthless before it’s paid off.
03/13, 7:03 PM
posted by:
miket
Who’d out there buying a dead brand car? Granted, there are deals to be had, but a 3-5 year payment on a new vehicle is a lot different that getting some of last season’s shirts at TJ Max.
03/13, 7:25 PM
posted by:
moparsalesman1
now would be a good time to go out and buy a used hummer with low miles on it because their values are crap right now. still not a good time to buy a new one you will take a severe beating on it no matter what their incentives are.
get a life take your meds it’s your duty
03/13, 8:22 PM
posted by:
jonmiles
I find “deal hunters” halarious. They fiend after the possibility of getting something that they think is expensive for large discounts. What they never seem to understand is that thier whole goal of owning something expensive has allready been shot to hell by the time that they pay a low price for the product.
There is no such thing as a “deal”. Simply, you pay what they are worth: the same as everyone else.
03/13, 10:25 PM
posted by:
Borat
What a shocking news!
03/13, 10:48 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
jonmiles, what? No such thing as a deal? You’re breaking my heart. I’ve spent my whole life looking for deals. I don’t think I’ve paid more than $9 for a pair of shoes this century (gotta love that clearance section at the ol’ Wal-Mart). OK that’s not exactly the same thing as buying a car, but if today you can get something for half of what the other guy paid yesterday you have to admit you’ll be the one who probably ends up with a somewhat warmer, fuzzier feeling regarding your purchase. If your sole reason for buying something expensive is to satisfy your ego that’s one matter. Such a person might be called a poseur. If you find something you need which didn’t used to be within the reach of your budget but now is then I’d call that a deal.
03/14, 12:19 AM
posted by:
Jon
Well… as another “Jon”, I’d like to say that you both have a point. While a $9 pair of shoes might be a deal, a brand new Hummer most certainly is not.
Most people end up buying more vehicle than they need but that is what choice is all about, isn’t it?
The hard part about getting a great deal is that there are a thousand people after the same thing. Don’t you ever get that feeling when the “sale rack” only has size XXXXL in pink polka dots?
03/14, 1:02 AM
posted by:
jdasch1
Just saw a 2007 Hummer H3 ,leather, loaded all options with 16k on it for $17000 !! wow…That rig was over $40k new. Now thats worth looking at. I think Ford Explorers are more than that!
03/14, 11:56 AM
posted by:
The Stig
Now that the cat is out of the bag, so to speak, these brands are effectively dead. GM going Chapter 11 isn’t far off either.
03/14, 12:15 PM
posted by:
yarddog82abn
^^^ BUYING A HELICOPTER…
03/14, 12:31 PM
posted by:
No more oil for GM
gm: bankrupt within 12 months, bits and pieces sold of to various companies
hummer: maybe picked up by some russians, but then dead within 24 months
saturn: maybe some dealers are stupid enough to buy it, but will be dead within 36 months
saab: will be sold within a month and still be around 5 years from now
03/14, 2:13 PM
posted by:
Borat
Johnny, I know that your people can put my people to shame when it comes to defining frugal, but shoe sale at Wal-Mart was never designed for whites. C’mon, this is anti-Christ, and who am I to comment on this
03/14, 2:54 PM
posted by:
moparsalesman1
@ johnnycanuck
well said
03/14, 3:55 PM
posted by:
Jon Luc
I won’t buy a Saab until GM is no longer an owner.
03/14, 4:34 PM
posted by:
Canadianinflames
meh………………… I don’t like Hummers anyway……. well… the 4 wheel ones that is!
03/15, 7:28 PM
posted by:
carstuff
This proves that those senators are idiots. They keep saying the best thing for GM is to declare chapter 11, restructure by killing the union (like that will happen), drop as many dealers as they want (right, like the states will allow it), drop all the debt to the bond holders, close more plants and come out a low cost producer. The auto business is different than an airline or a chemical plant. Customers will not buy a high cost vehicle from a company in bankruptcy.
As shown by Saturn, Hummer and Saab buyers will stay away in droves. GM penetration will go from 23% to 10% overnight. They will have to shut even more plants and it will spiral down to chapter 7 in less than 2 months.
03/16, 3:36 AM
posted by:
fan
no more oil sums it up pretty well… most of GM will be down the drain before you know… european subsidiaries may have some chance of survival…
03/16, 8:01 AM
posted by:
carstuff
The Hummer H3 was closer to $30k in 2007 and took a lot of optioning up to get close to $40k.
03/16, 8:02 AM
posted by:
carstuff
AND with the ‘07 discounts you could get one for $27K. Now $17k for an almost 4 year old vehicle is not as bad.