13.4.2005
GM’s first-quarter market share hits six-year high in Europe

GM sold 513,200 vehicles in Europe in the first quarter of 2005, an increase of 12,500 or 2.5 percent over the same period last year. In a European market that contracted by 1.9 percent, GM’s share rose from 9.4 to 9.8 percent, the highest quarterly figure recorded since 1999.

Chevrolet made the largest contribution to GM’s first-quarter growth. GM’s biggest global brand (2004 sales of over 4.1 million) registered a year-on-year increase of 33.6 percent in Europe. Consolidating its role as GM’s foundation brand in Europe with first-quarter sales of 57,000, Chevrolet stepped up its market share from 0.8 to a record 1.1 percent.

With sales of just under 425,000, Opel and Vauxhall also improved their market share in the first quarter, reaching 8.1 percent. With 19,900 cars sold at the end to March, Saab’s market share remained stable.

“Chevrolet, Opel/Vauxhall and Saab play complementary roles in the European market,” said Jonathan Browning, GM Europe’s Vice-President of Sales, Marketing and Aftersales. “While Chevrolet is establishing itself as our foundation brand, Opel/Vauxhall and Saab can focus on their customers in the mainstream and premium markets, respectively. There is clearly strong support in the marketplace for the new cars we are launching.”

First-quarter sales growth was particularly marked in Denmark (55 percent) and Portugal (31 percent). Among several other markets where GM achieved above-average growth were Greece (22 percent) and Russia (19 percent).