By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com
August 19, 2008
With sales down 18 percent so far this year, General Motors is offering automotive consumers deep price cuts in a late summer effort to unload its remaining 2008 inventory.
The automaker will offer prices usually reserved for company employees along with cash discounts of as much as $4,000 on most 2008 and some 2009 models.
GM offered "employee prices for everyone" during June of 2005 and sales increased 47 percent for the month. Some GM dealers reported that new car and truck sales more then doubled during the 2005 promotion before dropping off again.
The GM sale will last until September 2 and applies to every 2008 vehicle in stock except medium-duty trucks. The 2009 vehicles that are part of the sale include the Chevrolet Cobalt and HHR, Pontiac Vibe and G5 and Cadillac CTS. The discounts available to consumers will vary by vehicle.
With 2008 proving to the worst year for new car and truck sales since 1993, GM reported a $15.5 billion loss for the second quarter of the year. GM has not reported a yearly sales gain in the U.S. since 1999.
