GM MAY SALES HIGHLIGHT GROWING FULL-SIZE TRUCK SUCCESS

DETROIT -- The fast-growing appeal of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickup trucks, the strength of GM's newest mid-size cars, fresh appeal from Saturn and the successful new presence of the 2000 Chevrolet Impala and Buick LeSabre combined to bring luster to GM's May sales pace, pushing January-May sales 27,415 vehicles ahead of the '98 year-to-date pace.

Overall, vehicle sales in May were 465,306 units, down 4.5 percent from the same month a year ago. Truck sales in May were down 2 percent; car sales were down 6.7 percent.

January through May, GM sales are 1.3 percent ahead of 1998 sales for the same period.

For the second straight month, full-size pickup trucks, now nearing targeted inventory levels, accounted for over 76,000 sales, a 7.8 percent increase over May 1998 and the best May since 1978. Total pickup truck sales are up 6 percent for May, also the best May in 21 years.

"The market this month once again was really hot. In this environment, we're continuing to work very hard in balancing our market share and profit initiatives," said Roy S. Roberts, GM vice president and group executive of North America Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing.

"We are seeing a solid demand for the retail side of our products. For example, our overall fleet sales are at a very good level of about 20 percent," he said.

May was the third best month for truck sales in GM history with 224,433 sales. Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra and Sonoma, the all-new Chevy Tracker, full-size Chevy vans and Oldsmobile Bravada all were up.

"Our increased production, particularly the up to 300,000 full-size pickup trucks in this year's schedule, has begun to meet market demand. Obviously, we are going to strive much harder in this very competitive arena," Roberts added.

With nearly one in every three mid-size cars sold a GM brand, GM mid-size car sales were 12.2 percent ahead of 1998, five months into the selling year. Industry-wide, close to one of every four vehicles sold is a mid-size car.

For May alone, GM's newest mid-size brands -- Chevrolet Impala and Malibu; Buick Century and Regal; Oldsmobile Intrigue, Alero and Cutlass; and Pontiac Grand Am -- were 4.6 percent ahead of the same month a year ago.

Saturn's industry-first three-door coupe accounted for over 21 percent of Saturn's 22,692 sales, helping Saturn increase sales by 9 percent.

And the newest of GM's car models are making their entries.

National advertising on the 2000 Chevrolet Impala began over the Memorial Day weekend. The first cars were shipped to dealers in April with dealers reporting sales within 48 hours of arrival. Impala, a brand name revered in Chevrolet history since its inception in 1958, has a 96 percent recognition factor, according to the brand team. Production is still accelerating and is ahead of schedule with over 11,000 already built at its Oshawa, Ontario assembly plant, recognized recently for producing vehicles with some of the highest quality scores in North America. May sales for Impala were 2,697.

The 2000 Buick LeSabre also is making an impact, with the new models sold within seven days after arriving at dealerships. Although inventory is still weighted more to the 1999 models, the 2000 is now at full acceleration at the Detroit-Hamtramck plant and acceleration on track at the Orion plant. Production of the 1999 model ended May 19. "Our launch and acceleration of the new LeSabre has been perfect. By building both the old and new models together, we were able to give dealers a steady stream of LeSabres during the transition so they were never short of product," said Joe Fitzsimmons, LeSabre brand manager.

Le Sabre sales for May -- a mix of both models -- were 21 percent higher than a year ago, with 16,039 sales.

More completely new offerings coming this year include the Pontiac Bonneville, Cadillac DeVille, Chevrolet Monte Carlo, the Saab 9-5 wagon, the Saturn L-Series, and four new full-size sport utilities: Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, and GMC Yukon and the re-named Yukon XL, replacing the GMC Suburban.

Roberts commented, "May has been a good introduction for us to the summer selling season. We had to go head-to-head with a record-breaking May of a year ago, but all signs and our great new products point to healthy selling days ahead."