2015 Vehicle Sales Could Increase To 17 Million

From www.media.gm.com

DETROIT – General Motors Co. CEO Mary Barra said last week that the company expects light vehicle sales in the United States to reach a range of 16.5 million to 17 million units in 2015.

The last time industry sales reached 17 million units was in 2001. The industry delivered 16.5 million light vehicles last year.

"The U.S. economy and vehicle sales have been rebounding since 2009, and we believe there is still plenty of room for the auto industry to grow," Barra said. "The strength of the labor market, better job security and the recovery in home prices have consumers feeling pretty good about the future, so we expect people will continue to replace their older cars and trucks. The recent sharp drop in fuel prices and rising incomes should only add to their confidence.

"The most important change we see coming is the return of younger and first-time buyers to the market."

Reportedly, the largest number of expected vehicle consumers in 2015 will be Millenials - the demographic cohort following Generation X.

There are no precise dates when the "Millenial" generation starts and ends. Researchers and commentators use birth years ranging from the early 1980s to the early 2000s.

Strong real GDP growth is expected to create new job opportunities in 2015 – as many as 200,000 new jobs per month. That should drive higher labor force participation and better job prospects for recent college graduates.

Third party studies reinforce this view, including the National Association of Colleges and Employers, which said in its Job Outlook 2015 report that employers plan to hire 8.3 percent more new college graduates from the Class of 2015 for their U.S. operations than they did from the Class of 2014.

"A growing jobs market and new vehicles that exceed expectations for fuel economy and high technology are the best ways to rekindle the love affair America’s youth have historically had with cars and trucks,"Barra said.

Barra said Chevrolet is particularly well positioned to attract new customers in 2015 since it has reentered the mid-size pickup segment with the Colorado and launched seven small cars and crossovers in the last four years.

These include the Spark, Sonic and Cruze, which all posted their best annual sales in 2014, as well as the Trax, which began arriving in showrooms in December.

The Trax is a small SUV that offers seating for five with available all-wheel drive and EPA-estimated fuel economy of up to 32 mpg on the highway. It also offers an available 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot and Siri Eyes Free control of the audio system with compatible smart phones.

The emerging small-SUV segment in the United States is estimated to grow more than 80 percent in the next few years. Trax is on sale in 67 global markets, where it has generated approximately 188,000 sales since its 2012 introduction.

Ingenuity Helps Improved Sales Numbers For GM, Hendrick Durham Auto Mall

A higher level of ingenuity at General Motors has contributed to a higher level of sales of GM vehicles, perhaps setting the stage for a record-seting 2015 for America's top automaker and the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall.

General Motors and its dealerships nationwide, which includes the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall, enjoyed their best December for sales in seven years last month.

An item commonly found on an infant’s changing table contributed to that result.

The baby diaper helped GM engineers simulate snow year-round, ensuring that heating systems in cars like the 2015 Chevrolet Cruze can warm their interiors quickly and efficiently.

Packed snow can prevent air from entering the inlet panel at the bottom of the windshield, obstructing the flow of air into the heating system and reducing the amount of air it can push out. This can lead to less-efficient warming of the car’s interior and windshield defrosting.

"The last thing anyone wants to do when it’s freezing cold out is scrape their windshield," said Nicholas Jahn, GM Vehicle Thermal Systems engineer. "The testing we perform on the Chevrolet Cruze with the diaper material allows us to maximize the car's heating capabilities."

According to a news release from General Motors, Jahn stumbled upon his diaper-based testing method in the middle of summer, during a swim with his daughter. He noticed that when her diaper came into contact with water, it multiplied in size.

Turns out that sodium polyacrylate – the absorbent material found in diapers – starts as a powder but turns into a snow-like substance when saturated.

In Jahn’s test, according to the GM news release, he sprinkled the reusable snow onto the air inlet vents along the bottom of the Cruze's windshield, then started the car and let it idle. After a few minutes, he removed the inlet panel and inspected how much "snow" was sucked into the system and how much of the intake vents remained blocked.

Before discovering the material, Jahn had to rely on Mother Nature to provide snow, or find a schedule opening at one of GM’s state-of-the-art climatic wind tunnels. Just submerging a diaper in water solved that dilemma.

A more efficient heating system is particularly important and beneficial for those who use the OnStar Remote Key Fob services, which allow drivers to remotely start their car from anywhere with a cellular connection. As part of the OnStar Basic Plan, Remote Key Fob services - remote start, lock, unlock and activate horn and lights – is free for five years on all new, properly equipped GM vehicles.

The benefits of Onstar as well as sales of the heat-efficient Cruze helped GM dealers nationwide record retail sales figures last month that were up 23 percent compared to December of 2013.

The Cruze was among seven GM vehicles - along with the Chevy Equinox, Sonic and Spark, the GMC Terrain, and the Buick Enclave and Encore – that posted their best annual sales total in 2014.

GM’s unique three-pickup strategy – with new models spanning the light-duty, heavy-duty and mid-size segments – drove combined deliveries to a 43-percent increase over December of 2013. It marked the best December for the Silverado since 2005.

Five GM vehicles – the Chevrolet Corvette and Spark, the Buick Enclave and Encore, and the GMC Sierra – had their highest December sales in history.

Chevrolet, Buick and GMC retail deliveries were up 25 percent, 28 percent and 29 percent, respectively, compared with a 10 percent increase for the industry as a whole.

Chevrolet had its best December retail sales since 2005. Buick and GMC, meanwhile had their best December retail sales result since 2004.

Every Buick car and crossover posted a sales increase, with the largest gains posted by the Enclave, up 53 percent, for its best month in history.

All that leads to 2015, in which General Motors and the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall expect to continue to upward trend of sales.

In Durham, a brand-new, state-of-the art facility in a new location across the street from the Streets of Southpoint - among the busiest retail shopping malls in the Southeast - continued ingenuity and product development by GM engineers, improved inventory and a favorable economy all combine to present much excitement and expectation for the new year.