GM Seen Posting Sales Gain

General Motors Co. is likely to post its first year-over-year monthly sales gain in 21 months when automakers report sales figures on Tuesday, a top GM sales analyst said Wednesday.

In this Sept, 13, 2009 photo, 2009 Chevrolet Cobalts sit at a Chevrolet dealership in Englewood,...

In this Sept, 13, 2009 photo, 2009 Chevrolet Cobalts sit at a Chevrolet dealership in Englewood, Colo. General Motors Co. is likely to post its first year-over-year monthly sales gain in 21 months when automakers report sales figures on Tuesday, a top GM sales analyst said Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

(AP)

Mike DiGiovanni, GM's executive director of global market and industry analysis, also told reporters that the payback from the government's Cash for Clunkers rebates that depressed U.S. auto sales in September should be over.

"We're through that for the most part," he said during a sales preview discussion. "We think it paid back in August and September."

GM last reported a sales increase over the same month of the previous year in January of 2008, DiGiovanni said. GM's vehicles sold poorly last October, though, down 45 percent from October of 2007 when U.S. financial markets were collapsing.

Also in October, GM should see its third straight U.S. market share gain, falling into the 20 percent to 21 percent range despite shedding four brands and trying to focus on Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac, DiGiovanni said.

He predicted U.S. light vehicle sales for October will rise to an annual rate of 10.5 million, up dramatically from September's 9.2 million. He said the U.S. auto market is not out of trouble yet but is showing signs of recovery.

Susan Docherty, GM's new sales chief, told reporters that only four customers have returned vehicles to get their money back under GM's new 60-day money-back guarantee. Another 49 returns are pending, she said.

Of the 142,000 vehicles GM has sold since the program started in September, only 449 people have taken the money-back guarantee option instead of a $500 rebate, less than 1 percent of the sales, she said.

Docherty, who has been in her new job nine days, said two worries keep her up at night: GM's rankings in the widely read Consumer Reports reliability survey and boosting the resale value of GM vehicles.

Consumer Reports, she said, gave its "recommended buy" check mark to 12 GM vehicles this year, up from 10 last year, but still not a good enough performance. The magazine survey covered 48 GM models this year.