Overall, vehicle sales fell three percent from year-earlier levels, and the drop would have been sharper if there had not been an extra selling day in June. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the annual selling rate dropped to 15.6 million vehicles in June from 16.2 million a year earlier.

GM’s truck sales were down 22.9 percent. The figures reflect big declines in its new Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, which offered incentives averaging less than $3,700 in June. Sales of the GMC Sierra pickup dropped 26.5 percent, while sales of the Chevrolet Silverado fell 23.5 percent. GM is contemplating on its rejoinder. “If we have to make changes in our incentives play, we will,” said Paul Ballew, GM’s director of industry analysis. “We’re certainly not going to cede ground in a category where we’re best in class.”

Additionally, the Ford Motor Co.’s sales fell 8.2 percent, for an eighth consecutive monthly decline, and the DaimlerChrysler AG’s sales were down 1.8 percent. But leading Japanese automakers reported remarkable gains.

“The industry is substantially below normal levels right now and below where we’d like it to be,” Ballew said. In addition, “we weren’t anticipating that Toyota would go zero (percent interest) for 60 (months) on a brand new truck, and that has hurt our results,” he said.

Toyota offered big discounts on the Tundra to put its introduction back on track. Demand for the first full-size truck from the Japanese automaker was running below the company’s annual sales target of 200,000 units. But in June, Tundra sales more than doubled to 21,727 after Toyota offered no-interest loans and other incentives amounting to $5,083 per pickup, according to auto data firm Edmunds.com.

“The only large truck with a higher level of incentives in June than the Tundra was the (Dodge) Ram,” said Alex Rosten, the manager of pricing and market analysis at Edmunds.com. “Everybody else was lower.”

Jim Lentz, the executive vice president of Toyota Motor Sales USA, explained Tundra’s incentives: “Any time a manufacturer puts incentives (on a vehicle), it’s probably deeper than they want to go.” However, “in a segment like full-size trucks, customers expect and in some cases need incentives to help them out of negative-equity positions,” Lentz added referring to trade-in vehicles worth less than the payments owed.

The ferocious truck competition mirrors the hardship domestic automakers face as they try to patch up bad habits like excessive discounting. In the previous months, they have reined in low-margin sales to rental car companies that had bolstered their volumes but slashed their profitability. That was the main reason for a 24.7 percent drop in Ford’s car sales in June, said Ford industry analyst George Pipas.

GM executives said that they had anticipated a slowdown in June as the company scaled back its business with rental car companies. But the effects of anticipation were not hindered by the Saturn brake pad.

“Our retail performance for the month was also below the solid running rate we’ve experienced for the first half of the year, which we attribute to a soft industry and lower incentive spending than our competitors,” said Mark LaNeve, the GM vice president for North American sales. “However, we continue to believe that maintaining a disciplined approach to both incentives and daily car rental sales is key to making our marketing strategy work in the long run.”

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GM’s June sales were down 21 percent from a year ago, with sales down seven percent year to date. The automaker’s June sales report reflected surprising weakness in its new full-size pickup trucks, a key to the automaker’s comeback plan. The continuing sales doldrums etches doubt over GM’s early recuperation. In this regard, the dealers are calling for higher incentives to alleviate the waning sales.

An investment analyst downgraded the largest American automaker on Thursday, fueling a three percent decline in GM shares. And with GM still burning cash in its key North American operations, analysts said second-quarter earnings due out later this month are expected to be less than stellar.

“We believe the near term outlook may get rocky,” Deutsche Bank analyst Jochen Gehrke wrote in a research note in which he reduced GM’s 2007 production and earnings forecasts. “We see no reason for GM to post strong earnings or market share trends over the next few months.”

Particularly upsetting is that sales of the redesigned full-size pickup trucks dived 23 percent, while sales of Toyota Motor Corp.’s redesigned Tundra, more than doubled. The Tundra pickup was backed by no-interest loans and other incentives adding up to $5,083 per pickup, according to auto data firm Edmunds.com.

“The bottom line was that it was a tough quarter and a first half that was weaker than we expected,” GM sales analyst Paul Ballew said. The Detroit automaker blamed the decline on its strategy of scaling back incentives and low-margin fleet sales, though the extent of the drop surprised critics and analysts alike. Also, foreign rivals offered more aggressive discounting than predicted, which wounded Detroit’s automakers.

Knoxville, Tenn.-based Chevrolet dealer Jim Quinlan said GM’s Chevy Silverado is as good as advertised but it is being hurt by attractive deals on the Dodge Ram and Toyota Tundra. “We are just not in the game on incentives,” he said. “We are not competitive at all.”

Pointing to distressing June sales and a market made volatile by rising gas prices and continuing worries in the mortgage market, Bear Sterns analyst Peter Nesvold downgraded GM’s stock to a peer perform rating from outperform. Nesvold reinforced his GM rating less than a couple of months ago, saying the automaker could gain significant concessions from the United Auto Workers.

GM’s troubles put even more pressure on the automaker and the UAW to reach a deal that will help the automaker cut labor costs. The labor question is the lingering unknown in a turnaround that began after a $10 billion loss in 2005, said auto analyst John Casesa of the Casesa Shapiro Group. Since then, the automaker has fruitfully eliminated waste and downsized to cut costs. It’s also becoming clear that the automaker’s market share woes aren’t going to lift dramatically anytime soon, he added.

“On revenue, the company is struggling, on cost it has done a fabulous job — the open question is labor relationship,” Casesa said. “The turnaround will hinge on automaker’s ability to forge a radically different relationship with the UAW.” He added the stock price drop isn’t cause for too much concern, given GM’s gains over the past year.

“We nonetheless believe structural changes will be significant,” Gehrke wrote. “And that these changes will prevail in the intermediate term.” With reliable cost-cutting measures, product launches, and enhancements of auto parts including the Saturn body kit, GM, according to some analysts, could still get better.

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The 2.405 million cars and light trucks sold by the automaker all over the world for the second quarter of the year is higher than last year’s for the same period. From April to June last year, General Motors reported that they have sold 2.395 units around the world.

The increase in sales for the second quarter of the year is driven by record sales outside of North America. This is expected as General Motors continue to lose market share in the United States. Furthermore, the automaker is increasing its presence in the growing markets around the world. In China and India, General Motors is expanding its operations.

“GM’s second quarter sales were driven by exceptionally strong demand in emerging markets,” said John Middlebrook, General Motors’ vice president for Global Sales, Service and Marketing Operations. “GM global sales of 4.67 million vehicles for the first half of the year reflects solid results, in fact we’re on track to have our second-best annual sales performance in our almost 100-year history,” he added.

Middlebrook pointed out the different emerging markets which they have posted increased sales saying: “In the second quarter we experienced record sales growth around the globe including 20 percent growth in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East – an all-time quarterly record for that region, and 8 percent growth in the Asia/Pacific region. We’re also pleased to see almost 5 percent growth in Europe where we sold more than 574,000 vehicles.”

While General Motors continues to sell more vehicles in Europe, South America and Asia continue to increase, the opposite is happening in the country. One bright spot for the automaker though is the Saturn brand which is one of the fastest growing auto brands in the United States. With General Motors’ revitalization of the brand’s lineup by partnering it with German automaker Opel, the brand has received more attention from auto buyers.

With European styled automobiles that come with Saturn repair manuals and other necessities, the new generation of Saturn vehicles is giving General Motors a much needed boost in the United States auto market.

Outside the country though, the automaker is depending on the popularity of auto models such as the Chevy Aveo, Optra, and Celta to boost sales. The Chevrolet Aveo is a compact car manufactured by General Motors Daewoo. The Optra, which is also called the Daewoo Lacetti, is also made by the Korean connection of General Motors. When General Motors acquired the Korean automaker, they rebadged the Daewoo vehicles and marketed them in Asian auto markets.

The Celta, on the other hand, is marketed as the Suzuki Fun in Argentina. The vehicle is said to be the second cheapest car sold in Brazil and other Latin American countries. This is one of the reasons for the increased sale by the automaker outside the United States. This increasing sale for the Dearborn-based automaker is expected to increase as Asian markets are expected to continue growing. With the company partnering with local automakers in countries around the world, an increasing global presence for General Motors comes as no surprise.

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“They can’t rely on the American idea only, even though, traditionally, [General Motors] being American is a reason why they’ve wanted people to buy their vehicles,” said Alexander Edwards, the president of the auto division at the consultancy Strategic Vision based in San Diego. “That would be like Hyundai only selling vehicles based on the warranty.”

The automakerâ??s new campaign flaunting improved Saturn body kits targets import purchasers and was created based on company research. Among other facts, th eGeneral Motors Corp., the parent company, found that the 17-year-old Saturn is still considered a new brand by import owners and intenders. “Which was encouraging,” said Dan Keller, the marketing director at Saturn in Spring Hill, Tenn. “They gave us a whole lot of credit for being different. We don’t have the baggage of a lot of these other domestic car companies… These findings gave us an opportunity to challenge them and rethink what an American car company can be.”

America has been a “sponsor” of other brands. In 2001, Tommy Hilfiger introduced an “Earn your stripes and be a star” contest where filmmakers entered a video demonstrating what the American flag meant to them. Three years after, SABMiller launched an ad campaign that claimed they were running for “president of beers.” The ads called Anheuser-Busch “un-American” for declining to refute them. Anheuser-Busch responded by stating in ads that “Miller was purchased by South African Breweries.” A full-page Budweiser ad that ran in newspapers during the Memorial Day weekend read: “A true American holiday deserves a true American beer – Budweiser.”

â??A lot of brands have experimented with this ‘American brand’ advertising but the consumer doesn’t seem to care much in many cases,” said J. Walker Smith, the president at marketing research firm Yankelovich Partners in Chapel Hill, N.C. Smith added, â??Most consumers are buying products largely based on the valuations they make on the brand with regard to the competition in a category. And this whole notion of being American is somewhat beside the point when it comes to the performance of a product.â?

“It now is taking more that just saying you are American, like the [Ford] Fusion ads that compare the Fusion to the Camry and the Accord,” said Peter DeLorenzo, a former Detroit ad man and now publisher of industry Web site Autoextremist.com. “Those other ‘We’re American’ ads didn’t work because American consumers were not listening. They wanted a good car. I’m not sure that [Rethink American] can get people out of their Toyotas and into a Saturn, but not trying to sway those buyers is a huge mistake. So this [tack of] going at them directly and trying to break the prevailing attitude has to be done.”

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“Given the planned reduction in daily rental sales, we expected June would be a tough comparison to a year ago. Our retail performance for the month was also below the solid running rate we’ve experienced for the first half of the year which we attribute to a soft industry and lower incentive spending than our competitors. However, we continue to believe that maintaining a disciplined approach to both incentives and daily rental car sales is key to making our marketing strategy work in the long run,” said Mark LaNeve, the vice president, GM North American Sales, Service and Marketing.

“We continue our focus on the retail side of the equation and first-half results were solid,” LaNeve added. “We are delighted with the continuing success of new products, especially the GMC Acadia, Saturn Outlook and Buick Enclave. As with many of our vehicles, these all-new crossovers offer great fuel economy, terrific performance and outstanding value. For example, a year ago we were selling only about 3,000 mid-utility crossover vehicles. This June, we blew the doors off the segment with deliveries in excess of 15,000.”

Increased sales of the Buick Enclave, Saturn Aura, GMC Acadia, and the Saturn Outlook reflect the automaker’s strong positioning in the market for fuel-efficient product lines. The Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and the Saturn Outlook had retail sales of over 12,000 vehicles, making a noteworthy retail increase in the automaker’s mid-crossover segment. GM’s total sales of over 15,000 vehicles in this segment raised monthly performance up over 377 percent, compared with the same month in 2006.

The Chevrolet Silverado and the GMC Sierra full-size pickups, fuel efficiency leaders in their segment, bolstered GM’s 2007 first half sales increase segment post, compared with the same period a year ago. The Silverado and the Sierra also offer the best residual values and warranty coverage in segment – a winning combination that functions as an efficient performance exhaust aimed at releasing the annoying sales doldrums.

“We’re seeing increased residual values for our products as a result of staying aligned and disciplined to our North American turnaround and market growth plans. For customers, this means providing industry-leading products in terms of design, segment fuel economy, warranty coverage and performance,” LaNeve added. “This translates to a beneficial cost of ownership experience. With new products such as the Cadillac CTS and Chevrolet Malibu coming to dealer showrooms later this year, we expect to build on this customer enthusiasm.”

GM’s Certified Used Vehicles are also etching a great milestone in the automaker’s sales history. June 2007 sales for all certified GM brands, including GM Certified Used Vehicles, Cadillac Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, Saturn Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, Saab Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, and HUMMER Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, were 45,876 units, up by six percent from last June. Total year-to-date certified GM sales are 273,241 units, up four percent from the same period in 2006.

“GM Certified Used Vehicles, the industry’s top-selling manufacturer-certified brand, posted a strong performance in June, leading the segment with sales of 40,423 units, up nine percent from last June,” said LaNeve. “GM Certified is on track to build on this momentum toward another record performance for the category for 2007.” Year-to-date sales for GM Certified Used Vehicles are 240,138 units, up five percent from the same period in the previous year.

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On an unadjusted basis, sales increased by 8.8 percent. GM’s May retail sales of 279,731 were up 8.5 percent. On an unadjusted basis, retail sales were up 12.8 percent as compared with a year ago.

May sales mirrored the strength of the automaker’s new product portfolio. Increased sales of the Chevrolet Impala, Saturn Aura, GMC Acadia, Saturn Outlook and Buick Enclave demonstrated GM’s strong positioning in the auto industry for fuel-efficient and alternative fuel vehicles. The Chevrolet Silverado and the GMC Sierra, both full-size pickup trucks of the Detroit automaker, are deemed fuel-efficiency leaders in their class. The pickups pushed GM’s large pickup segment sales up ten percent in total and 14 percent retail compared with May 2006.

GM divisions with retail sales increased in May include Saturn, up 59 percent; GMC, up 18 percent; and Pontiac up eight percent. Also, Chevrolet was again the sales leader in the industry with a five percent increase.

In May, GM North America produced 401,000 vehicles. This is down by 25,000 units or six percent as compared to May 2006 when the region produced 425,000 vehicles. The region’s 2007 second-quarter production forecast is unaffected at 1.145 million vehicles. Additionally, the region’s initial 2007 third-quarter production forecast is set at 1.075 million, up two percent from third-quarter 2006 figures.

Like the wintry breeze from the Neuspeed cold air intake, the automaker frostily revised its 2007 second-quarter and initial 2007 third-quarter production forecast for its international regions. GM Europe’s 2007 second-quarter production forecast is revised at 468,000 vehicles, down 5,000 units from last month’s guidance. The region’s initial 2007 third-quarter production forecast is set at 389,000 vehicles. GM Asia Pacific, meanwhile, second-quarter production forecast for this year remains unchanged at 568,000 vehicles. The region’s initial 2007 third-quarter production forecast is set at 524,000 vehicles. Additionally, GM Latin America, Africa and the Middle East forecast is unchanged at 233,000 vehicles. The region’s initial 2007 third-quarter production forecast is set at 258,000 vehicles.

“Our May results were extremely positive as we saw strong total and retail sales increases. Our significant market share gains in full-size trucks and crossovers validates the decision we made to invest in industry-leading fuel economy in these important segments,” said Mark LaNeve, the vice president for GM North American Sales, Service and Marketing.

“We are particularly pleased with the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, which pushed our full-size truck sales up more than ten percent for the month. As with many of our vehicles, these great all-new trucks offer what the customer is looking for – best-in-class fuel economy, terrific performance and tremendous value. And our newest entry to the crossover segment, the Buick Enclave, is performing ahead of our expectations. Dealers are selling them as soon as they arrive from the plant. Our mid-size crossover segment performance, including the GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook, continues to grow at a blistering pace.”

The Saturn brand of the automaker also made a dramatic change with its product renaissance. The said rebirth has tremendously accelerated increased total sales to almost 69 percent compared with a year ago. Saturn’s sales are bolstered by the warm public acceptance of its new lineup which includes the Aura and Aura Hybrid, Sky, Outlook, Vue and the Vue Hybrid. Part of the renaissance campaign is the introduction of the Astra as the replacement of the Ion small car. For this year, Saturn brand is said to be the fastest growing brand.

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The continuing strength of GM’s new product line is reflected on the May sales. As to the fuel-efficient and alternative fuel (E-85) markets, the Chevrolet Impala, Saturn AURA and also the new industry leading mid-size crossovers GMC Acadia have increased sales. The Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickup trucks that are leading fuel efficiency in their class comprised the 10 percent increase as compared with May 2006 in the pickup segment and the 14 percent retail sales.

Saturn with 59 percent increase, GMC with 18 percent increase, along with Pontiac with 8 percent increase were the successful divisions for the month of May this year in terms of retail sales. Furthermore, Chevrolet, whose sales were up 5 percent, was again leading the industry sales.

Mark LaNeve, the Vice President of GM North American Sales, Service and Marketing, said that their reports for May were tremendously good because of strong total and retail sales increases. Their huge market share gains in full-size trucks and crossovers proved that they made a good decision to invest in industry-leading fuel economy in these essential segments.

He further said that the company is grateful to the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups that put their full-size truck sales up in a 10 percent increase. He added that these hot selling all-new trucks are just like many of their vehicles that offer fuel economy, astonishing performance and extreme value – everything that a customer is demanding for. The company was further fascinated by the beyond-what-is-expected performance of the newest entry to the crossover segment, the Buick Enclave. They were also pleased by the performance of their mid-size crossover segment like the GMC Acadia and Saturn OUTLOOK as their sales continue to increase.

The Saturn is performing well as its product revival continued its pace. With its increasing total sales now nearing to 69 percent, the Saturn, which includes SKY, AURA and AURA Hybrid, OUTLOOK, VUE and VUE Hybrid, is receiving warm acceptance from the public. The ASTRA will soon replace the ION small car. As a whole, Saturn is the fastest growing brand in the industry so far this year.

Other vehicles that have May retail sales increases as compared with a year ago were as follows: Chevrolet Aveo, Cobalt, Malibu, Impala, HHR, Silverado, Suburban, and Avalanche; Pontiac G6 and Solstice; Saturn SKY and VUE; Saab 9-3, GMC Sierra and Yukon XL; Buick Lucerne; Cadillac SRX, Escalade ESV and Escalade EXT; and HUMMER H3. Meanwhile, newly offered products like Pontiac G5, Saturn AURA and OUTLOOK, GMC Acadia and the Buick Enclave will continue to contribute retail sales strength.

Over 12,800 vehicles were the retail sales of the GMC Acadia, Saturn OUTLOOK and Buick Enclave. As a result, GM’s mid-crossover segment experienced a significant retail increase. GM’s total sales of over 16,600 vehicles in this segment put monthly performance to 211 percent higher as compared with May 2006’s GM’s mid-crossover segment sales.

According to LaNeve, they are seeing good results. One of which is the increased residual values for their products. He said that this was a result of staying coordinated and dedicated to their North American competition and market growth plans. He added that the result implied that their company is providing products that lead the industry in terms of design, segment fuel economy, warranty coverage and performance; and it is tantamount to a beneficial cost of ownership experience. The company anticipates the same customer acceptance as their many vehicles when their new products like the Cadillac CTS and Chevrolet Malibu enter the dealer showrooms before the year ends.

Forty-five thousand eight hundred ninety-two (45,892) cars of all certified GM brands that include GM Certified Used Vehicles, Cadillac Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, Saturn Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, Saab Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, and HUMMER Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles were sold in May 2007. It is 3 percent higher from last year. Two hundred twenty-seven thousand three hundred sixty-five (227,365) were sold from January up to May this year that is 3 percent higher from the same period last year.

The industry’s top-selling manufacturer-certified used brand, GM Certified Used Vehicles, reported 40,306 units of sales that is almost 5 percent higher from May of last year. Up 4 percent from January to April 2006, the GM Certified Used Vehicles year-to-date sales amounted to 199,715 units.

Meanwhile, Cadillac Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles reported 3,102 units of May sales – a 6 percent drop from May 2006. Saturn Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles sold 1,603 units, which is 13 percent lower from last year. Saab Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles had 797 units of sales as compared to last May while HUMMER Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles experienced a 6 percent drop by selling only 84 units.

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Over the past weeks, Saturn dealers have placed a Toyota Camry and a Honda Accord in their showrooms, challenging purchasers to take comparison test drives with the Aura. GM calls the first-of-its-kind marketing campaign the “Side-by-Side-by-Side” challenge.

“It really demonstrates just how confident we are in the product,” said Jill Lajdziak, the general manager of Saturn. The well-reviewed Aura represents a key advance for the automaker, which has been launching a revamped lineup featuring bolder European styling to reverse declining sales and revitalize the Saturn brand.

The Aura, which brought Saturn back into the highly competitive midsize sedan segment, has helped bolstered sales. With sales up to 21 percent through June, Saturn represents GM’s best-performing brand at a time when the automaker has seen its overall American sales drop eight percent.

Lajdziak said that Saturn would get momentum from the Aura marketing campaign and other efforts. “It has bounced back in the marketplace. And consideration numbers are going up,” Lajdziak said. “I expect the consideration and the conquest levels to continue to rise.”

Executives at GM said that the Detroit automaker has improved quality, but not yet changed negative perceptions that go back decades. As such it has designed a campaign to close the gap. “One of the things we are trying to do… is to get people who would not have considered a domestic car to actually think about it,” said Chuck Thomson, the director of Saturn sales.

Such campaign, according to analysts, is pretty risky. Instead of drawing more customers, it could push some consumers to their rivals, especially if they found out that the competitors’ product lines are far better. But so far, the side-by-side-by-side campaign of the domestic automaker is serving its purpose well enough.

Data from industry tracking firm Edmunds.com show the Aura has gained traction. In May, the number of visitors to the Web site considering an Aura increased to over 48,000, almost double. From January through June, sales of the Aura in the United States totaled 27,229. That compared with 240,530 sales for the Camry and 182,346 for the Accord over the same period. “We picked the Camry and Honda because they are the two heavy-volume players in the segment,” Thomson said.

The Aura was also voted the North American Car of the Year by automotive journalists. This has added to the salability of the car. GM, which lost the top spot in global sales to the Toyota Motor Corp. earlier this year, has seen its American market slice shrink to roughly 23 percent from a peak of about 45 percent in 1980. As part of its turnaround, executives have said that GM needs to see Saturn turn the corner with its new product lineup.

Encouraged by the success of the Aura marketing program, the largest American automaker is considering launching a similar campaign for the new Saturn Vue, which is going out to dealers this month. GM is also considering rolling out a head-to-head marketing blitz for the new Chevrolet Malibu, which will be rolled off later this year. The Vue would rival the Honda CR-V and the Toyota RAV4 while the Malibu against the Toyota Camry, GM officials said.

Lajdziak said that the Saturn challenge showed the brand was regaining its edge. “I don’t think there is a bolder, more confident statement,” she added. Apparently, the Saturn splash shield is not preventing the entry of more gains.

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Due to the additional selling day for last month as compared to May of last year, computations put General Motors’ sales figure to an increase of 4.7 percent if adjusted to the extra selling day. If unadjusted, General Motors’ sales increase is at 8.8 percent.

“Our May results were extremely positive as we saw strong total and retail sales increases,” says Mark LaNeve, the Vice-President for General Motors North American Sales, Service and Marketing. “Our significant market share gains in full-size trucks and crossovers validates the decision we made to invest in industry-leading fuel economy in these important segments,” he added.

“We are particularly pleased with the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, which pushed our full-size truck sales up more than 10 percent for the month. As with many of our vehicles, these great all-new trucks offer what the customer is looking for – best-in-class fuel economy, terrific performance and tremendous value. And our newest entry to the crossover segment, the Buick Enclave, is performing ahead of our expectations. Dealers are selling them as soon as they arrive from the plant. Our mid-size crossover segment performance, including the GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook, continues to grow at a blistering pace.”

For the month of May, General Motors sold a total of 375,682 vehicles. Last year, for the same month, the Detroit, Michigan-based car manufacturer sold 345,157 vehicles. That brings the company’s total sales for the first five months of the year to 1,596,463. That figure is lower than last year when General Motors sold 1,653,484 vehicles.

The Saturn brand indeed shows the highest increase in terms of sale of all the brands under General Motors. The effort exerted by General Motors on the development of new Saturn vehicles equipped with the Saturn strut bar and the likes resulted in a 68.6 percent sales increase. That makes the brand the biggest winner for the month of May in terms of sale. Last month, the General Motors subsidiary sold 26,905 cars and light trucks. Last year, the company only sold 15,347 vehicles.

Last year, the brand is ranked sixth in terms of sales among General Motors marques. This year though, thanks to a revitalized lineup, the company posted the fourth highest sales output among General Motors brands. The only brands which sold more vehicles than Saturn are Chevrolet, GMC, and Pontiac. Saturn has overtaken Buick and Cadillac in terms of sales for the past month.

Chevy is still the best selling brand under General Motors. Chevrolet sold 220,870 vehicles last month and that is a 1.6 percent improvement as compared to the 209,108 Chevy vehicles sold in May of last year. GMC is the second best-selling brand with 48,336 vehicles sold last month marking an 8.6 percent increase compared last year for the same month.

Pontiac also showed an increased sale at 13.7 percent when it delivered 36,325 new vehicles to consumers last month. Last year’s May saw the brand sell 30,728 new vehicles. Buick, Cadillac, Hummer, and Saab all suffered declining sales last month.

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Last month GM reported a 3.7 percent improvement over a year ago despite a flat U.S. market and poor results at rivals. The February sales success of the automaker is attributed to slight lift made by the oft-maligned truck market. GM truck sales were increased by about eight percent for the month. Autodata Corp. reported that light truck sales rose by about 0.2 percent overall. Excluding GM, light truck sales fell by 2.5 percent.

Analysts in the industry said the truck market, long the bread and butter of American automakers, will continue to be squeezed by vacillating fuel prices and a soft housing market. Same factors also injure Japanese trucks, as well.

It seems that the cool breeze from Nissan blower motor resistors is spreading good vibes in favor of the automaker. “Those segments that are suffering have kind of overshadowed the success we’re having with our new vehicles,” said Brad Bradshaw, the senior vice president of sales and marketing for Nissan North America.

Nissan reported brisk sales of its Altima and Infiniti G35 cars nonetheless sales of their sport utility vehicles dropped. Overall, Nissan sales were increased by 1.2 percent. Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. also posted sales gains. The difference, experts said, is that GM has some of the freshest trucks on the market, and in February it increased incentives on some models just enough to woo shoppers into its showrooms.

“The view from GM’s window is going to be a little different than the view from Ford and Chrysler,” said Erich Merkle, the chief of forecasting for IRN Inc. in Grand Rapids. “Given the fact that the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra are all new, they may have the best shot at holding on and keeping any declines at a minimum later in the year. GM has several other new light trucks — a category that includes minivans and SUVs — to help buoy its results this year,” said Merkle pointing to the Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia car-based SUVs.

Merkle added, “The safe haven in 2007 is going to be in crossover SUVs, but more specifically crossover SUVs that price out above $30,000. In the case of GM, that’s going to help them out more than most people are giving them credit for.”

To some analysts, the February sales results of GM were surprising. “GM did better than anyone expected,” said Jesse Toprak, the executive director of industry analysis for Edmunds.com in Santa Monica, Calif. “I think they did better than they expected.” GM, on the other hand, admitted that it expected February sales to be even with a year ago.

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