General Motors plans to sell a small but sustainable number of imported luxury vehicles in Japan, according to Automotive News.
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Ray Grigg, president of GM Japan, told the industry newspaper GM has a three-part plan.
Three Cadillac models – the XLR luxury roadster, SRX sport wagon and CTS sedan – will head a Cadillac-Chevrolet Corvette lineup at the top of the market, sold from eight to 10 boutique showrooms, Automotive News said.
Saab vehicles will be sold in showrooms operated by Subaru dealers while GM is repositioning Opel upscale, cutting its Vita [Corsa] subcompact and entry-level Astra compacts and instead stressing the new Vectra mid-sized sedan and wagon, plus the Signum extended-wheelbase sedan, the paper added.
A GM source told Automotive News the company expects to sell only 5,000 to 10,000 units of the brands annually but Grigg reportedly said the premium vehicles can be profitable for GM.
“They’re not huge numbers,” he told Automotive News, “but they’re certainly sufficient volume that makes the business viable when it hasn’t been in the past.”
