Publicity over a spate of recalls including the ignition switch event for which CEO Mary Barra was called to testify to a Congressional committee, doesn’t appear to be affecting General Motors sales, US analysts said.
GM sales in March rose 4.1% year on year (the ignition switch recall was announced at the end of February) to 256,047 units though the Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck was displaced to third top selling model by Fiat-Chrysler’s Ram for the first time since 1999.
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“Publicity-wise, this has certainly been a trying month for GM, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at its sales,” said Edmunds senior analyst Jessica Caldwell.
“Shoppers still see it as a trusted brand, and they’ve responded to GM’s pricing programmes and marketing messages throughout the month. In fact, shopper consideration for GM brands on Edmunds.com has remained relatively steady in the last 60 days. Nothing in our data shows that shoppers are shying away from new GM vehicles – at least for now.”
On Barra’s testimony on the Hill on Tuesday (1 April, 2014), Alec Gutierrez, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book, said: “Mary Barra appeared committed to doing the right thing during her testimony today. We still have much to learn about why GM is only now addressing a decade old design flaw in their ignition switch from the late-model vehicles but Barra stated time and time again that the new GM will do whatever is necessary to make things right for the customer moving forward.
“Of the most damning evidence that some within GM approved of redesigning the ignition switch without changing the part number, Barra commented that she found this practice unacceptable and would do whatever necessary to ensure the series of events that led us to where we are today never happens again.
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By GlobalData“The big unanswered question will be how consumers react to the recall and if they will buy into GM’s newfound focus on safety, but if retail sales volume is any indication, it appears as though consumers continue to have faith in GM.
“GM saw retail sales volume improve by 7% this month, outpacing the overall industry average growth pace. While this process is far from over, Barra looks to be committed to getting GM through this crisis by focusing on quality and transparency in a way that they never have previously.”
