Chevrolet has biggest volume year ever....4.8 million worldwide

[kaisen]

GM retakes global sales crown with over 9M units shifted in 2011

Look who's back on top again? Just 30 months since General Motors emerged from bankruptcy, the Detroit-based automaker can once again call itself the world's largest automaker. GM sold just over 9 million vehicles globally in 2011, its highest sales total ever, while chief rival Toyota may slip as far as third place, according to TheDetroitBureau.com, which reports that Volkswagen will pass Toyota to claim the runner-up spot.

Led by a record-setting 4.76 million sales year from Chevrolet, GM saw sales rise in all four of its reporting regions. The company says it now claims 11.9 percent of the global market. Sales in the U.S. were up 13 percent with 1.7 million vehicles sold.

It wasn't a good year for Toyota, the largest carmaker by sales volume for the past three years, since unseating GM in 2008. The Japanese manufacturer experienced production interruptions from the earthquake and resultant tsunami in Japan in early 2011, and then again when Thailand experienced widespread flooding later in the year.

While GM's legion of critics will no doubt point to the natural disasters in an attempt to diminish the significance of GM reclaiming the top spot, the company has to be feeling pretty good about its accomplishments last year. Not that being number one matters that much. As analyst Aaron Bragman of IHS Automotive tells The Bureau, "Being biggest in the world is not necessarily an advantage to anyone."

But it's certainly good for bragging rights and positive morale. As they say in sports, "scoreboard, baby."

Chevrolet Achieves Best-Ever Global Sales in 2011





Please, there are many of you who'd love to PARF this up. Please don't

[kaisen]

This is coming out this Summer (here in US.... it's already out in a couple other countries)

2013 Chevrolet Malibu

[patssle]

So much for the Government Motor outrage.

[EarlyPorsche]

Wow good for them. Its good to see things work out for the better.

[nostatic]

clearly all those Volt sales

[kaisen]

Originally Posted by nostatic

clearly all those Volt sales

Hey, they sold a RECORD number of Volts

[Robert Adams]

May the MOMENTUM be with you GM!
Once it gets going may be hard for the usual herd of suspects to catch up.
Large in itself isn't necessarily an object of achievement, but beating the odds you would be around any more sure is!
Way to go GM. Nice to see the home team making it in the big bad world. Just hope they don't get complacent again.
Thanks for posting!

[kach22i]

I was impressed with the Sonic at last year's NAIAS, they seem to be responding to their second chance.

[speeder]

That's awesome. Can't imagine how this can be bad news for anyone.

[byfdinky]

Remember the 50-60 million we gave up as taxpayers to this company?

[speeder]

I guess it's paying dividends now.

EDIT: "50-60 million"?? That wouldn't buy a rubber band factory.

[byfdinky]

How about the Volt project that looks to be stopped by this summer due to a total failure. How much of our tax money went down the drain on that project?

[Jim Richards]

none

[Jim Richards]

The starter of this thread asked to keep the politics out of this thread. What d'ya say dinky, you think you can show that much self-restraint?

[dennis in se pa]

The money spent to rescue Chrysler and GM was well spent AND paid back. But I have recently been a converted Ford fan. The new Mustangs are amazing. And Ford has got quality pretty well nailed down. While to my mind Porsche (and I have owned 4 of them) has been resting on it's proverbial laurels and building cars with poor motors.

[fintstone]

Originally Posted by dennis in se pa

The money spent to rescue Chrysler and GM was well spent AND paid back. But I have recently been a converted Ford fan. The new Mustangs are amazing. And Ford has got quality pretty well nailed down. While to my mind Porsche (and I have owned 4 of them) has been resting on it's proverbial laurels and building cars with poor motors.

It is likely quite easy to do well when so well subsidized by the taxpayer. The TARP loans were 'repaid' with other TARP funds in a Treasury escrow account. Not money GM earned selling cars. The taxpayers lost billions.

[KNS]

Good news - Now that they are back on top I hope they don't go back to resting on their laurels. That's what got them into trouble (one of the reasons anyway..) in the first place.

[porsche4life]

Not surprising... Seems every girl on campus that didn't already have a mustang, is now rolling around in a Camaro....

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by dennis in se pa

The money spent to rescue Chrysler and GM was well spent AND paid back.

???

I don't think the money has been all paid back.

My understanding is around *half* of the $50 billion has been paid back.

And the Govt still owns around 1/3 of GM. (The Canadian govt owns a large part of GM, I think around 16%, and the union owns a big chunk, too, given to them in the "bankruptcy").

[Jim Richards]

Sales are up, a major American industry is rebounding, politics be damned, that's good news in my book.