DURHAM -- March was bad for the auto industry but not as bad as the first two months of the year.
Canadian car sales rebounded a bit from January and February but were still down 15 per cent compared to the same month last year.
General Motors reclaimed the top Canadian sales spot after slipping to third in February, after decades of being number one.
But the news isn't all good. Canadian GM sales were down 17.3 per cent compared to the same month last year and U.S. sales were down 44.7 per cent compared to March 2008.
"GM is taking a lot of heat for their performance in January and February but not all of this is justified," auto analyst Dennis DesRosiers said in an e-mail. "GM did the brave thing that needed to be done in January/February and backed out of Fleet (smart) and restored pricing given a weak dollar. The others didn't and GM paid the price. Now the others are scrambling on price and GM has backed off a little on price. This will position GM in a better place on a go-forward basis."
Other car companies saw low sales as well. Mazda, Ford, Chrysler, Land Rover, Suzuki, Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda and Jaguar all saw double-digit percentage sales drops in March. The big winners in March were Audi and Hyundai with higher than 25 per cent sales increases compared to March 2008.
GM vice president of North America vehicle sales, service and marketing, Mark LaNeve, attributed good sales at the end of March to a variety of factors and recent auto industry developments.
"We had a strong close at the end of the month as customers responded to strong incentives, President Obama's positive statements about GM, and the government backing domestic warranties," he said in a news release.
Another factor GM is hoping will buoy U.S. sales in April is the recent announcement of GM's U.S. "Total Confidence" package. It offers payment protection for first 24 months of ownership. If a consumer loses their job for economic reasons, GM will make up to nine payments for up to $500 per month for those collecting state unemployment.
No similar payment protection package has been announced in Canada.
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