Chevy needs bigger share of GM sales, brand’s boss says

DETROIT — Chevrolet’s target as the value brand of a leaner General Motors Co. is to capture 60 to 65 percent of GM sales globally, Chevy boss Brent Dewar said today.
He identified the United States, China and India as Chevrolet’s best opportunities for growth but also said Chevrolet intends to double its European sales to 1 million over an unspecified period.

As GM shuts or sells its Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer and Saab brands and reduces the number of U.S. Chevrolet franchises by 1,000, surviving Chevy dealers are being asked to expand and upgrade stores to handle anticipated higher volumes in 2010 and 2011, Dewar said outside a regional dealer meeting in suburban Detroit.

“We’re asking them to step up to higher sales targets” that follow a reduction in Chevrolet dealers following GM‘s bankruptcy and the reduction of brands, Dewar said.
Chevy needs bigger share of GM sales, brand’s boss says

“The Chevrolet brand is elastic enough” to cover the vacated spaces in the marketplace, he said. “Dealers will have to think differently about small-car values. We’ll still have low-price value versions but also more premium choices.”

Dewar said that GM expects overall U.S. sales to grow to 12.5 million in 2010 from about 10.5 million in 2009 and that Chevrolet dealers need to be prepared for both industry growth and a bigger role within GM.

In the United States, Chevy already generates more than 60 percent of GM‘s sales.

Through July, Chevy‘s U.S. sales plunged 34.5 percent to 718,135 vehicles. Total GM sales slipped 37.7 percent to 1.13 million, giving Chevy 63.2 percent of GM‘s U.S. sales over the seven-month period.

Chevy accounted for 60.6 percent of GM sales in 2008.
Chevy needs bigger share of GM sales, brand’s boss says