GM in ME 2007

GM brands – Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, HUMMER and Saab -

Qatar: sales up to 7,424 units ( 42 % increase)
Oman: 3,221 (39%)
The UAE, GM’s second biggest market in the region: 18,862 (up 20%)
Bahrain: 2,478 (10%)

Total sales 128,154 in 2007 ( up 1 %)

Saudi Arabia remaining the biggest market, accounting for almost 60 per cent of the company’s regional sales. Sales for the five brands in the Kingdom were 79,168.

GM sales in Kuwait totalled 17,001 units.

Chevrolet continues to be GM’s strongest brand in terms of volume and the GCC saw its sales rise by two per cent to 88,755 units in 2007, buoyed notably by the popularity of the Tahoe and Suburban full-size SUVs.

The Premium brands - Cadillac, HUMMER and Saab - performed well with a combined rise in sales of 10 per cent to over 6,000 units. With sales of just over 33,500, GMC also remains popular with GCC car buyers.

The full-size SUVs, Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, and GMC Yukon and Yukon XL, were the company’s best-sellers in the GCC, with a 29 per cent rise in the course of the year to a total of 36,210 units. Industry sources indicated that this performance gave Chevrolet and GMC a clear lead in the segment in 2007.

The Chevrolet Caprice took the title of GM’s second best seller in the GCC, with sales of around 16,500 units, followed by the Chevrolet Aveo, which saw sales rise by eight per cent to 14,713. Other strong performers included the Cadillac Escalade (up 63 per cent to 1,799), the HUMMER H2 (up 12 per cent to 463) and the new GMC Acadia with sales of 2,770.