BEIJING, April 6 -- General Motors Corp promised dealers two years ago it
would do whatever it took to reverse falling sales in the American cities that
set the industry's trends, but the slump has only worsened.
Toyota Motor Corp outsells GM two-to-one in Los Angeles and by a slightly
smaller margin in Miami, according to data compiled by R.L. Polk & Co. In
the New York City metropolitan area, where GM had a 4.5 percentage point lead in
market share five years ago, Toyota has surged to a four-point advantage.
"In some of these markets, our share has fallen off rather dramatically,"
Mark LaNeve, GM's head of North American sales and marketing said in an
interview. "You can almost re-enter the market like you would enter a new
country."
Gaining market share in big cities is important to car companies because,
like many other consumer trends, car-buying habits are set there. Without
significant presence in places like New York, GM can't gain the brand awareness
to attract affluent buyers and return to profitability.
"If GM wants to be viewed as a cool brand, they've got to pay more
attention to some of these markets where there are cool, urban people," said
Russell Winer, a marketing professor at New York University's Stern School of
Business. "People in Des Moines want to drive what's hot in LA," he said.
The company will unveil prototypes of new, small cars at the New York auto
show on Friday, Bloomberg News reported.
The subcompacts, which can travel 64.4 kilometers on 4.54 liters of
gasoline, will be 33 centimeters shorter than the 3.75-meter Chevrolet Aveo, the
smallest GM model.
In 2005 meetings with dealers, GM Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner made
regaining market share in Miami, Los Angeles and other large cities a priority.
He promised more advertising and other resources to boost sales.
Toyota sales have risen 36 percent in New York, Los Angeles and Miami since
2002 while GM's dipped about 20 percent in those three markets combined.
(Source: Shanghai Daily)
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