GM Finds Winners in CUV Market

Plagued by overcapacity due to slow-moving pickups and SUVs, GM finds a bright spot in the demand for its popular new 8-seat cross/utility vehicles: the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook.

Sales of the trio are outstripping GM’s ability to keep them in stock at dealerships, says Anna Kretz, vehicle line executive for the vehicles.

The Buick Enclave, which went on sale in April, currently has an inventory of only 20 days. More than 1,000 Buick dealers don’t even have one in stock. “The inventory for Acadia has never been over 30 days since we launched,” she says.

GM delivered a combined 57,397 units of the Outlook, Acadia and Enclave in the year’s first half, Ward’s data shows.


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froggy780 - 8/3/2007 12:50:13 PM

0 Boost

Kinda hard to believe but anything is possible. Then again it's typical for a lot of new products to be in demand when they first come out because there "new". I honestly don't think it will take long for GM to meet supply and demand. When this happens, that's when the WONDERFUL rebates start coming in so that they can get rid of their huge inventory. It's another typical American car company getting excited that one of their products is actually selling--for now.

S4cabriofoxone - 8/5/2007 11:47:32 PM

+1 Boost

Wow, froggy, quite the optimist.

dumpsty - 8/3/2007 2:33:30 PM

+1 Boost

I think this was in the plan for GM. Their GMT360 SUVs were selling really slow. They decided to make the Lambda CUVs b/c consumers were switching to car-based SUVs throughout the industry. Believe it or not, Trailblazers, Envoys, & Bravadas are still very popular on the roads today. I'm sure people are trading those in for these CUVs. GM plans to offer the 5.3L V8 and that will further increase interest/sales due to fuel-saving techology.

S4cabriofoxone - 8/5/2007 11:48:17 PM

+1 Boost

The Bravada isn't sold any more. I'm not sure you noticed, but the Oldsmobile nameplate was pulled out of the market at least two years ago.

Spectator - 8/3/2007 6:27:06 PM

+2 Boost

Agree dumpsty.

GM is not the only domestic to see this advantage as well. As terrible as most Ford products are nowadays...the Edge has definatly found its place in the market. As gas prices increase I think the CUV will continue to grow and become the new vehichile of choice for the middle class, similar to how the 90's was the land of the SUV.

EnnNorak - 8/4/2007 12:16:59 AM

+2 Boost

Outlook, Acadia and Enclave are great vehicles except for the lack of proper front passenger seat adjustments on the Outlook that I saw and I hope these vehicles make up for the totally unsatisfactory 2008 Saturn VUE which also lacks proper front passenger seat adjustments but adds the misery of ultrashort seat cushions and cheap interior plastic. The VUE was on my shopping list because my wife wanted a smaller SUV but we wasted our time looking at it. I'm so pissed of about it that I'd like to see some heads roll at GM for the bad decisions that led to such a disappointment.

JeepsterS - 8/4/2007 5:21:14 AM

+1 Boost

I didn't think the biggest problem in the '08 Vue was the quality of the plastic persay but more so the panel gaps and misalignments in dashbord. Oh and not having a telescoping steering wheel is a big minus (and they excessive vehicle weight and relatively small cargo space, could keep going...) Still a huge improvement from the last Vue!!

S4cabriofoxone - 8/5/2007 11:49:33 PM

+1 Boost

Wow, Enn, you seem to be quite hard to please when it comes to seat quality. It's basically all you talk about.

delan - 8/4/2007 7:11:08 AM

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Plus at 14-16 mpg you may as well get a large SUV

S4cabriofoxone - 8/5/2007 11:51:27 PM

+1 Boost

Jeepster was talking about the Saturn VUE. Read his post.

I agree that these new GM crossovers are high-quality products, and from what I've read, they drive well.

delan, that is the difference. Even if these cars did only get 15mpg (they don't), they still drive better than any traditional large SUV out there, and are more versatile, to boot. There's no reason not to.

Htay7500 - 8/6/2007 7:24:06 AM

+1 Boost

theres no reason to call it "world class", which means your saying it has the fit and finish of the s-class, a8, other luxury cars. its a good thing the woke up and smell the coffee. but theres also the pilot & cx9.