Mark LaNeve Quotes (31 Quotes)

Given the strong consumer demand for these great new vehicles, we're feeling good about our decision to increase and pull ahead production.

People may wait, thinking our prices will get better. They won't get better.

Given that the industry came in somewhat below our initial expectations, we are pleased that our retail sales were in line with the targets established in our North America turnaround plan.

Any time you have new product, you get better pricing.

March sales were solidly in line with the targets established in our U.S. turnaround plan.

While December was a difficult comparison for us and other manufacturers, by any measure it still was a solid sales month. We're particularly pleased with the recovery in our sport utility and full-size pickup business. It gives us renewed confidence as we prepare to launch new vehicles into these key segments in 2006.

We've made this clear to the dealers, ... Chevy's got to compete heads-up with Ford and Toyota and all the mainstream parts of the market, and Cadillac needs to have everything it can to compete with BMW, Mercedes and Lexus. The other brands need to be tightly focused.

Dealers tell us they can't keep them on the lot, with vehicles staying in inventory less than a week on average.

We're thrilled that consumers voted with their pocketbook and made Chevrolet the number-one U. S. brand in 2005. But we're not going to spend time celebrating this accomplishment.

We want to attract people with our features and our quality, not just the latest wad of cash on the hood.

People say we have too many brands. We have too many brands if we try to do the same things with all the brands.

Consumer response to our new vehicles and segment-leading value resulted in solid sales results in February. Our retail sales improvement in February was driven by our industry-leading value, not by fleet sales or high incentives. This resulted in better retail sales performance by six of our divisions.

Consumers won't need a calculator to figure out the great prices available during the Red Tag Event. All they have to do is look for the red tag posted on our award winning lineup of cars and trucks. They won't pay a penny more than the low price they see on the red tag of the vehicle. It's a great offer and clearly the smart way to buy a vehicle this holiday season.

There's a strong sense of urgency to have better results in 2006 and improve on those in 2007.

GM is proud to support Cure Autism Now's innovative research programs and partner with an organization that is aggressively working to make a better life for individuals affected by autism. WALK NOW events provide a wonderful venue for Chevrolet to highlight our commitment to families and to showcase new products such as the hot HHR crossover. The Gala is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to align the Cadillac brand with a marquee event, celebrating a ground-breaking organization.

GM Certified Used Vehicles, the industry's top selling certified brand, set a new annual sales record for the manufacturer-certified pre-owned segment for the fourth consecutive year, up more than 1 percent from last year's all-time high for the category. Certified GM brands again led all manufacturers with 2005 sales of 532,379 units, and we look forward to growing our leadership position in the certified segment in 2006.

We have a lot of options in terms of fuel efficiency, ... I like to say, 'Hey look, if you got three kids, you can't give one back.' Depending on your lifestyle, you're going to keep buying this kind of vehicle.

Part of the reason it's been used in the industry, is it wasn't too expensive in a period of low interest rates. As it (low-interest financing) becomes more expensive it'll be used less.

Today's action allows us to talk more about the features and benefits of all of our vehicles and to spend less time talking about the deal.

Hindsight being 2020, I probably wouldn't have done it.

Been there, done that, and I know what the ending looks like. That's not good for our brands and customers.

We're going to assume the risk in a period of higher interest rates. One thing that we think makes it so attractive is we're going to guarantee a strong incentive in the future for a product that might not have an incentive on it when you go to buy it.

We're very aware of fuel prices and the effect they have on our business, especially full-size trucks,

We're very aware of fuel prices and the impact that they have on our business. We understand this, and we've been committed to fuel efficiency.

We've been around for 100 years, we have great new products coming and we have great liquidity. We're acting with urgency to deal with our problems. But we'll be around 100 years from now.

Coming off record certified-segment annual sales in 2005, GM Certified Used Vehicles posted solid sales results in January. GM Certified continues to lead all manufacturers in the certified category, and we are optimistic about the prospects for continued growth in 2006.

Over the remainder of the decade, we have to have growth in the Saab brand.

With the XLR and SRX (luxury-activity vehicle coming out next year as an '04, too,) we're going to enter two luxury segments we haven't been playing in. The XLR, with performance roots, will serve as a halo for our division,

Over the full course of the year, we're looking to improve our business. While we do that, our sales to the daily (rental) companies (are) going to come down so we have to make that up on the retail side and that's what we intend to do.

People think jets are cool.

Dealers, consumers and third parties have reacted very enthusiastically to these segment-leading new vehicles. Sales, production, inventory turn rates and dealer orders are all ahead of plan. It's January, it's early, but we're optimistic that these great new products will be successful.