GM Employee Discount for Everyone coming back this week
Automotive News (sub) report that GM will be bringing back its Employee Pricing for Everyone scheme:
General Motors says it will offer employee discounts to everyone starting Wednesday, Aug. 20. The sale will apply to all of GM’s eight brands.
“We are going to have an employee-discount-for-everyone program,” GM spokesman John McDonald confirmed today. “We are going to issue a press release tomorrow morning with the details.”
In a memo to Buick-Pontiac-GMC dealers, GM said the sale would run Aug. 20 through Sept. 2. For the B-P-G channel, the employee pricing would apply to all 2008 models and the 2009 Pontiac Vibe. Customers could get up to $6,000 cash plus the employee discount.
The memo says 91 percent of B-P-G inventory is eligible for the sale.
All 2008 Chevrolet models also would be eligible for the discount, a dealer said. The discount would apply to 90 percent of Chevrolet inventory.
There’s no specifics in the article about Saab discounts that might be coming, though one Saab dealer has emailed me to offer his guesses as to what they might be:
UPDATE: These are the official numbers:
—
9-7X:
Employee Pricing (between a $3500 and $4500 discount depending on options)
$0 Dealer Cash
$3500 Customer Cash or 0.9%/36 mos, 3.9%/48 mos, 4.9%/60 mos, 5.9%/72 mos
$4500 Purchase Bonus Cash
$12000ish total discount
can stack with an additional
$1000 Saab purchase loyalty.
9-5:
Employee Pricing (between a $3000 and $3800 discount depending on options)
$0 Dealer Cash
$2500 Customer Cash or 0.9%/36 mos, 3.9%/48 mos, 4.9%/60 mos, 5.9%/72 mos
$500 Purchase Bonus Cash
$6300ish total discount
can stack with an additional
$1000 Saab purchase loyalty.
9-3:
Employee Pricing (between a $2000 and $2900 discount depending on options)
$0 Dealer Cash
$2000 Customer Cash or 0.9%/36 mos, 3.9%/48 mos, 4.9%/60 mos, 5.9%/72 mos
$4400ish total discount
can stack with an additional
$1000 Saab purchase loyalty.
—
The Employee Pricing thing really is a double-edged sword and I’m quite surprised to see them bring it out again. Last time they used it, which was the US summer of 2005, they kept it going for around three months. Sales were huge, but dealers suffered for it a few months after it was over. The offers were so good that peoppple bought their purchasing forward and dealerships were like ghost towns for the last three months of 2005.
So, GM will get some cash injections now and clear some stock, but will feel some pain later. They need to clear some of that stock, though. Numbers that came through to me last week indicated that by the 14th August, SaabUSA had only met 10% of it’s monthly expected sales. They normally have a rush at the end of the month, but that’s rediculous.
Of course, the good news if you’re a buyer, is that your prospective purchase is going to be that muh cheaper in the coming days/weeks.
If you pull the trigger, let me know, and have fun!!!!
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They will probally pull the 2.9% financing. if they do that, It will cost you more for the car unless you can find an interest rate lower than 4.9%. It is just a shell game. Anyone who lives in the Michigan area knows about the Art Van Sale. It is evvery week so it is just like the mystery meat in high school. One day it is tacos, next it is spagehetti, next day it is meatloaf. It is all ground beef.
The good news is you can combine owner loyalty with the GM Employee Discount. You can’t combine it with the 2.9%.
Typical last 10 day of the month program GM has been doing every month. As a sales rep it makes it harder and harder to sell cars the first 3 weeks of the month.
And here we all thought GM destroyed the Death Star after the last employee pricing event three years ago.
Well, as long as GM does not keep extending the program well into the fall months, it might actually work out better this time. I bet they will extend it over the US Labor Day weekend holiday, but they need to get in and get out of the deal this time around.
GM needs to move some cars (and probably some trucks), so this resurrection might just be the right thing at the right time to move some stagnant inventory off dealer lots.
Hopefully it will add some sales to SaabUSA, although I don’t think sales will increase tremendously overall…people aren’t buying cars.
Good deals though if you can get the 2.9 on top of everything.
Instead of playing these ‘incentive’ gimmics, just lower the danged MSRP! And what is ‘purchase loyalty’? If I’m buying a car, what does it matter what I drove to the dealership in? By that logic, it would be best if I just stuck with whatever car brand I had instead of jumping to Saab!
^^^^^^ Is what I’ve been saying all along, especially with Saab. The other day I saw an ad for the one local Cadillac/Hummer/Saab dealership (minus the Hummer now) that advertised the 2008 9-3 2.0T at ~$24k give or take.
Now I’m sure that’s a bare-bones model, but why can’t Saab just can the incentives, employee pricing, etc that only serves to make the brand look cheaper (does Audi, BMW, or Mercedes ever load up their cars with incentives to get them off the lots?) and just lower the MSRP’s instead? Saab has a lineup that’s far from competitive (quantitatively, not qualitatively) at $30k for a base 9-3 2.0T, $39k for a 9-3 Aero XWD, or $43k for a Turbo X, but if you just slash $3-4k off of each car’s sticker then they start becoming some really competitive product. The 9-3 2.0T becomes a Jetta killer, the 9-3 Aero XWD drops into the STI/EVO/R32 pricerange, and the Turbo X’s base MSRP slots in right next to that of a 335i.
It wouldn’t lead to a total 180% sales turnaround, but it sure as hell makes Saab look that much more appealing on the online comparison sites that only show you MSRP.
I’m really getting confused with all this leasing/financing/Employee Discount - it is a mess.
I asked my dealer about leasing today and they told me Leasing has been stopped completely (I’m aware of that). Now what I don’t understand is that I read on an article on here that mentioned leasing will end on September 2nd or depending on the build date on your car <–Is that for the US only?
When that was brought up to my dealer he said he had no info on the deadline but all he knows is that leasing is over, but technically it still exists at a rate of 19-20% !! OR finance for 0%.
And now this, the Employee Discount - My dealer told me last week Thursday that they have a 6k discount on all of their 2008 Saab lineups - Turbo X included. He never mentioned the employee discount, he just said: “we want to get rid of 2008 models” <–is this employee discount?
I’m not going to get lost in a morass of comparative numbers…but as someone who has sold high line cars for 22 of my 24 years in the business and Saab exclusively for the last 15 take it on faith…YES THIS IS A GREAT DEAL! How does $35,255.00 ON A TURBO-X SOUND???Yes that is legitimately acheivable under this program
It’s a phenomenal deal for sure, but advertising it under the banner of “GM employee pricing” does nothing but cheapen the appearance of the Saab brand relative to it’s German and Japanese competition.
Does Honda run it’s “Mr. Opportunity” ads for Acura? Does Toyota EVER group Lexus into it’s sales promotions? Do we ever see Audis on the lot with “Volkswagen employee pricing” stickers on them? No, because their parent companies realize that grouping their premium brands alongside their mass-market platform mates only makes them look like cheap badge-jobs to consumers. Mass-market sales gimmicks like “employee pricing” have no place in the showrooms of a premium brand like Saab, if they want to slash prices they should simply slash MSRP’s and reimburse the dealers.
So what if it loses money for Saab, *NEWS ALERT* Saab will lose money anyways until at least the 9-4X and NG9-5 are in showrooms, and maybe until the NG9-3SS is there as well. GM needs to decide if it would rather see Saab lose money by way of unsold vehicles clogging dealer lots, or lose money by slashing prices and absorbing a small loss on every car sold which at least gets buyers into Saabs and gets that fleet of unsold product onto the street where it can attract attention and build back a reputation for the brand. Personally I think the second idea makes more sense, though I’d love to see GM’s take on it.
How many TurboX’s are still kicking around though?
My current lease is up in November. Guess I will wait and see what is available at that time.
I think this is where Saabs should be priced to begin with. They are truly a niche market product. Between the entry level Euro car (i.e. Jetta, Rabbit, etc) and the luxury segment of BMW and Audi. The talk competitive and price competitive, but the cars simply are not there. Not even the Turbo X for what you pay. They should settle into this niche and excel as a gap product. It is like where Acura rides against Lexus. Still a great product, just not the same caliber and the price is adjusted accordingly. Saab needs to play to their strengths or their products need to grow into the price they are asking for them. If you have ever driven other European sedans, etc. in the “same” segment/model year as a Saab you can see the differences.
Employee pricing should be everyday pricing for Saab. Great cars, very unique, why not embrace their unique market position and get realistic with their inflated MSRP’s?
The word premium carries big weight in the market place today. Why is it that Audi is considered so premium over Saab? Is the Audi convertible any better than the Saab? My wife and I have driven Volvo (her) Saab for me for over ten years. Overall we are both happy. I have owned three Saab convertibles with very little trouble. and when a few minor things have come up, THEY WERE TAKEN CARE OF QUICKLY AND THE FIRST TIME OUT. The premium hood plate is only part of the formula. What counts is build quality and how the dealer-manufacturer handles the problems that come your way. SAAB HAS DONE WELL BY ME. I think with Audi the perception of premium is not the reality. BMW makes a good car with excellent marketing… the service and reliability (I hear) is not so good. and lets talk about safety. Today everyone claims to do safey. Even Honda is now talking about load paths and active hear restraints. I ask, is a Honda now just as safe as a Saab? For what it’s worth, Audi is now re-leasing off lease cars. Everyone is taking a hit. Saab just never put enough money into getting the word out.
Attention NineTwoX,
In answer to your question:At my dealership ELEVEN,seven Sedans and 4 Combis.
Wow, that’s a ton of inventory. Where is your dealership located?
“The beatings will continue until the morale improves”.
Interesting article by Swades buddy at TTAC today. “Lehman says GM needs 12B to stay afloat”.
As was mentioned…GMNA is worth less than nothing. Only overseas ops are holding this card house up. So this “employee-discount” is an even bigger hoax than it was last time.
Saab and Opel have marketable cars….theyre just not bringing the models(and engines) that would bring prospects in the door.
NineTwoX, I’m not sure if SaabLance is willing or able to explicitly advertise here, but I believe he’s the Lance I know at Delaware Saab in Wilmington. I bought my 9-5 there, and it’s an excellent dealership. Lance is a real car guy too, who knows his stuff.
Well, the scheme that I have access to emailed me yesterday to let everyone know that the 9-3 can no longer be ordered from the factory.
Only vehicles in stock can be ordered.
They also cancelled my order for the Aero XWD 280bhp SportWagon I had requested.
I’m now getting a front wheel drive TTid Aero instead, still a SportWagon, so not all bad. (Luckily I was able to sneak in this factory order before they announced the stock only orders).
The V6 engine is being deleted completely from the employee lease scheme. They cited that the figures no longer add up on resale, 9-3’s are losing horrendous amounts on the second hand market and they can no longer make a profit on the scheme so have pulled them.
The fact they have said only stock orders will be fulfilled from yesterday onwards is a good indication that they will be pulling the 9-3 completely.
The last time they did this was when the Vauxhall Meriva was winding down and being replaced. Also the Signum, just before it was pulled from production.
With the downsizing of the future 9-3 and the introduction of the 9-5 on the Epsilon 2 platform, I’m wondering if the 9-5 will now replace it completely?
This is just speculation, but the 9-3 is currently seen in the press as being way behind its direct competition, and worldwide sales are being hit hard with buyers refusing to splurge on cars that have a high risk of depreciation.
I’m also wondering what is happening with regard to production? Has production been ramped down in Trollhattan?
It would almost make sense.
9-1 (compact city car)
9-3 (Audi A3 class)
9-5 (BMW 3 Series class)
The 9-5 certainly has a LOT of potential. The new Vauxhall Insignia is being very well received in the press, and many tip it to be class leader on launch. So the tools are in place to make the 9-5 into one heck of a machine.
So, what will I do next? If I am unable to order a car from the factory, I may be pushed away from Saab, as, hand on heart, I cannot justify leasing or buying a brand new one at normal prices, the depreciation is an absolute killer. I may be forced into a new TT roadster Lease and buy an NG9-3 hatch, or a pre-facelift 9-5.
I hope factory order 9-3’s return to the scheme as I would REALLY like another 9-3 ‘vert for next summer. In the meantime, I’m actually genuinely worried for Saab now.
When I say ‘pulling the 9-3 completely’ I am of course referring to it being pulled from the employee lease scheme completely, not production.
The Saab 9-3 Turbo X is $10,000 more $$$ in Canada but you can get 0% finance for up to 60 months. Not bad.
Same old Saab Story? Yep. Prices so low we’re giving them away! Still hear the crickets chirping.
Well pulled the trigger on a turbo x for the wife
Auto, nav, cold weather and touring options, paid $1300 under emp price,and rebates($3k)
niiice!