GM teams with Costco to offer added spiffs
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Costco members will get GM Preferred Pricing, which is the same as supplier employee pricing, as well as all other manufacturer rebates and incentives when they buy or lease a Buick Verano and other select 2012 or 2013 model GM vehicles. |
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Editor's note: GM Preferred Pricing offers the same price as offered to employees of GM suppliers. An earlier version of this story misstated those terms.
General Motors and Costco Auto Program are offering Costco members preferred pricing and a $500 Costco Cash Card when they buy selected models -- some of which have suffered recent sales declines.
Costco Auto Program often partners with manufacturers to offer vehicle discounts to Costco members. Costco Auto's most recent pairing was this past spring with Subaru.
The latest deal with GM applies to certain Buick, Chevrolet and GMC vehicles.
Effective Oct. 2 through Jan. 2, Costco members will get the GM Preferred Pricing, which is the same as pricing for employees of GM suppliers, as well as all other manufacturer rebates and incentives when they buy or lease any of these 2012 or 2013 model GM vehicles:
• Chevrolet: Camaro (excludes ZL1), Cruze compact, Equinox crossover, Malibu sedan, Silverado pickup and Traverse crossover.
• Buick: Enclave crossover, LaCrosse sedan and Verano compact sedan.
• GMC: Acadia crossover, Sierra pickup and Terrain SUV.
Costco members will also get a $500 Costco Cash Card, which is similar to a gift card that can be used only at Costco stores, after purchasing a vehicle and completing a Costco Auto Program member survey.
"The last promotion with the Costco Auto Program was very successful," said James Bell, head of consumer affairs for GM, in a press release.
The last GM and Costco Auto Program promotion ran in winter 2011. It included selected Chevrolet and GMC pickup trucks, SUVs and crossovers.
"Our goal was to hit about 5,000 sales, and we exceeded that," said Honey Mae Kenworthy, Costco Auto Program spokesperson.
Kenworthy declined to give specific numbers but said GM sold close to 5,500 vehicles as part of the promotion.
Some of the GM vehicles in this promotion are struggling in sales recently. For the first nine months of the year, sales of the Buick Enclave were down 6 percent to 41,561 units. Sales of the LaCrosse were essentially flat at 45,066.
Sales of GM's popular Silverado pickup fell 17 percent in September to 36,425 units. For nine months, Silverado sales were up just 1 percent to 298,200.Sales of the Traverse were down 20 percent for nine months to 67,042 units.
Sales of the GMC Acadia, Sierra and Terrain collectively were up for the first nine months, though Sierra sales dropped 2 percent in September to 13,636 units.
GM's U.S. sales were up 3 percent this year through September but it has lost ground in a light-vehicle market that has advanced 15 percent. Last month, GM's U.S. sales rose 2 percent while the overall market increased 13 percent.
Costco Auto Program offered a promotion with Subaru that ran from March through June this year. That included prearranged pricing on nearly all Subaru vehicles and a $500 Costco Cash card.
Costco Auto Program also has done special promotions with Volvo.
The GM offer applies to Costco members whose membership was active as of Oct. 1, 2012.
You can reach Jamie LaReau at jlareau@crain.com. -- Follow Jamie on 
