GM to launch Red Tag year-end sale Saturday

DETROIT -- General Motors will start its year-end clearance sale, called the Red Tag Event, on Saturday, Nov. 18.The sale will run through Jan. 2 and include all brands except Cadillac, Hummer and Saab. The Chevrolet Corvette and Pontiac Solstice also are not included, GM says.The sale is similar to the promotion GM ran last year at this time, spokesman John McDonald said today. "What a consumer will see is a Red Tag hanging from the mirrors," McDonald said. "It will list the MSRP and then the price the consumer will pay after the incentives. The dealer decides how much the discount will be."The discount could range from nothing to $2,000 per vehicle. The program covers 2006 and 2007 models, McDonald said. It also includes most existing incentives on vehicles, so a vehicle could end up with more than $2,000 of incentives on it.GM employees get a maximum discount of $500, said John Rogin, owner of John Rogin Buick in Livonia, Mich."We asked them to start it early this year," Rogin said today. "Why have a customer stand around in the middle of November and not buy a car because they're waiting for the end-of-year sale?"GM sent notices to dealers about the sale today, McDonald said. He would not discuss specifics on how the program works, but dealers say each dealer will get a certificate worth $250 for each vehicle in inventory. The dealer can apply up to eight certificates, or $2,000, on any one vehicle. "If the Buick Lucerne is turning quickly and doesn't need any incentive money, then a dealer could take that certificate money and put it on a 2006 model or some other vehicle," Rogin said. Dealers have until Friday, Nov. 17, to tell GM the vehicles on which they plan to add the incentive money, Rogin said. He said he has 10 2006-model vehicles left in stock and likely will use many of his certificates on those vehicles.GM has just over 1 million 2006- and 2007-model vehicles in inventory, McDonald said. He said 80 percent of those are 2007s. GM likely won't spend all its incentive money -- about $250 million -- because dealers won't sell every vehicle they put the money on, said Gordon Stewart, president of Stewart Management Group in Harper Woods, Mich."(This sale) is a little confusing, to say the least," Stewart said today. "I wish it were more clear and didn't have so many twists to it. The simplest incentives often work the best."Stewart said he'll likely put most of his certificate money on his 2006 models.GM plans to advertise the sale aggressively in print and on TV, radio and the Internet, McDonald said.He said GM will advertise the sale through the respective brands with the same tag line as last year's promotion: "See some red, save some green."You may e-mail Jamie LaReau at jlareau@crain.com

GM to launch Red Tag year-end sale Saturday

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