GM Recalls Not Affecting Shoppers

Cars and Drivers

Published: April 30, 2014 2:39 pm

Last Updated: April 27, 2020 10:16 pm

Just 5% of new car shoppers in a recent survey said that they would not consider buying a General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) car as a result of the massive recalls on the company’s products that began in mid-February. However, 40% of car shoppers had heard about the GM recall.

The data was gathered by Kelley Blue Book (KBB), and among other nuggets, is this one: some 48% of survey respondents remembered the recall that hit Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) in 2010. A KBB analyst said:

Shoppers are willing to forgive, but not forget. Most likely, GM is maintaining its shopping traffic on KBB.com from buyers who are looking to capitalize on any deals that may be offered or because none of the current recalled vehicles are a part of manufacturer’s current product portfolio.

That might be giving consumers too much credit. It seems very unlikely that shoppers would remember which models were affected by the recalls and even less likely that they would know that none of those models is currently in production. For example, only 3% of those surveyed knew that a Saturn model was included in the GM recalls.

But looking for a bargain, that seems ultimately reasonable. According to KBB, Chevrolet’s traffic in February was up 25% year-over-year on the kbb.com website. KBB attributes the rising traffic to recent launches of new Chevy high-profile models like Corvette and Silverado. It helps that none of the spiffy new models is a Chevy Cobalt or a Pontiac.

GM’s shares are up about 1.1% in mid-afternoon trading on Wednesday at $34.34 in a 52-week range of $30.11 to $41.85.

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