Chevrolet to Cut Prices on Its Top Sellers
General Motors Corp.’s Chevrolet division said Wednesday that it is cutting the base price of 1990 versions of its top-selling cars in a bid to regain market share lost to its chief competitor, Ford Motor Co.
But overall prices for GM’s 1990 cars are tentatively set to rise 3.4%, while those at Ford are set to rise 4.8%, and Chrysler Corp. has set a 5% rise.
In recent years, auto makers have generally raised prices less than 3% at the start of the model year. However, the larger price increases this year are intended to help recover the cost of installing federally required passive restraint systems such as automatic seat belts and air bags.
Chevrolet said it lowered pre-introductory base prices on its Corsica and Beretta compact models by 5% and 2.4%, respectively. Those prices do not include standard options such as air conditioning or power window and door locks, and analysts said that with options packages the 1990 cars could end up costing more than their 1989 predecessors.
Largest Car Division
“We are at the point now when we are ready to face the competition,” said Chevrolet division spokeswoman Ruth Bouldes.
The Ford division, which excludes Lincoln-Mercury cars, has outsold Chevrolet in cars and trucks for the past three years, a situation that has become a sore point at GM. As GM’s largest car division, Chevrolet accounts for nearly half of the car maker’s auto sales. It has 5,000 dealers nationwide, one-fifth of the nation’s dealers.
The 1990 pre-introductory base price for a four-door hatchback Corsica sedan is $9,495, down from the 1989 figure of $9,985, the company said. The 1990 base Beretta two-door coupe will carry a price of $10,320, off from the 1989 base price of about $10,575.
Corsica and Beretta have been among the five top-selling models in the United States in each of the last three years.
The comparative 1989 base price figures do not include a $425 destination charge. GM did not include a destination charge for its 1990 cars.
The prices announced by GM are for use by dealers in taking fleet orders from business and government customers and for pre-selling 1990 models that will not arrive in showrooms for a few more weeks. Firm manufacturers’ suggested retail prices will be announced by the companies closer to the start of the new model year on Oct. 1.
