• Brandweek, Wednesday, August 30, 2006 1:15 PM

Troubled General Motors is turning to an old, tried-and-true marketing gimmick to get some of its cars off dealer's lots and into consumers' driveways. Until Sept. 5, the automaker says it will offer rebates of up to $1,500 on many 2006 and 2007 models, including large, truck-based vehicles like the Chevy Trailblazer, the Hummer H2 and the Buick Rendezvous. Those models get the full, $1,500 rebate, while buyers of popular sedans, like the Chevy Cobalt and Impala, Pontiac G6, and Hummer H3 and HHR, will receive $500 back. GM rep John McDonald says the hope is to lure in-market consumers to a place they haven't been before. "We want to encourage people who may not have even considered a GM vehicle before to look at us," he says. Some of the vehicles included in the cash incentive program are among GM's strongest performers: Cobalt sales are up 10 percent through July and Impala sales have increased 21 percent in the same period. The rebates do not extend to models such as the Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky and Aura, Hummer H1 and 2007 Cadillac Escalades.

Read the whole story at Brandweek »