Other Editorials

Count Those Beans

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

To: All General Motors Dealers

From: William E. Powell
GM Vice President
Industry Dealer Affairs

Subject: 2006 Fuel Allowance Guidelines

Effective September 1, 2006

This bulletin replaces and supersedes GM Bulletin GM 06-17 dated July 19, 2006, and Saab's bulletin dated October 1, 2005.

Due to changing business conditions and competitive pressures, General Motors must continue to examine all areas of the business and implement solutions to increase revenues and reduce costs.

One of the changes that GM is implementing is to modify the way dealers are reimbursed for the cost of fuel. Beginning with vehicle deliveries to customers September 1, 2006, GM will reimburse dealers a flat rate for fuel expense for each retail delivery. For passenger cars, dealers will be reimbursed $20 per vehicle. For trucks, dealers will be reimbursed $30 per vehicle. By implementing this change to the fuel allowance policy, General Motors will be able to continue to support our dealers and customers while at the same time reduce cost.

A table is provided on the following page containing GM vehicles broken down into two groups, passenger car and light duty trucks. The two vehicle groups are based on the vehicle segmentation classification GM uses for Polk registration data. As new vehicles are added to the GM lineup, they will be classified as cars or trucks based on the existing segmentation scheme and reimbursed for fuel accordingly. As stated above, effective September 1, 2006 these vehicle groups will be used to determine the credits to dealer open accounts for fuel allowance. This change is effective for Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac, GMC, Cadillac, HUMMER, Saturn and Saab vehicle lines.

The change in fuel allowance also affects fleet orders. The Retail Amenities Delete Credit, (Option Codes V2G and TFD), will be adjusted effective with fleet orders received by GM beginning on September 1, 2006 to $20 for cars and $30 for trucks. Please take note that commitments on behalf of fleet customers, (e.g. Bid Assistance), or fleet orders received by GM prior to September 1st, will be honored at the retail amenities delete credit levels currently in effect.

While this represents a change to GM's policy, General Motors remains competitive in fuel reimbursement within the industry.