DETROIT -- General Motors executives are determined not to become "desperate men" doing "desperate things" this summer to move metal.

The automaker plans to hold to its strategy of lower sticker prices that are closer to the actual transaction prices. It will not rely on big summer blowout programs to boost market share and support sales, say GM's Robert Lutz and Mark LaNeve. Lutz is vice chairman and vice president of global product development. LaNeve is vice president of vehicle sales, service and marketing.

GM doesn't want to repeat last summer's experience, when the employee-pricing incentive spurred massive sales -- followed by a brutal payback of slow fall sales.

"We're not looking to do a big GM incentive program but want to go to market by brand on the strength of the products," LaNeve said in an E-mail.

GM will continue to be competitive in leasing, loyalty and conquest programs, LaNeve said. He added, "We will not let competition run away from us on aggressive merchandising during the summer sell-down."

In a recent interview with Automotive News, Lutz characterized a big blowout incentive sale as "the old 'desperate men do desperate things.'"

"We really want to tough it out," he said.

Lutz said North American executives are "absolutely determined to do whatever it takes" to make GM's resale values healthy. That means not relying on incentive blowout sales or daily rental-fleet sales to prop up market share.

"Anytime we pull all those triggers, we could probably have a 32 percent market-share month," Lutz said. "But nobody wants it anymore because we know the long-term damage it does.

"So many people -- before they buy a car -- they go to sites like Edmunds.com, and they look at the cost of ownership. If they see a GM or any domestic brand that's priced $1,000 under the Camry but, guess what, the first two years you lose $3,000 (in residual value), the guy doesn't have to be very good at math to realize he's better off paying the extra $1,000.

"The only way to solve that is to stop performing unnatural acts in the market. We just have to be patient."