GM January 2018 Sales Up 1.3%; 198,548 units sold

[FenwickHockey65]

Big January Gains for Chevrolet Crossovers and Trucks Drive GM Sales Increase
Strong Start for Buick, Driven by Envision, LaCrosse Cadillac Escalade, ATS, XTS and XT5 Retail Sales up Sharply Commercial Deliveries Rise
General Motors

February 1, 2018

DETROIT — General Motors (NYSE: GM), which ended 2017 as the automaker with the fastest-growing crossover sales in the United States, today reported a 20 percent year-over-year gain in the segment in January, along with a 7 percent increase in truck deliveries. GM total sales in January totaled 198,548 units, up more than 1 percent.

Demand for Chevrolet trucks and crossovers was very robust, helping the brand increase deliveries by 5 percent year over year:

• Chevrolet was the fastest-growing crossover brand of 2017, and January deliveries were up 40 percent. The all-new Equinox and Traverse, as well as the Trax and Bolt EV, all posted their best-ever January sales.
• Chevrolet’s unique three-truck pickup strategy delivered a 17 percent increase in deliveries, with the Colorado up 25 percent and the Silverado up 15 percent. It was the best January ever for Silverado crew cabs.
• Chevrolet Tahoe deliveries were up 22 percent.

“All of our brands are building momentum in the industry’s hottest and most profitable segments,” said Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president, Sales Operations. “Chevrolet led the growth of the small crossover segment with the Trax as well as the mid-pickup segment with the Colorado. Now, we have the all-new Equinox and Traverse delivering higher sales, share and transaction prices.”

Buick and GMC

Buick and GMC were major contributors to GM’s year-over-year growth in crossover sales and total sales. Buick also saw a major acceleration in LaCrosse deliveries, which contributed to a year-over-year sales increase of 4 percent for the brand.

• The GMC Terrain, which is all new for 2018, saw a 14 percent increase.
• The GMC Canyon posted a 5 percent gain.
• Buick Envision sales were up 14 percent for the vehicle’s best January yet.
• Buick LaCrosse sales more than doubled to 3,006 units.

Buick’s crossover momentum will continue to grow with greater availability of the redesigned Enclave, launched late last year, and the Regal TourX, which began arriving in dealerships in January.

Cadillac

Cadillac was strong in several segments, helping the brand earn a 9 percent increase in retail deliveries.

• Retail sales of the Escalade were up 12 percent year over year, the vehicle gained more than 2 points of retail segment share and ATPs rose by about $2,300.
• In addition, retail deliveries of the Cadillac XT5 crossover rose 9 percent, and the ATS and XTS were up 18 percent and 30 percent, respectively.

Other GM Highlights (vs. 2017)

• Retail deliveries were down 2 percent and retail mix of total sales was 76 percent.
• Fleet sales were up 16 percent, with combined Commercial and Government deliveries up 44 percent and daily rental deliveries down 7 percent.
• GM’s incentive spending was 12.8 percent, down 1 point from a year ago, and down 2 points month over month, according to J.D. Power PIN estimates.
• Average transaction prices were up $1,270 year-over-year, according to J.D. Power PIN estimates.

[Bhobbs]

Chevrolet Camaro sales decreased 20.09 percent to 2,867 units

Ouch, that’s really ugly.

[90503]

As long as SUV, Truck and Crossover sales are through the roof, low Camaro sales don't seem to be of much concern...Folks are buying something by GM, so that's probably all that matters in the big picture. Plenty of other GM makes and models are selling less than Camaro as well...

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by Bhobbs

Chevrolet Camaro sales decreased 20.09 percent to 2,867 units

Ouch, that’s really ugly.

Seems like nearly all cars took a pretty big hit. Crossovers were up ~20% vs a year ago, and trucks were up 7%. Meanwhile the company as a whole was up only 1%. Which means cars had to have utterly tanked.

As bad as it is, the Camaro looks like it actually fared about average for GM's car lineup. Just from averaging the gains/losses, it looks like passenger cars were down around 15%. But there were half a dozen cars that did better than the Camaro at GM, with 8 that did worse. And this excludes discontinued models (Caprice, SS, Verano, & ELR). Include them, and the Camaro did slightly better than average, which is pretty bad.

I also noticed something about the Corvette when going through GM's deliveries chart. It dropped slightly more than the Camaro did, and was outsold by the Bolt, Spark, and ATS ... none of which are thought by anyone to be hot sellers. Granted, January is probably one of the 2 worst months for Corvette sales ... but still. They barely cracked 1000 units last month.

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by 90503

As long as SUV, Truck and Crossover sales are through the roof, low Camaro sales don't seem to be of much concern...Folks are buying something by GM, so that's probably all that matters in the big picture. Plenty of other GM makes and models are selling less than Camaro as well...

And many of the ones that did worse than the Camaro are slated to be canned after the current generation has its run.

[snizzle]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

And many of the ones that did worse than the Camaro are slated to be canned after the current generation has its run.

We've been through this before. Sigh.

[FenwickHockey65]

I mean anything can change, but the groundwork for the 7th gen is already underway, so there's at least some hope.

[PYROLYSIS]

All it takes is for gas prices to go back up and cars will be up and SUV’s will be down again.

[FenwickHockey65]

Toyota: Up 16.8%; 167,056 units sold
Ford Motor Company: Down 6.6%; 161,143 units sold
FCA: Down 13%; 132,803 units sold
Nissan: Up 10%; 123,538 units sold
Honda: Down 1.7%; 104,542 units sold
Hyundai-Kia: Down 6.4%; 76,871 units sold
VW Group: Up 6.7%; 44,318 units sold