Cadillac Struggles, GM’s Other Brands Post July Gains

Although its Cadillac luxury brand continues to struggle, General Motors reports selling 272,512 vehicles in July, a combined 6% increase compared with the same month last year, and the 4-brand automaker’s best July since 2007.

GM total sales were up 6.4% for the month and 3.9% for the year, with nearly 1.8 million 2015 deliveries through July.  

Buick had a standout month, selling 20,791 vehicles (led by its compact Encore CUV), a 17.6% increase over July 2014. But Buick’s year-to-date sales are off 3.1%.

GM’s clean-up slugger Chevrolet hit sales of 188,790 vehicles in July, a 7.8% increase compared with July 2014 and a 3.3% increase so far for the year.

Truck division GMC saw a modest monthly gain of 1.4% with sales of 48,777 units. Its year-to-date sales of 313,490 vehicles represent an 11.8% increase over 2014.

Cadillac’s sales were 14,154 for July and 95,053 year to date, off 7.1% and 2.4%, respectively. With monthly sales of 6,753, the SRX CUV was by far the best selling Cadillac. The brand’s other models fell far short of the 2,000-mark.   

The best-selling GM product for the month is the Chevrolet Silverado fullsize pickup truck, with deliveries of 56,380 for July, a 33.9% increase. Silverado sales of 332,202 year to date are up 17.5%.

GM’s daily selling rate for July, based on 26 selling days, is 10,481 vehicles.          

“GM has been steadily growing its commercial and retail market share, thanks to our strong truck and crossover portfolio,” says Kurt McNeil, the automaker’s vice president-U.S. sales operations. “We feel good about our truck strategy heading into the late summer and fall, when those segments usually heat up.”

He touts GM as the only manufacturer to have “completely revamped its entire lineup of large SUVs and midsize, light-duty and heavy-duty pickups.”

Average GM transaction prices now stand at $33,800, up about $200 for the month compared with July 2014, and $530 for the year. The automaker gives a call out to the Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups that garnered more than a $1,000 ATP increase this year compared with last. The Sierra has the highest ATP of any pickup in the industry, says GM.

“The second half of 2015 is off to a great start, with industry sales above expectations,” McNeil says.

The dog of the month is the Cadillac ELR extended-range electric vehicle. Cadillac recently knocked $9,000 off its price to make the car more attractive to shoppers. Regardless, only 66 were sold last month.

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