GM CUVs Red Hot in April, Trucks Cool Off

General Motors witnesses brisk business within its CUV portfolio in April while its core truck unit slumps and overall daily sales decline 2.2%.

GM dealers delivered 244,406 light vehicles last month, compared with 259,557 in the same period last year, according to WardsAuto data. There was one fewer selling day in the month vs. year-ago, which helped improve the year-over-year comparison.

But the Detroit automaker remains optimistic and suggests the popularity of CUVs will continue to pull buyers from other segments, including its highly profitable large pickups and SUVs.

“We see crossovers becoming an even bigger part of the industry and GM sales over the next five years,” says Kurt McNeil, vice president-U.S. Sales Operations.

“Just five years ago, about one in four GM sales were crossovers,” he says in a statement. “Today, they account for almost one-third of our deliveries and we see more growth ahead.”

GM sold a record 78,217 CUVs last month compared with 66,019 year-ago, an 18.5% year-over-year gain. The automaker is aggressively selling down inventory of older models to make room on dealer lots for redesigned units, such as the popular Chevy Equinox and Traverse, but GM also boasts a relatively deep portfolio of CUVs at a time when the segment accounts for more than 30% of the market.

As such, Equinox sales last month grew 4.1% to 20,665 units compared with 20,607 year-ago, including 4,500 copies of the redesigned model. Traverse deliveries tumbled 19.6% to 9,437 from 12,186. The redesigned Traverse arrives this summer.

GM also saw solid demand for its smallest CUVs, which occupy the hottest corner of the segment. Sales of the Chevy Trax small CUV rose 49.9% to 6,509 units from 4,510 in like-2016, while deliveries of the Buick Encore jumped 31.8% to 8,365 units from 6,589.

At the same time, large-truck sales sagged. Demand for the Chevy Silverado, which is GM’s top-selling vehicle, dropped 16.6% to 40,154 from 49,900 in the same period last year. Sales of the Chevy Tahoe large SUV nearly held ground on volume of 7,411 units vs. 7,549 year-ago.

Sales of the GMC Sierra large pickup fell 12.0% to 17,400 units from 20,531, while deliveries of the GMC Yukon large SUV dipped 5.3% to 3,030 units from 3,324.

GM’s midsize pickups, which had been going strong since their reintroduction to the market just over two years ago, experienced softer demand for the second straight month. Sales of the Chevy Colorado declined 7.6% to 9,221 units from 10,362 a year ago. Deliveries of the GMC Canyon were off 18.7% to 2,368 copies from 3,026.

A degree of seasonality could be read into GM’s truck sales last month. The second half of the year historically accounts for 60% of large-pickup deliveries. April has been particularly weak for the model in some years, as well. The automaker’s pickup incentives, as a percentage of average transaction prices, also were lower than key competitors.

GM drew back daily fleet sales in the month by 7% to 52,495, the automaker says. The total included a drawdown of 5,600 sales to daily rental companies. Daily retail sales, a key focus of the automaker’s restructured business, were flat vs. year-ago, GM says.

While automakers continue to report sales throughout the day, GM estimates the industry closed April with a seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of 17.0 million units. It hints at continued strength of the industry, GM Chief Economist Mustafa Mohatarem says.

“When you look at the broader economy, including a strong job market, rising wages, low inflation and low interest rates, and couple them to low fuel prices and strong consumer confidence, you have everything you need for auto sales to weather headwinds and remain at or near historic highs,” he says.

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