GM’s ‘Hot Hand’ Continues With Truck, CUV Sales in May

General Motors saw its U.S. daily sales rise 6.9% in May, as the automaker continues to win in the truck segment and buyer appetites for the automaker’s CUVs show no signs of waning.

GM dealers delivered 293,097 light vehicles last month, compared with 284,694 in like-2014, according to WardsAuto data. It marked the largest daily sales gain for the automaker since September 2008, a month before the bottom fell out of the market and the U.S. tumbled into a recession.

The automaker’s market share in May grew to 18.3% from 17.8% year-ago. Year-to-date, GM’s share of U.S. sales is up to 17.9% from 17.7% and its sales are ahead 4.9% to 1.3 million from 1.2 million.

The volume Chevrolet brand turned in the best showing last month with sales up 5.3% to 207,970 from 205,010.

“Chevrolet has the hot hand in the pickup market thanks to our three-truck strategy,” Kurt McNeil, vice president-U.S. Sales Operations, says in a statement. “Our market share is growing and our strategy is to retain these customers with the best overall ownership experience.”

Sales of the Chevy Silverado large pickup grew 14.9% to 51,602 from 46,648, while the newly launched Colorado midsize pickup accounted for 8,881 deliveries.

GM added a third shift two months ago to the assembly plant for the Colorado and its premium cousin the GMC Canyon, and demand continues to outstrip supply. The automaker says the Colorado stays on dealer lots for an average of just 13 days and retail inventory is a slim 11 days.

The Chevy Equinox 5-passenger CUV also turned in a good month, with sales up 34.8% to 29,456 from 22,695, while deliveries of the larger Traverse CUV increased 5.6% to 10,275 from 10,108. The recently launched Trax compact CUV caught 5,707 buyers in the month.

Sales of the Tahoe and Suburban large SUVs witnessed steep year-over-year declines, but the two trucks still combined for 11,494 copies. The pair faces difficult year-over-year comparisons because last spring GM was selling a redesigned model along with older discounted units.

Results from Chevy’s car portfolio reflected prevailing consumer tastes, as cheap gasoline and inexpensive, long-term loans are giving buyers the flexibility to snap up big, expensive vehicles.

Sales of the Malibu midsize car were one bright spot, up 15.5% to 21,461 from 19,288, but deliveries of the Cruze compact car sank 23.9% to 23,752 from 32,393 and demand for the Impala large sedan fell 10.5% to 11,506 from 13,348.

Buick sales have been hit hardest this year by the segment shift and one fewer selling day in the month masked lackluster demand for its car-heavy lineup. Buick deliveries were up 4.4% to 20,062 from 19,957 on the strength of the Encore compact CUV and Enclave large CUV combining for more than 11,000 takers. Sales of the LaCrosse, Regal and Verano sedans were off sharply and amounted to 9,030 deliveries.

Cadillac posted its second straight year-over-year sales gain in May, up 1.9% thanks to the short month. The SRX 5-passenger CUV was the lone gainer, jumping 26% to 5,777 from 4,762. Even the hot-running Escalade large SUV cooled, slumping 0.9% to 1,617 from 1,664. Sales of the CTS were off 35.9% to 1,792 from 2,905 and the smaller ATS saw volume decline 2.1% to 2,353 from 2,497.

GMC sales jumped 16.8% to 50,657 from 45,039, led volume-wise by a 7.5% uptick in deliveries of the Sierra large pickup to 18,977 from 18,326. Sales of the Terrain 5-passenger CUV and Acadia large CUV were equally impressive, rising 15% and 73.5%, respectively, to a combined 20,172.

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