GM Sales Inch Up in March

General Motors sold 249,875 vehicles in the U.S. in March, up 1.5% on a daily-selling-rate basis from the same month year-ago, when the automaker delivered 256,047 units, WardsAuto data shows.

There were 25 selling days in March of this year vs. 26 year-ago.

The Chevrolet brand lost almost 6,000 units from March 2014, resulting in a flat DSR result of 0.6%.

Strong CUV sales helped Chevy offset declining cars sales last month. The Equinox midsize CUV rose 26.9% and the large Traverse CUV was up 22.6%.

Chevy’s Volt extended-range electric vehicle saw the largest percentage decline among the bowtie brand’s cars, down 55.0% on a DSR basis from year-ago, with 639 sold vs. 1,478 in March 2014.

The Sonic B-car was close behind, dropping 49.4%.

The Silverado large pickup recorded an 11.3% uptick.

The struggling Cadillac brand again fell, down 3.1%, experiencing the only percentage decrease of all GM brands.

Cadillac’s ATS and CTS cars posted losses of 28.9% and 46.5%, respectively, while the SRX CUV dipped 3.7%.

The Escalade fullsize SUV continues to be in strong demand and was up 134.2% on a DSR basis.

The GMC brand posted a 5.3% gain, with increases in the Sierra and Yukon XL lines offsetting declines among all other models.

The Sierra pickup gained 7.3% vs. year-ago, while the Yukon XL posted a 20.7% year-on-year rise.

The Buick brand also was in positive territory in March, with sales up 4.5% as the popular Encore compact CUV almost eclipsed sales of the larger Enclave, Buick’s best-selling model.

The Encore recorded 5,650 deliveries last month vs. the Enclave’s 5,684.

However, the Lacrosse sedan was the biggest gainer among all Buicks, up 29.6%.

GM sales through March tallied 684,039, 5.3% ahead of the 649,637 units the automaker sold in the first quarter of 2014 in the U.S.

[email protected]