Trucks Drive GM’s U.S. November Sales Up

Backed by brisk demand for its trucks, as well as a couple of surprises among its cars, General Motors’ U.S. November daily sales rose 1.4%.

GM sold 252,644 light vehicles last month, compared with 229,296 in the same period last year, according to WardsAuto data. There were 25 selling days in the month vs. 23 in like-2015.

“GM’s November performance reflects the continued strength of our U.S. business,” says Kurt McNeil, vice president-U.S. Sales Operations at GM.

“We gained profitable retail share, commercial and small business deliveries were strong and we commanded the industry’s best average transaction prices,” he says in a statement.

GM estimates it outpaced all other full-line manufacturers on the retail side last month with 197,609 deliveries to individual customers, pushing its market share in that channel to its highest level since November 2009.

The automaker also gained overall market share in the month, up to 18.4% from 17.3% year-ago, according to WardsAuto estimates. So far this year, GM owns 17.2% of the U.S. market, down from 17.7% last year.

The company recently warned its market share could tumble further this year, as it follows a strategy to emphasize historically more profitable retail sales ahead of deliveries to rental-car companies, and keep a lid on discounts by striking a balance between production levels and market demand for its products.

The plan led GM to suspend production in the first quarter of next year at car plants in Lansing, MI, and Lordstown, OH, as buyers continue to favor trucks and CUVs. It is unclear if the automaker intends additional production cuts at other U.S. facilities making cars.

“Our strategy is very disciplined, balancing supply and demand,” GM North America President Alan Batey told WardsAuto at the Los Angeles auto show two weeks ago. “That’s what we’re doing here. There’s nothing different about that strategy from what we’ve been saying for the last two or three years.

GM monitoring demand, adjusting output accordingly, Batey says.

“We’ll continue to monitor and balance (output) and capitalize on where the market is,” Batey said. “In the segments we see slowing, or weakening, we’ll adjust accordingly.”

The Chevy Malibu, which competes in the lackluster midsize-car segment, bucked the trend last month on a 58.1% sales gain to 18,577 units from 10,813 year-ago.

“We’ve seen such big growth in our retail sales there,” Batey said.

Sales of the Chevy Cruze, which is built at Lordstown, fell 6.0% but volume improved slightly to 16,414 from 16,073.

However, trucks and CUVs have been the market’s darlings this year and their popularity underpinned GM’s performance in the month. The segment accounted for 73% of GM sales in the month.

Chevy Silverado large pickup deliveries fell 7.4% because of the two extra selling days, but volume remained strong at 45,280. The total is off from 49,768 in October, although pickup sales historically trend down in November from prior-month and bounce back in December. 

Sales of the Chevy Tahoe large SUV jumped 20.2% to 9,433, while deliveries of the little Chevy Trax CUV advanced 16.5% to 8,207.

The Chevy Colorado midsize pickup kept up its hot streak on 8,669 sales, a 28% gain on year-ago volume. The product has been so hot GM tinkered with having its Wentzville, MO, assembly plant punch out additional units and in Los Angeles unveiled an off-road version called the ZR2 to go on sale soon.

“If you look at our incentive load on the Colorado since we launched, it is basically nonexistent,” Batey said at the unveiling. “Our biggest challenge is keeping up with demand and hopefully that will continue.”

Chevy sales overall in the month were flat, but grew solidly on a volume basis to 169,675 from 156,907.

GMC deliveries expanded 5.0% to 49,113 on the strength of GMC Sierra large pickup and newly redesigned Acadia large CUV. The Sierra accounted for 18,900 sales, up 5.2%, and the Acadia 9,168, ahead 24.5%.

Buick sales rallied 6.8% to 18,530, as demand for the Encore small CUV remained strong at 7,162 units for a 28.4% increase vs. year-ago. Cadillac sales rose 5.3% to 15,326 with the all-new XT5 midsize CUV grabbing 5,364 buyers.

GM sales so far this year are down 2.5%, and volume was off slightly to 2.72 million units from 2.79 million last year.

While U.S. sales have plateaued after several years of record demand, GM expresses confidence the market will remain robust.

“All economic indicators show significantly improved optimism about the U.S. economy including consumer and business sentiment, which continue to drive a very healthy U.S. auto industry,” says GM Chief Economist Mustafa Mohatarem. “We believe the U.S. auto industry is well-positioned for sales to continue at or near record levels into 2017.”

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