November 2015: General Motors Co.

[William Maley]

Chevrolet Posts Industry’s Largest Sales Increase, Propels GM to its Eighth Consecutive Retail Share Gain

• Chevrolet truck sales rise for 20th consecutive month
• Chevrolet crossovers up for 12th consecutive month
• GMC sets average transaction price record fueled by Denali sales
• Commercial deliveries up for 25th consecutive month

DETROIT – General Motors’ (NYSE: GM) Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac brands sold 229,296 vehicles in the United States in November 2015, up 2 percent year over year, with two fewer selling days and sales incentives below the industry average. On a selling-day-adjusted basis, GM’s total sales were up 10 percent.

 

Sales of Chevrolet trucks rose 10 percent for the 20th consecutive monthly increase. Chevrolet crossovers were up 35 percent for the 12th consecutive monthly increase.

 

Crossover deliveries were also robust at Buick, where Encore sales, up 12 percent year over year, have now increased for 23 consecutive months. Total Buick crossover sales were up 11 percent. At GMC, crossover deliveries rose 12 percent, driven by a 16 percent gain for the Terrain. Cadillac’s crossover, the SRX, saw a 53 percent increase. Industry-wide, crossovers now account for 40 percent of the retail industry, up from 37 percent a year ago.

 

“The phenomenal growth of crossovers in a record-setting market is the biggest sales story of 2015,” said Kurt McNeil, GM’s U.S. vice president of Sales Operations. “Buick was one of the pioneers of the fast-growing small crossover segment with the Encore. Chevrolet’s crossover sales growth is far outpacing the rest of the industry, thanks to the Trax, Equinox and Traverse. And the GMC Terrain is on track to have its best year ever.”

 

GM’s retail sales were up 4 percent year over year. Adjusted for selling days, GM retail sales were up 14 percent. GM gained an estimated 1.0 points of retail market share to reach 16.5 percent during the month for the company’s eighth consecutive year-over-year increase.

 

Deliveries to commercial customers were up 6 percent year over year and government deliveries were up 2 percent. Rental sales were down 16 percent per plan. Total fleet sales were down 9 percent.

 

The seasonally adjusted annual selling rate (SAAR) for light vehicles was an estimated 18.2 million units in November. The six-month moving average for the SAAR is now estimated to be 17.9 million units. The industry’s best sales year ever was 2000, when 17.8 million light vehicles were delivered.

 

“We believe U.S. auto sales will continue to grow in 2016, based on the underlying strength of the economy, and we expect customers will continue to embrace crossovers and SUVs because they are meeting their fundamental needs for utility, comfort and fuel efficiency,” said Mustafa Mohatarem, GM chief economist.

 

GM is also building significant momentum in the passenger car and pickup truck markets. At last month’s Los Angeles International Auto Show, the 2016 Chevrolet Colorado diesel was named Motor Trend Magazine’s Truck of the Year – a repeat victory for the truck. The 2016 Chevrolet Camaro was named Motor Trend’s Car of the Year, and the 2016 Chevrolet Volt was named Green Car of the Year by Green Car Journal. In addition, the all-new 2016 Chevrolet Malibu begins shipping to dealers today.

 

Sales Highlights vs. 2014 (except as noted)

 

Chevrolet

• Chevrolet’s retail deliveries were up 13 percent, the highest of any manufacturer in November.
• Retail sales have now increased for eight straight months. Retail crossover sales were up 26 percent, retail truck sales were up 12 percent and retail car sales were up 5 percent.
• The Traverse had its best November ever on a retail basis, and the Equinox had its best November on a total sales basis.
• Five Chevrolet passenger car lines posted retail sales increases: the Camaro was up 44 percent, the Volt was up 49 percent, the SS was up 40 percent, the Sonic was up 14 percent and the Malibu was up 9 percent.
• The Volt had its best November ever on both a total and retail basis.
• Retail sales of pickups and SUVs were also particularly strong: the Suburban was up 31 percent, the Tahoe was up 17 percent and the Silverado was up 4 percent.
• Retail sales of the Silverado were the highest for any November since 2006, and have now increased for 16 consecutive months. Total sales were the highest for any November since 2003.

GMC

• Total sales of the Yukon and Yukon XL were up 23 percent and 30 percent, respectively, while the Terrain was up 16 percent.  Terrain had its best November ever.
• In addition, the Acadia was up 6 percent in total and on a retail basis. Acadia retail sales have already set a full-year record.
• GMC ATPs were a record $43,260, according to J.D. Power PIN estimates.

Buick

• Total sales of the Enclave crossover were up 9 percent, while the Encore small crossover was up 12 percent in total and 50 percent on a retail basis.
• The Encore is on track to set a full-year sales record.

Cadillac

• Total sales of the SRX crossover were up 53 percent.
• In November, Cadillac had the highest ATPs among full-line luxury brands at approximately $55,000, according to J.D. Power PIN estimates.

Average Transaction Prices (J.D. Power PIN estimates)

• GM’s average transaction prices (ATPs) were a record $35,800, up about $740 from October 2015 and up about $580 year over year.   
• GM’s incentive spending was 10.0 percent of ATP, down 1.6 percentage points from October 2015 and down 1.2 percentage points year over year.
• Industry average spending was 10.5 percent of ATP in November, down 0.3 percentage points month over month and up 0.2 percentage points year over year.

Fleet and Commercial

• During the month, deliveries to commercial customers were up 6 percent and government deliveries were up 2 percent. Deliveries to rental customers declined 16 percent.  
• Calendar year to date, commercial deliveries are up 13 percent and government deliveries are up 1 percent. Rental deliveries are down 11 percent.

[El Kabong]

Wow. Very rare that you have a sales report that uniformly good. About the worst I can say is that the Caddy crossover ain't on sale yet to take advantage of the crossover sales boom. Otherwise, just amazing.

[Drew Dowdell]

The age of the Buicks are showing. I think all three sedans get replaced over the next year. 

[El Kabong]

The Corvette appears to have settled into its niche as well. 30,000 units per year ain't too shabby for what it is. I kinda expect them to do another widebody variant or two eventually.

[cp-the-nerd]

The Corvette appears to have settled into its niche as well. 30,000 units per year ain't too shabby for what it is. I kinda expect them to do another widebody variant or two eventually.

 

I'm guessing a Grand Sport is around the corner, 2017 MY maybe? I'd REALLY like to see a specialized LT1 for that Corvette and the future Z/28.

[El Kabong]

You pretty much read my mind on both counts.

As I recall, the reason they said they didn't do an LT7-type engine was that the cylinder-deactivation hardware wasn't up to the revs the engine could do. Also, I think there were some emission hurdles to clear. But even if they just did a "396" variant of the LT1 with a different cam profile I think they'd have a winner on their hands.

Edited December 1, 2015 by El Kabong

[El Kabong]

Another incredible stat: GM has sold over 220,000 body-on-frame SUVs so far this year to go with over 735,000 Silverados and Sierras.

They're going to break a million of these things for the year, with the vast majority of them packing DI smallblocks.

Wow

[cp-the-nerd]

Don't forget over 100,000 of the new small/midsize trucks!

[smk4565]

1 million body on frame trucks and tanking car sales can't be good for CAFE.

 

CTS down 50%, that hurts.  It is sad that cars are sort of dying.  You can see the day coming some of these slow selling sedans are dropped.  And you'll walk into a showroom and there will be 5 crossovers and 1 sedan.

[El Kabong]

Given what GM has been able to accomplish with weight loss in their cars I'm not too worried about CAFE scores for their trucks. I'm sure they'll get it done.