June 2015: General Motors Co.

[William Maley]

GM Earns Highest June Retail Market Share Since 2011

• Chevrolet retail sales up 9 percent, surpassing Ford Division
• Chevrolet total pickup deliveries climb 33 percent; Silverado outsells F-Series on a retail basis
• Best June ever for Chevrolet crossovers
• GMC retail sales up 12 percent; total pickup sales up 37 percent
• Commercial deliveries up for 20th consecutive month

DETROIT – Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac dealers in the United States delivered 259,353 vehicles in June 2015. Retail deliveries climbed 7 percent year over year, and they were up more than the industry for the third month in a row. The drivers were stronger Cadillac sales, a 12 percent gain at GMC and a 9 percent increase at Chevrolet. Together, they helped make the month General Motors’ (NYSE: GM) best June for retail deliveries since 2007 and its best June for retail market share since 2011.

 

GM increased its sales to commercial customers, and state and local government fleets, as well. Rental deliveries, which tend to be less profitable than retail sales, were down 45 percent as a result of GM’s previously announced plan. Total fleet sales in June were down 29 percent year over year, or 21,366 units. GM’s total sales were down 3 percent.

 

“We just wrapped up the U.S. auto industry’s best six months in a decade, driven by strong demand for pickups and crossovers,” said Kurt McNeil, GM’s U.S. vice president of Sales Operations. “People feel good about their jobs and the direction the economy as a whole is taking, so the second half of the year should be strong too, and that’s especially good news for Chevrolet and GMC, brands that have very broad truck and crossover portfolios.”

 

Industry sales continue to exceed expectations. GM estimates that the seasonally adjusted annual selling rate (SAAR) for light vehicles in June was 17.3 million units.

 

During the first half of 2015, GM gained retail market share in both the crossover and truck segments, according to J.D. Power PIN estimates. GM’s crossover share is 12.6 percent, up 0.4 percentage points compared to a year ago. GM’s truck, van and SUV share is 38.9 percent, up 2.1 percentage points.

 

Most of the truck market share gain comes from the ongoing success of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickups, which were redesigned for the 2014 model year. Since calendar year 2013, GM’s retail share of the segment has grown 0.9 percentage points to 38 percent, according to PIN.

 

Market share and average transaction prices (ATPs) were particularly strong in the second quarter of 2015. According to PIN, GM’s retail share in the segment was up 2.8 points year over year to 40.2 percent. ATPs were up almost $1,000 per unit, and incentives were flat.

 

June Sales Highlights vs. 2014 (except as noted)

Total Sales

 

Chevrolet

• Pickup deliveries were up 33 percent.  The Silverado was up 18 percent.
• Colorado sales were 6,558 units, and it remains America’s fastest-selling pickup with a “days to turn” of 15 days. The truck had its best June sales since 2007.
• The Trax, Chevrolet’s newest crossover, had sales of 5,971 units for its best month since launch. It helped Chevrolet deliver its best June crossover sales ever.
• The Spark, which was up 4 percent, had its best June ever.

GMC

• GMC pickup deliveries were up 37 percent, with the Sierra up 21 percent. Deliveries of the new Canyon totaled 2,532 units.
• The Acadia, GMC’s flagship crossover, was up 17 percent.

Buick

• Encore deliveries were up 33 percent for the small crossover’s 18th consecutive year-over-year sales increase.

Cadillac

• SRX deliveries were up 24 percent for its best June ever.

Fleet and Commercial

• Commercial deliveries were up 4 percent in June, with full-size pickups up 18 percent. Through June, commercial deliveries have grown year over year for 20 consecutive months and they are up 20 percent calendar year to date.
• State and local government sales were up 6 percent in June, with full-size pickup and Tahoe PPV deliveries more than doubling. State and local government sales are up 19 percent calendar year to date. 
• Rental deliveries in June were down 45 percent, per plan. Through the first six months of 2015, rental deliveries are down 7 percent, per plan. Total fleet deliveries are up calendar year to date.
• GM plans to reduce year-over-year rental deliveries in the second half of 2015 and in calendar year 2016.

Retail Sales

 

Chevrolet

• The Silverado was up 22 percent, surpassing the Ford F-Series.
• The Traverse crossover was up 3 percent, the Camaro was up 14 percent and the Spark was up 31 percent.
• Both the Malibu and Impala posted sales increases.  

GMC

• GMC has grown its retail sales for 17 consecutive months.
• The Acadia was up 24 percent for its best June ever. Sierra was up 13 percent.

Buick

• Encore deliveries were up 22 percent.

Cadillac

• Cadillac was up 3 percent. The SRX was up 45 percent for its best June retail sales ever. The ATS was up 6 percent and CTS sedan sales were up 7 percent.

Average Transaction Prices (PIN)

• June ATPs were approximately $34,000, up $880 per unit year over year. They are up more than $1,300 per unit calendar year to date.
• Incentive spending as a percentage of ATP was 11.2 percent in June, up 0.1 percentage points year over year. Industry average spending was 9.9 percent of ATP.
• In the first half of 2015, incentive spending was 10.4 percent of ATP, down 0.2 percentage points. Industry average spending was 10.1 percent, up 0.2 points.

[cp-the-nerd]

Appearances can be deceiving:

 

"The results represent GM’s best June for retail deliveries since 2007 and its best June for retail market share since 2011."

 

Despite the raw numbers, June was a solid win for GM.

[El Kabong]

It's all about the trucks this month. Incredible.

[Suaviloquent]

I gotta hand it to GM. Having a lot of models to choose from, certainly helps customers pick out what they like; even if the models in question share the same bones. Executed properly; GM can win big time by having such a broad product portfolio that offers different levels and different brands.

[2QuickZ's]

The fact that the Trax outsold the Renegade is a bit of a surprise to me.  Cadillac sales are still down and that makes me sad.  They are nice vehicles but I think GM just did too big of a jump on MSRP's for the CTS.  Seems they should have started with a smaller jump and then steadily raised MSRP's from there if the sales allowed.  They need to build their reputation back up and honestly probably need to buy sales until the next generation cars when returning satisfied buyers will be willing to pony up a little more of a premium.

[Cmicasa the Great]

The fact that the Trax outsold the Renegade is a bit of a surprise to me.  Cadillac sales are still down and that makes me sad.  They are nice vehicles but I think GM just did too big of a jump on MSRP's for the CTS.  Seems they should have started with a smaller jump and then steadily raised MSRP's from there if the sales allowed.  They need to build their reputation back up and honestly probably need to buy sales until the next generation cars when returning satisfied buyers will be willing to pony up a little more of a premium.

 

 

That won't work. In fact it will work against the Cadillac model. JDN, upon  arriving at Cadillac, literally promised the dealers that things were gonna get bad before they got better.. then he raised the prices. It was a move in the right direction.. and while certainly U are gonna sell more vehicles using value pricing, it would do nothing to bolster ATPs which is the life blood of a luxury line. If Cadillac isn't making money per unit sold then they will be degraded by the GM board to Lincoln style rebadges of Chevys all around. Many will never get that point. They only see the numbers.. and not what's behind the numbers. GM's overall, not to mention Cadillac, increasing retail means more profits, despite a drop in fleet for the sake of sales. The SUV situation in Texas also reveals that production is tight... and that means less quick sell-off to lower ATP fleet customers, which means more profit per vehicle sold because of higher ATP to retail.

 

I would like to add that the Cadillac CTS thing is interesting still in that the CTS Coupe accounted for 30% of CTS sales. Ironic that the CTS is down... 30%. Go figure. Note to GM: If U want to increase CTS sales, bring back the coupe

 

BTW.. am I the only one that thinks that FCA is fudging numbers to make it more attractive for the merger rumors?

[smk4565]

The fact that the Trax outsold the Renegade is a bit of a surprise to me.  Cadillac sales are still down and that makes me sad.  They are nice vehicles but I think GM just did too big of a jump on MSRP's for the CTS.  Seems they should have started with a smaller jump and then steadily raised MSRP's from there if the sales allowed.  They need to build their reputation back up and honestly probably need to buy sales until the next generation cars when returning satisfied buyers will be willing to pony up a little more of a premium.

The CTS is already priced below the E-class, 5-series, A6, XF, GS and Q70.  They are undercutting the entire segment, they don't have a price problem, they have an advertising problem for sure, maybe a powertrain or interior design problem.    More body styles helps, but I don't think a coupe will solve their problems. 

[2QuickZ's]

I know Cadillac needed to bring their MSRP's up to be more inline with competition.  They needed to eventually match the Germans.  My only argument is that they tried to close 90% of the gap in one step.  I do think their product is mostly on par with the Germans but when you are having to offer huge rebates to move product, you have an MSRP problem in my opinion.  Maybe they just need better lease deals?  I guess if the answer was easy things would already be fixed.  Either way, I definitely agree that profit is more important than chasing volume for them.  Chasing volume over profits is what got GM in trouble to begin with.

[regfootball]

Trax is more mainstream in character than the Renegade so i believe it will compete well.

 

Cadillac I think will quietly do things with the CTS and ATS pricing when the CT6 comes out to make them move in better volume and little bit lower price.  Caddy will probably stick hard to the prices it throws on the CT6 sticker for quite awhile.

 

GM is increasingly weak in deluging the crossover market.  All the little niches of that market are getting filled now and more and more inroads from Asian and German marques.

 

GM should continue full investment in the truck lines, don't take success with trucks for granted.

 

Low gas prices are helping keep people away from the smaller models.  I still believe people buy larger and more powerful as much as possible unless oppressed by fuel cost, car cost, or government mandates.

Edited July 4, 2015 by regfootball

[balthazar]

The CTS is already priced below the E-class, 5-series, A6, XF, GS and Q70.  They are undercutting the entire segment, they don't have a price problem, they have an advertising problem for sure, maybe a powertrain or interior design problem.    More body styles helps, but I don't think a coupe will solve their problems. 

No; A6 starts at 44800, CTS starts @ 45345. Audi is undercutting the entire segment, not Cadillac.

Coupe was fully 27% of prior gen sales, so of course it's logical it would boost numbers. I would love to see another CTS coupe as rakish as the first one.

[smk4565]

An ATS coupe was more important, coupes sell in that segment.  The CTS isn't an entry level car any more.   The 5-series, A6, GS, XF, Q70 don't have a coupe model.  BMW has the 6-series but they start it at $76,000.   The E-class coupe is the only mid-size coupe right now, although the E-class is the #1 seller in the segment too, despite being the oldest and highest priced.

 

That said I'd be in favor of a CTS coupe and convertible, I just don't think it will add a huge sales boost.

[balthazar]

6-series is in a different price tier than the e-class, but they're absolutely both mid-size coupes.

[smk4565]

That they are, but the 6-series has a higher base price than a 7-series for some odd reason.  I think the 6-series has crap sales volume because they don't know what it is supposed to be.  If it was priced like an E-class coupe they might get some sales.  What BMW does with the 6-series is dumb, and that "gran coupe" looks like a 4 door sedan, doesn't even look like a coupe.  A CTS Coupe around $50k could get some sales, but I think an ATS coupe would always outsell a CTS coupe.