January 2016: General Motors Co.

[William Maley]

Chevrolet Continues as the Industry’s Fastest Growing Brand, Leading GM Retail Sales Increase

• GM retail sales climbed 9 percent in January
• Chevrolet retail deliveries up 12 percent in January – retail share up almost 2 percentage points
• Buick retail sales up 45 percent
• Commercial deliveries up for 27th consecutive month

DETROIT – General Motors’ (NYSE: GM) Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac dealers in the United States delivered 203,745 vehicles in January 2016, the company’s best January sales performance in eight years. GM’s retail sales were up sharply, climbing 9 percent year over year on the strength of a 12 percent increase at Chevrolet and a 45 percent increase at Buick. Total sales were up 0.5 percent.

 

“GM began 2016 in very strong competitive position,” said Kurt McNeil, GM’s U.S. vice president of sales operations. “We built on that momentum in January, with Chevrolet, Buick and GMC outperforming the retail industry by a wide margin. In fact, Chevrolet continues to grow faster than any other full-line brand.”

• Chevrolet gained close to 2 percentage points of retail market share in January after the brand had the largest retail market share increase of any full-line brand in 2015.
• Chevrolet had its best January passenger car retail sales since 1997.
• The Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra posted a combined 7 percent increase in total sales. GM grew full-size pickup market share faster than all other competitors in 2015.
• Throughout 2015 and continuing into January, the GMC Sierra, Canyon, Yukon and Yukon XL have had the highest average transaction prices in their respective segments, according to J.D. Power PIN estimates.
• Buick retail deliveries surged 45 percent in January, driven by owner loyalty.

“We believe industry fundamentals such as the age of the vehicle fleet, well managed inventory levels, firm used car pricing, good credit availability and low fuel prices will support higher industry sales in 2016,” said Mustafa Mohatarem, GM’s chief economist. “In addition, household balance sheets are strong and the labor market continues to improve.”

 

GM’s strong sales dovetailed with a strategic approach to inventories and fleet deliveries:

• GM inventories are disciplined, and the company expects to operate with about a 70 days’ supply throughout the year in most months, with some months higher or lower.
• GM’s Commercial sales are growing and daily rental sales are becoming a smaller part of the overall business.
• As a result of lower rental deliveries, GM expects its fleet mix in 2016 to be about 20 percent, compared with a historical range of 22 – 24 percent.

January Sales Highlights vs. 2015 (except as noted)

 

Chevrolet

• Chevrolet had its best January retail performance since 2005, with car sales up 25 percent, truck sales up 5 percent and crossover deliveries up 5 percent. The brand has had 10 consecutive months of retail sales gains.
• Silverado had its best January total and retail sales since 2007.
• Ten Chevrolet models – Silverado, Suburban, Tahoe, Colorado, Camaro, Impala, Malibu, Cruze, Sonic and Traverse – grew retail market share in their respective segments.
• The all-new 2016 Chevrolet Malibu accounted for about half of Malibu sales in January. Malibu had its best January retail sales since 1981.
• Tahoe and Suburban had their best January retail sales since 2008.
• Cruze and Volt had their best January retail sales ever and the Camaro had its best January retail sales since 1996.
• Trax total and retail sales more than doubled.

GMC

• GMC had its best January total and retail sales since 2004.
• Combined Sierra and Canyon total sales increased, with Sierra up 14 percent and Canyon up 3 percent.
• Yukon retail sales were up 4 percent.

Buick

• Buick had its best January retail performance since 2003, with retail deliveries up 45 percent. Total sales were the best January since 2004.
• Combined sales of Buick’s passenger cars were up 73 percent. LaCrosse had its best January total sales since 2010.
• Sales of Buick’s crossovers were up a combined 24 percent.
• Encore has had 25 months year-over-year growth in both retail and total sales.
• The all-new Cascada is now arriving at Buick dealers.

Cadillac                                               

• SRX total deliveries were up 37 percent for its best January total sales ever.
• Cadillac is maintaining the highest ATPs in the brand’s history, and leads its competitive set.

Average Transaction Prices/Incentives

• GM grew ATPs three times faster than the industry average from 2010-2015. In January 2016, ATPs were $33,600, about $3,000 above the industry average.
• GM’s incentive spending as a percentage of ATP was 12.4 percent in January, in line with the domestic competitors and lower than some Asian competitors. Industry average spending was 10.7 percent.

Fleet and Commercial

• Commercial deliveries up for 27th consecutive month
• GM grew Commercial sales 6 percent in January after growing sales 38 percent since 2013.
• In January, GM sold nearly 13,000 fewer rental vehicles compared to January 2015, per plan. GM expects another significant reduction in rental deliveries in 2016.

Industry Sales

• GM estimates that the seasonally adjusted annual selling rate (SAAR) for light vehicles in January was 17.5 million units.

[El Kabong]

Good to see total sales up, if only slightly.

[Cmicasa the Great]

When I first came to this thread and saw Cadillac numbers.. I ran straight to the BMW on to compare the CTS and ATS numbers to the 3,4, and 5series. Yup.. trending the same way.. with the BMWs down 30% as well. January weather reared its head and put the kibosh on sales. Buick went strong.. and did GMC. Retail was quite nice with only a 20% Fleet mix. Jesus... that is being TIGHT on inventory IMO. WOW on the Regal numbers... and of the new launches from Chevy.. the Malibu, Camaro and Volt.. all were up and doing well with new product trickling in to dealers. The new Cruze needs to get on lots now.. but just 1 month til launch I believe

[Cmicasa the Great]

 

Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac dealers in Canada delivered 14,395 new vehicles in January 2016, a 24.3 percent increase compared to January 2015. Sales of Chevrolet, Cadillac, and GMC were up, while those of Buick were down.

“2016 is off to a strong start for GM Canada, with record performances for our brands”, said John Roth, vice president, sales, service and marketing for GM Canada. “We are excited to riding this momentum into the Canadian International Auto Show, which kicks off a year of nine launches across our Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac cars, trucks and crossovers.”

 

January 2016 notes (vs. January 2015, except as noted):

General Motors sales overview:

Total sales were up 24.3 percent to 14,395 units

Retail sales up 21 percent

Chevrolet sales were up 23.97 percent to 7,814 units:

Chevy crossover sales were up 16 percent:

Chevy Trax sales up 41 percent to 377 units

Chevy Equinox sales were up 13 percent to 908 units

Chevy Traverse sales were down 10 percent to 161 units

Chevy Truck sales were up 29 percent:

Chevy Colorado sales were up 27 percent to 309 units

Chevy Silverado sales were up 28.95 percent to 2,784 units

Chevy Tahoe sales were up 23 percent to 128 units

Chevy Suburban sales were up 204 percent to 146 units

Chevy City Express sales were up 32 percent to 66 units

Chevy Express sales were up 62 percent to 263 units

Chevy car sales were up 18 percent:

Chevy Spark sales were down 12 percent to 70 units

Chevy Sonic sales were up 0.49 percent to 206 units

Chevy Cruze sales were 6.05 percent to 1,456 units

Chevy Volt sales were up 23 percent to 94 units

Chevy Malibu sales were up 65 percent to 616 units

Chevy Impala sales were up 15 percent to 106 units

Chevy Camaro sales were up 65 percent to 96 units

Chevy Corvette sales were down 29.4 percent to 1,501 units

Cadillac sales were up 44 percent to 811 units, marking six consecutive months of growth:

Cadillac ATS sales were up 115 percent to 259 units

Cadillac CTS sales were up 73 percent to 78 units

Cadillac ELR sales were down 75 percent to 1 unit

Cadillac Escalade sales were up 0.81 percent to 124 units and Cadillac Escalade ESV sales were down 3.3 percent to 29 units

Cadillac SRX sales were up 32 percent to 284 units

Cadillac XTS sales were up 44 percent to 36 units

Buick sales were down 7.45 percent to 671 units:

Buick car sales were up 3 percent

Buick Enclave sales were down 14 percent to 120 units

Buick Encore sales were down 18 percent to 184 units

Buick LaCrosse sales were down 57 percent to 36 units

Buick Regal sales were up 31 percent to 67 units

Buick Verano sales were up 19 percent to 264 units

GMC sales were up 27 percent to 5,099 units, its 19th consecutive month of growth:

GMC Acadia sales were up 0.34 percent to 299 units

GMC Canyon sales were up 44 percent to 287 units

GMC Savana sales were up 63 percent to 282 units

GMC Sierra sales were up 26 percent to 3,352 units

GMC Terrain sales were up 33 percent to 613 units

GMC Yukon sales were up 18 percent to 137 units and GMC Yukon XL sales were up 37 percent to 129 units

 

 

 

 

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