GM November Sales Up 10% - Trucks Do Very Well - Details

[Gorehamj]

John Goreham
Contributing Writer, GM-Trucks.com
12-1-2016

GM says its monthly sales total was up about 10% over last November, which puts GM on a faster growth pace than most of its peers*. Every GM brand did better than the industry average. Kurt McNeil, GM’s vice president of U.S. Sales Operations, summed up the growth month and healthy sales by saying, “We are ahead of plan selling down our 2016 model year inventory and we expect to close out December with more retail share growth. GM is heading into 2017 in a position of strength with the planned launch of key new products, like the all-new Chevrolet Equinox, into the heart of the market.” McNeil added, “GM’s November performance reflects the continued strength of our U.S. business. We gained profitable retail share, commercial and small business deliveries were strong and we commanded the industry’s best average transaction price."

 

Digging deeper into the truck numbers, we see that Silverado sales were at parity with last November's, Sierra was up 14%, and both the Colorado (8,669) and Canyon (3,410) were up sharply over last year, reflecting GM's new production capacity for those models. As we have reported most months, the Tacoma was still ahead of the Colorado and Canyon, but as always, that may be mostly due to both companies being at their production limits.

 

Giant SUVs did very well for GM again in November, though those sales need to be taken in context. For example, the Chevy Suburban was up a solid 26%, but with about 6,500 units sold, the big SUVs are still among the lowest rate of sales among the many vehicle types. That said, they pack a bigger profit punch. Compact and midsize crossover sales were mixed. Equinox was up 10%, but still sells at half the rate that its competitors do. A new model refresh may help that soon. The all-new, Chinese-built, Buick Envision is already making a big impact at Buick. Though its sales are just 1,785 units, the model is brand new to the market and is already ahead of three other Buick models. Look for Envision to become the second-leading seller at Buick if GM can import enough to fill demand. Three of Buick's models are now imported in full, or in part, to the US from overseas markets, and in the near future, the majority of Buicks sold in the US may be made outside North America. At present, this is no problem, but going forward it may be. Note that the vehicle that GM chose as its press release image (above) is made in Spain, Korea, and Mexico.

 

There are still many problems with car sales at GM. The CTS and ATS continue to drop toward nill, and the CT6 is selling at under 2,000 units per month well after its launch. Impala is down to half of previous years sales. Malibu is up, but still sells at less than half the rate of the industry leaders in the midsize segment.

 

*Important Note: GM seems to have issued its sales (deliveries) results on a total units sales basis. If we are not mistaken, 2015 had less sales days than 2016. We are noticing that other top brands like Toyota are reporting changes in the daily sales rate to plot their progress. In other words, GM chose the best light in which to cast its sales this month. Selling slightly more units in 2016 could still have been a slowdown over 2015 due to the added sales days this year.

[Colossus]

"There are still many problems with car sales at GM. The CTS and ATS continue to drop toward nill, and the CT6 is selling at under 2,000 units per month well after its launch. Impala is down to half of previous years sales. Malibu is up, but still sells at less than half the rate of the industry leaders in the midsize segment"

 

Gee I wonder why.