GM First-Quarter U.S. Sales Drop -7% to 618,335

General Motors (NYSE: GM) announced today that it delivered 618,335 vehicles in the first quarter of 2020, a decrease of about -7% compared to a year ago. That number included 3820 new Corvettes, a drop of (-3.8%) compared to Q1 a year ago. The industry experienced significant declines in March due to the outbreak of COVID-19. FCA US reported a 10% decline in its first-quarter sales as the strong momentum in January and February was more than offset by the negative economic impact of the coronavirus in March. GM stock was trading at $19.96 per share in early trading. The yearly range is $14.33 – 41.90. Inventory at the end of the Q1 was 668,443 units, down about 18% from a year ago.

President Trump admitted yesterday that the US is looking at a painful two weeks of deaths from the COVID-19 virus. Public health experts have been less optimistic. The GM announcement comes as all of the Detroit Three have postponed resumption of vehicle production due in part to the UAW demanding safe work spaces. Unbelievable that there are still states without shelter-in-place orders.

“In this uncertain and challenging time, GM and our strong network of dealers are here to help, offering concierge service, providing courtesy transportation to customers in need and offering home delivery where permissible,” said Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president, Sales Operations.

In many areas with stay-at-home orders, dealer service operations are considered essential and can remain open to address crucial vehicle needs for essential service providers like first responders, healthcare workers and food supply and delivery workers.

“Customers who need to purchase a new vehicle can use GM’s Shop. Click. Drive. program, which allows them to browse inventory, choose a vehicle, customize their payment and schedule delivery at home where available,” said McNeil.

To further assist, GM has enabled OnStar Crisis Assist services for all connected vehicle owners, as well as complimentary in-vehicle data for all Wi-Fi-equipped vehicles.

GM also expects to deliver the first 20,000 masks April 8, and to produce an estimated 1.5 million masks a month once at full capacity. To help protect workers in essential services across the country, GM launched a rapid-response project to produce masks at scale on Friday, March 20. Seven days later, it had produced the first sample on the new production line.