GM Sales up Slightly in February as Trucks Soar

AutoInformed.com

The redone Silverado is now taking back some sales from Ford F-Series and FCA’s Ram brand.

General Motors (NYSE: GM) dealers in the United States delivered 231,378 vehicles during February. The anemic performance meant total sales were up 4% compared to a year ago. Retail sales were up only 1%. Commercial and fleet deliveries were up 12%. The good news for stockholders, though, were the sales of trucks, including SUVs, vans and pickups increased by 36% year over year. GM should receive more than $8 billion in revenue for the month.

Overall it appears that U.S. sales of new cars and light trucks expanded 8.5%, the best February volume since 2002. The average transaction price (ATP) for light vehicles was $32,245, up 2.8%  from one year ago. Average incentive spending per unit decreased by $79 to $2,623. The ratio of incentive spending to ATP was 8.1%, contracting from 8.6% versus the prior year.

According to J.D. Power PIN data, the Chevrolet Silverado’s retail market share in the full-size pickup segment was 27.2% in February, up 1.5 percentage points from a year ago, at the expense of Ford’s F-Series and FCA’s Ram.

GM average transaction prices rose by almost $1,700 per unit from a year ago. In addition, strong truck and crossover sales drove the GMC brand to its best February in 13 years. GM incentive spending as a percentage of actual transaction prices was 9.7% in February, down 0.9 percentage points month over month, according to PIN estimates, while industry average spending was 9.9% of ATPs, up 0.1 points.

GM ATPs were $34,700, according to PIN estimates through Feb. 22, up $2,700 per unit compared to a year ago.

GM estimates that the seasonally adjusted annual selling rate (SAAR) for light vehicles in February was 16.5 million units. Trucks, including pickups, SUVs and vans, accounted for 17.3% of the retail industry, according to PIN, up 1.6 percentage points. Crossovers represented 39.2% of the market, up 1.2 percentage points, and cars represented 43.5%, down 2.8 percentage points.

About Ken Zino

Ken Zino, publisher (kzhw@aol.com), is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. Zino is at home on test tracks, knows his way around U.S. Congressional hearing rooms, auto company headquarters, plant floors, as well as industry research and development labs where the real mobility work is done. He can quote from court decisions, refer to instrumented road tests, analyze financial results, and profile executive personalities and corporate cultures. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
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2 Responses to GM Sales up Slightly in February as Trucks Soar

  1. Ken Zino says:

    Regina wait to you see the February truck sales. How quick we forget…

  2. Regina Tuskey says:

    When I saw that truck sales were going up & hybrid sales were lagging, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Gas prices are starting to go back up even as I type this. I was talking to Ross & he says now is the time to get a hell of a deal on a diesel car. Too bad we just got me a car in 2013, or I’d be shopping!

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