The Silverado pickup truck remains the best seller at GM by far, but now the revived company also has a credible lineup of fuel efficient cars.
General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) today reported total sales of 180,402 vehicles in November, an increase of 7% compared with November 2010. Overall the auto industry showed a seasonally adjusted annual sales rate – SAAR – of ~13.6 million vehicles, not including heavy trucks, which means a ~9% rise year-over-year, based on preliminary numbers. This means that GM is holding its own, but not outpacing the growth in the auto industry.
GM’s total passenger car sales increased 1%, crossover sales decreased 9% and sales of trucks, which include full-size pickups, vans and SUVs, increased 25%.
Increased sales of pickup trucks and full size vans dominated GM’s results. GM deliveries y-o-y showed a 34% increase in Chevrolet Silverado sales (34,251) and a 22% increase in GMC Sierra sales at 11,971.
Other GM vehicles posting double-digit sales increases were Chevrolet Cruze at 13,328, Camaro (5,121), Avalanche (1,857), Colorado (1,978), Suburban (5,787), Tahoe (8,401) and Express van 5,387). The GMC Yukon and Yukon XL (5,765), and the Cadillac SRX at 4,736 also posted double digit sales increases.
Retail deliveries were up 15% (138,901) compared with the same month a year ago and accounted for 77% of GM sales. Deliveries to fleets by GM were down 14%. GM said incentives accounted for 10.5% of an average transaction price, which means incentives at GM – $3,329 per vehicle, according to Edmunds.com – remain above the industry average of roughly $2,300 However, revenue per vehicle increased $200 on average, according to GM as it continues to trim incentives compared to previous levels that helped drive it into bankruptcy.
“We are seeing a broad spectrum of customers return to the market,” said Don Johnson, vice president, U.S. Sales Operations. “Truck sales showed a very solid increase, as we expected, but the momentum building behind our most fuel-efficient vehicles was even stronger.”
