Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady (left) receives a 2015 Chevrolet Colorado pickup after he was named Super Bowl XLIX MVP.
General Motors (NYSE: GM) dealers in the United States delivered 202,786 vehicles last month for the company’s best January sales in seven years. Total sales were up 18% compared to a year ago. Retail sales were up 14% and fleet deliveries increased by 32%.
The gains were largely the result of booming truck and crossover demand. Year-over-year pickup deliveries rose 42%, following last month’s 43% increase. Large pickup sales were up 22% and more than 8000 all-new Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon mid-size trucks were delivered. GM is the only U.S.-based automaker competing in this segment – one that Ford Motor once dominated with its Ranger.
Chevrolet Silverado deliveries increased 25%, and five months after introduction, the new Colorado has overtaken the Nissan Frontier to become Number 2 in retail market share in the mid-size pickup segment.
Sales of crossovers and SUVs were up 36% year over year, with the Chevrolet Equinox and Traverse, the GMC Terrain and the Buick Encore all posting their highest January sales ever. Chevrolet will unveil a redesigned Equinox at the Chicago Auto Show on February 12.
Average Transaction Prices or ATPs were $34,800, according to J.D. Power PIN estimates through Jan. 25, an increase of $2400 per unit compared to a year ago.
GM estimates that the seasonally adjusted annual selling rate (SAAR) for light vehicles in January was 16.6 million.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, 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.
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 during a downshift 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.
