Editor’s note: an earlier version of this article incorrectly labelled September sales results as those for August.Â
U.S. sales of General Motors vehicles totaled 187,195 units in September of 2013, representing an 11% drop compared to strong September 2012 results. Notably, retail sales were down 6% compared to the same time period in 2012, while fleet sales contributed more to the overall drop, falling 27%. On a selling day-adjusted basis, retail sales were up 2%.
“We held our own when it comes to retail market share this month thanks to strong new products, including the Chevrolet Impala, Buick Encore, GMC Sierra and the Cadillac ATS and XTS,” said Kurt McNeil, vice president, U.S. sales operations. “We expect a strong finish to the year and more growth in 2014 thanks to new products and a healthier economy.”
September 2013 sales highlights vs. September 2012:
Buick sales increased 6 percent and Cadillac sales were up 10 percent. On a retail basis, Buick sales have now increased for 17 months in a row.
Chevrolet Malibu sales were up 29 percent, sales of the Spark were up 6 percent and retail sales of the Impala increased 64 percent. Chevrolet Tahoe sales were up 14 percent.
Third quarter retail sales for GM were up 13 percent and total sales were up 7 percent.
Through the first nine months of the year, Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC have posted double-digit retail sales increases compared with 2012.
Year-to-date sales of Buick and Cadillac cars are up a combined 15 percent; large pickups are up 20 percent; large SUVs are up 15 percent; and compact crossovers are up 13 percent.
GM’s fleet sales in September reflect the strategic repositioning of the Impala, the temporary discontinuation of the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon, and lower Chevrolet Cruze sales.
2013 - September - USA - Chevrolet
MODEL
YOY MONTHLY CHANGE
2013
2012
YOY YTD CHANGE
YTD 2013
YTD 2012
CHEVROLET TOTAL
-14.7
127,785
149,801
+5.14
1,493,329
1,420,383
AVALANCHE
-64.58
719
2,030
-8.93
15,618
17,149
CAMARO
-0.19
5,659
5,670
-6.02
64,815
68,968
CAPRICE
+13.22
514
454
+3.53
2,966
2,865
CAPTIVA SPORT
+14
3,248
2,849
+33.69
36,293
27,148
COLORADO
-98.55
41
2,833
-89.65
3,375
32,608
CORVETTE
-38.49
831
1,351
-25.92
7,830
10,570
CRUZE
-50.63
12,730
25,787
+8.4
195,775
180,600
EQUINOX
-2.48
15,443
15,835
+11.12
185,420
166,862
EXPRESS
+34.89
5,235
3,881
+3
59,624
57,886
IMPALA
-24.88
11,462
15,259
-13.66
121,033
140,179
MALIBU
+29.49
14,487
11,188
-13.66
154,950
179,465
SILVERADO
-10.76
32,506
36,425
+20.98
360,775
298,200
SONIC
-2.52
7,335
7,525
+7.57
69,649
64,746
SPARK
+5.94
2,355
2,223
+348.66
28,324
6,313
SUBURBAN
-16.01
2,733
3,254
+2.13
34,580
33,860
TAHOE
+13.54
5,332
4,696
+21.51
60,126
49,481
TRAVERSE
-5.24
5,389
5,687
+12.48
75,411
67,042
VOLT
-38.06
1,766
2,851
+2.52
16,760
16,348
2013 - September - USA - Buick
MODEL
YOY MONTHLY CHANGE
2013
2012
YOY YTD CHANGE
YTD 2013
YTD 2012
BUICK TOTAL
+6.47
15,623
14,673
+14.75
157,503
137,262
ENCLAVE
-17.41
3,477
4,210
+11.6
46,384
41,561
ENCORE
*
3,206
0
*
22,930
0
LACROSSE
-13.71
3,952
4,580
-13.8
38,845
45,066
REGAL
-29.31
1,300
1,839
-37.79
12,767
20,523
VERANO
-8.76
3,688
4,042
+25.46
36,568
29,146
2013 - September - USA - GMC
MODEL
YOY MONTHLY CHANGE
2013
2012
YOY YTD CHANGE
YTD 2013
YTD 2012
GMC TOTAL
-9.74
29,959
33,192
+8.69
333,213
306,558
ACADIA
-9.64
5,565
6,159
+5.58
67,422
63,857
CANYON
-98.56
8
555
-87.95
918
7,618
SAVANA
-18.41
820
1,005
-33.03
11,558
17,259
SIERRA
-1.45
13,438
13,636
+20.94
135,670
112,181
TERRAIN
-4.61
7,141
7,486
+8.42
76,792
70,826
YUKON
-19.51
1,667
2,071
-1.26
18,907
19,149
YUKON XL
-42.11
1,320
2,280
+40.07
21,946
15,668
2013 - September - USA - Cadillac
MODEL
YOY MONTHLY CHANGE
2013
2012
YOY YTD CHANGE
YTD 2013
YTD 2012
CADILLAC TOTAL
+9.93
13,828
12,579
+28.89
133,414
103,512
ATS
+348.28
2,739
611
+4516.53
28,207
611
CTS
-22.4
2,408
3,103
-36.54
24,410
38,465
ESCALADE
+6.02
968
913
-3.67
8,953
9,294
ESCALADE ESV
+6.55
634
595
+2.09
5,916
5,795
ESCALADE EXT
-19.15
152
188
+24.18
1,674
1,348
SRX
-6.39
4,362
4,660
+0.7
40,506
40,224
XTS
+2.35
2,565
2,506
+231.5
23,722
7,156
2013 - September - USA - GM Total
BRAND
YOY MONTHLY CHANGE
2013
2012
YOY YTD CHANGE
YTD 2013
YTD 2012
GM US TOTAL
-10.96
187,195
210,245
+7.61
2,117,459
1,967,715
BUICK
+6.47
15,623
14,673
+14.75
157,503
137,262
CADILLAC
+9.93
13,828
12,579
+28.89
133,414
103,512
CHEVROLET
-14.7
127,785
149,801
+5.14
1,493,329
1,420,383
GMC
-9.74
29,959
33,192
+8.69
333,213
306,558
About The Charts
23 selling days for the September period this year and 25 for last year.
*Totals include discontinued models: Buick Lucerne, Cadillac DTS and STS, Chevrolet Aveo, Cobalt and HHR.
Wow. Tough month for the General. It’s quite understanding given the season, with most of big promotional rebates and sales events having taken place in the summer. At least GM isn’t the only one hurting in terms of losses: VW and Toyota posted somewhat weak results for the month as well. At least Ford managed to pump out a 6% gain, and Chrysler a 1% gain.
You have to look at the numbers to see where the real damage is.
Truck were down at Chevy by 10% and at GMC. People are waiting for the new trucks and also supplies are limited to what GM has on lots of the old ones. That is a big hit there alone.
Also the Cruze is said to have taken a big drop in sales. Not sure why. It may be just due to the fact there are many other new cars just coming out right now in class.
@ Andrew – Actually, other manufacturers have picked up the fleet/rental business that GM has cut back on. The Equinox and Cruze both have limited numbers going to fleet companies (in order to keep higher resale values) and other companies have picked up that business. Plus the new Impala is not available to fleet/rental companies which also helps other companies sell more by picking up that business. So the numbers are even more skewed in favor of these other companies because their fleet numbers are up.
So what I’m saying is that other manufacturer’s numbers are skewed also due to fleet sales; and more than likely skewed even more than GM because GM is cutting back on the rental business while other companies pick up that share (which is affecting their used vehicle market values like it used to do to GM vehicles).
Everywhere I look, rental companies have more Chrysler, Hyundai, Kia, Ford and Nissan products on their fleets than ever before because they can’t get enough GM products like the Equinox and Cruze in any significant numbers. We’ve seen trade in values for the Equinox and Cruze stay higher than ever before because of it, which is helping sell new GM vehicles because trade values are higher.
Personally, I’d like to see retail only numbers from all manufacturers.
One month dip in sales based on what happened last year this time has never seemed to matter to me, now if this continues for a few months then there’s a real problem going on!
Why do they compare last year’s month vs this year’s month? It doesn’t take in consideration of what happen last year and most people don’t remember unless they are reminded which these articles tend to leave out!
Comparing the month figures with the figures of the same month in the previous year helps to even out seasonal variations. People might be more propice to buy a new car in spring than in winter.
Maybe Consumers and Tax Payers Have Found Out That GM Spent 420 Million Dollars Re-Configuring A Plant In Sileo, Mexico To Build The New Chevrolet Silverado And GMC Sierra To Turn Around And Ship Them Back To The States Because GM Wants To Make $12,000 Profit Per Truck And Doesn’t Want To Pay For Health Care For Their U.S. Employees And High Union Wages And Benefits. This Has Got To Be The Biggest Scam On The American Taxpayer Who Bailed-Out GM. Shame On You GM.
Afp, I’m not sure if the ram at the end of your handle means you are a Dodge fan, but anyway, GM is not the first U.S. automaker to build trucks in mexico. Dodge (or is it just Ram now?) has been making a lot of their trucks in mexico for a long time. Just look at how many of their trucks have a VIN starting with a 3.
Comments
Wow. Tough month for the General. It’s quite understanding given the season, with most of big promotional rebates and sales events having taken place in the summer. At least GM isn’t the only one hurting in terms of losses: VW and Toyota posted somewhat weak results for the month as well. At least Ford managed to pump out a 6% gain, and Chrysler a 1% gain.
You have to look at the numbers to see where the real damage is.
Truck were down at Chevy by 10% and at GMC. People are waiting for the new trucks and also supplies are limited to what GM has on lots of the old ones. That is a big hit there alone.
Also the Cruze is said to have taken a big drop in sales. Not sure why. It may be just due to the fact there are many other new cars just coming out right now in class.
Fleet sales down is a good thing, skews overall sales performance if all you look at is totals.
@ Andrew – Actually, other manufacturers have picked up the fleet/rental business that GM has cut back on. The Equinox and Cruze both have limited numbers going to fleet companies (in order to keep higher resale values) and other companies have picked up that business. Plus the new Impala is not available to fleet/rental companies which also helps other companies sell more by picking up that business. So the numbers are even more skewed in favor of these other companies because their fleet numbers are up.
So what I’m saying is that other manufacturer’s numbers are skewed also due to fleet sales; and more than likely skewed even more than GM because GM is cutting back on the rental business while other companies pick up that share (which is affecting their used vehicle market values like it used to do to GM vehicles).
Everywhere I look, rental companies have more Chrysler, Hyundai, Kia, Ford and Nissan products on their fleets than ever before because they can’t get enough GM products like the Equinox and Cruze in any significant numbers. We’ve seen trade in values for the Equinox and Cruze stay higher than ever before because of it, which is helping sell new GM vehicles because trade values are higher.
Personally, I’d like to see retail only numbers from all manufacturers.
@dpach
Yup, exactly what i was implying, just in not so many words! Haha
One month dip in sales based on what happened last year this time has never seemed to matter to me, now if this continues for a few months then there’s a real problem going on!
End of summer, so no surprise, I’d think
Why do they compare last year’s month vs this year’s month? It doesn’t take in consideration of what happen last year and most people don’t remember unless they are reminded which these articles tend to leave out!
Comparing the month figures with the figures of the same month in the previous year helps to even out seasonal variations. People might be more propice to buy a new car in spring than in winter.
How does this info make someone choose when to buy a car?
Long will my car live? Is my car paid off?
Maybe Consumers and Tax Payers Have Found Out That GM Spent 420 Million Dollars Re-Configuring A Plant In Sileo, Mexico To Build The New Chevrolet Silverado And GMC Sierra To Turn Around And Ship Them Back To The States Because GM Wants To Make $12,000 Profit Per Truck And Doesn’t Want To Pay For Health Care For Their U.S. Employees And High Union Wages And Benefits. This Has Got To Be The Biggest Scam On The American Taxpayer Who Bailed-Out GM. Shame On You GM.
Afp, I’m not sure if the ram at the end of your handle means you are a Dodge fan, but anyway, GM is not the first U.S. automaker to build trucks in mexico. Dodge (or is it just Ram now?) has been making a lot of their trucks in mexico for a long time. Just look at how many of their trucks have a VIN starting with a 3.