Sales of GM’s mainstream vehicle brand, Chevrolet, decreased in the United States and increased in Canada in September 2016.
Chevrolet Sales – September 2016 – United States
In the United States, Chevrolet sales decreased 0.3 percent to 170,237 units.
Retail sales were up 0.9 percent, or 1,185 units, year-over-year to 135,448 units, representing 79.6 percent of total Chevrolet sales. That compares to 134,263 retail sales in September 2015, which represented 78.7 percent of total Chevrolet sales. The continued focus on profitable retail sales by GM North America enabled Chevrolet to gain 0.3 percentage points of retail market share in September, bringing its retail share to 11 percent.
In fact, Chevrolet has gained retail market share in eight out of nine months this year and remains the industry’s fastest-growing full-line brand. September 2016 represented the brand’s best September and year-to-date retail sales performance since 2007.
Fleet sales were down 4.5 percent, or 1,623 units, year-over-year to 34,789 units, representing 20.4 percent of total Chevrolet sales for the month. That compares to 36,412 fleet sales in September 2015, which represented 21.3 percent of total Chevrolet sales.
Chevrolet Sales Summary - September 2016 - USA
Sales | Sales Mix | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 170,237 | 170,675 | -0.3% | -438 | 100.0% | 100.0% | 0% |
Sale Type | September 2016 | September 2015 | September 2016 / September 2015 | September 2016 - September 2015 | September 2016 | September 2015 | September 2016 - September 2015 |
Retail | 135,448 | 134,263 | +0.9% | +1,185 | 79.6% | 78.7% | +0.8% |
Fleet | 34,789 | 36,412 | -4.5% | -1,623 | 20.4% | 21.3% | -0.8% |
Individual model sales performance was as follows:
- Chevrolet Camaro sales increased 25.37 percent to 6,577 units
- Chevrolet Caprice sales decreased 94.84 percent to 8 units
- Commercial Truck sales, comprised of Chevrolet City Express sales and Chevrolet Low Cab Forward sales, totaled 296 units
- Chevrolet Colorado sales increased 41.57 percent to 10,383 units, its best September since 2004
- Chevrolet Corvette sales increased 9.99 percent to 2,829 units, its best September since 2006
- Chevrolet Cruze sales increased 8.44 percent to 15,216 units
- Chevrolet Equinox sales decreased 29.14 percent to 15,261 units
- Chevrolet Express sales decreased 15.05 percent to 5,663 units
- Chevrolet Impala sales decreased 26.07 percent to 6,919 units
- Chevrolet Malibu sales increased 26.1 percent to 21,521 units, its best September since 1980
- Chevrolet SS sales decreased 97.75 percent to 5 units
- Chevrolet Silverado sales decreased 15.53 percent to 45,380 units
- Chevrolet Sonic sales increased 1.88 percent to 3,851 units
- Chevrolet Spark sales decreased 6.24 percent to 2,223 units
- The Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe had their best September since 2007:
- Chevrolet Suburban sales increased 58.34 percent to 5,575 units
- Chevrolet Tahoe sales increased 64.26 percent to 10,051 units
- Chevrolet Traverse sales decreased 10.56 percent to 7,922 units
- Chevrolet Trax sales increased 38.86 percent to 8,526 units
- Chevrolet Volt sales increased 114.01 percent to 2,031 units
Retail sales performance notes:
- Malibu had its best September since 1980 and year-to-date since 1981
- Corvette had its best September since 2006
- Tahoe and Suburban had their best September since 2007
- Colorado had its best September since 2004
Sales Results - September 2016 - USA - Chevrolet
MODEL | SEP 2016 / SEP 2015 | SEPTEMBER 2016 | SEPTEMBER 2015 | YTD 2016 / YTD 2015 | YTD 2016 | YTD 2015 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CAMARO | +25.37% | 6,577 | 5,246 | -11.39% | 54,535 | 61,544 |
CAPRICE | -94.84% | 8 | 155 | -56.04% | 560 | 1,274 |
COLORADO | +41.57% | 10,383 | 7,334 | +26.59% | 80,047 | 63,232 |
COMMERCIAL TRUCK | * | 296 | * | * | 5,750 | * |
CORVETTE | +9.99% | 2,829 | 2,572 | -13.94% | 22,719 | 26,398 |
CRUZE | +8.44% | 15,216 | 14,032 | -22.45% | 138,012 | 177,970 |
EQUINOX | -29.14% | 15,261 | 21,537 | -18.83% | 173,736 | 214,042 |
EXPRESS | -15.05% | 5,663 | 6,666 | +12.54% | 49,751 | 44,208 |
IMPALA | -26.07% | 6,919 | 9,359 | -13.37% | 74,038 | 85,466 |
MALIBU | +26.10% | 21,521 | 17,066 | +15.78% | 170,389 | 147,161 |
SILVERADO | -15.53% | 45,380 | 53,725 | -3.48% | 425,556 | 440,904 |
SONIC | +1.88% | 3,851 | 3,780 | -18.65% | 41,109 | 50,535 |
SPARK | -6.24% | 2,223 | 2,371 | -0.57% | 27,681 | 27,839 |
SS | -97.75% | 5 | 222 | -11.07% | 2,153 | 2,421 |
SUBURBAN | +58.34% | 5,575 | 3,521 | +9.99% | 39,282 | 35,715 |
TAHOE | +64.26% | 10,051 | 6,119 | +8.14% | 70,000 | 64,728 |
TRAVERSE | -10.56% | 7,922 | 8,857 | -7.34% | 86,142 | 92,963 |
TRAX | +38.86% | 8,526 | 6,140 | +25.72% | 54,124 | 43,051 |
VOLT | +114.01% | 2,031 | 949 | +76.23% | 16,326 | 9,264 |
CHEVROLET TOTAL | -0.26% | 170,237 | 170,675 | -4.03% | 1,531,912 | 1,596,182 |
Chevrolet Sales – September 2016 – Canada
In Canada, Chevrolet sales increased 5.2 percent to 14,717 units. Individual model sales performance was as follows:
- Chevrolet Camaro sales increased 104.76 percent to 258 units
- Chevrolet City Express sales decreased 51.55 percent to 47 units
- Chevrolet Colorado sales increased 58.08 percent to 626 units
- Chevrolet Corvette sales increased 158.33 percent to 248 units
- Chevrolet Cruze sales increased 1.98 percent to 2,929 units
- Chevrolet Equinox sales decreased 12.74 percent to 1,637 units
- Chevrolet Express sales decreased 18.24 percent to 354 units
- Chevrolet Impala sales decreased 43.33 percent to 170 units
- Chevrolet Malibu sales increased 83.47 percent to 1,554 units
- Chevrolet Orlando sales totaled 0 units
- Chevrolet Silverado sales decreased 9.06 percent to 3,984 units
- Chevrolet Sonic sales decreased 43.09 percent to 276 units
- Chevrolet Spark sales increased 365.63 percent to 596 units
- Chevrolet Suburban sales decreased 29.13 percent to 146 units
- Chevrolet Tahoe sales increased 38.36 percent to 321 units
- Chevrolet Traverse sales decreased 14.14 percent to 346 units
- Chevrolet Trax sales decreased 20.99 percent to 779 units
- Chevrolet Volt sales increased 253.97 percent to 446 units
Sales Results - September 2016 - Canada - Chevrolet
MODEL | SEP 2016 / SEP 2015 | SEPTEMBER 2016 | SEPTEMBER 2015 | YTD 2016 / YTD 2015 | YTD 2016 | YTD 2015 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CAMARO | +104.76% | 258 | 126 | -3.20% | 2,272 | 2,347 |
CITY EXPRESS | -51.55% | 47 | 97 | -13.98% | 560 | 651 |
COLORADO | +58.08% | 626 | 396 | +15.91% | 4,561 | 3,935 |
CORVETTE | +158.33% | 248 | 96 | -4.12% | 1,491 | 1,555 |
CRUZE | +1.98% | 2,929 | 2,872 | -21.41% | 19,174 | 24,399 |
EQUINOX | -12.74% | 1,637 | 1,876 | -7.06% | 13,748 | 14,792 |
EXPRESS | -18.24% | 354 | 433 | +23.98% | 2,725 | 2,198 |
IMPALA | -43.33% | 170 | 300 | +8.73% | 2,218 | 2,040 |
MALIBU | +83.47% | 1,554 | 847 | +18.54% | 9,131 | 7,703 |
ORLANDO | * | 0 | 0 | -93.33% | 2 | 30 |
SILVERADO | -9.06% | 3,984 | 4,381 | -0.30% | 34,947 | 35,051 |
SONIC | -43.09% | 276 | 485 | -23.20% | 3,539 | 4,608 |
SPARK | +365.63% | 596 | 128 | +107.01% | 2,834 | 1,369 |
SUBURBAN | -29.13% | 146 | 206 | +47.95% | 1,370 | 926 |
TAHOE | +38.36% | 321 | 232 | +17.84% | 2,081 | 1,766 |
TRAVERSE | -14.14% | 346 | 403 | +7.23% | 3,353 | 3,127 |
TRAX | -20.99% | 779 | 986 | +15.98% | 6,779 | 5,845 |
VOLT | +253.97% | 446 | 126 | +193.09% | 2,544 | 868 |
CHEVROLET TOTAL | +5.20% | 14,717 | 13,990 | +0.10% | 113,329 | 113,211 |
About The Numbers
- There were 25 selling days in September 2016 and 25 selling days in September 2015
Further Reading & Sales Reporting
- Global GM news
- GM sales results:
- September 2016 GM sales results (U.S.)
- September 2016 Cadillac sales results
- September 2016 Buick sales results
- September 2016 GMC sales results
- September 2016 GM China sales results
- September 2016 GM Canada sales results
- Global September 2016 Cadillac sales results
- September 2016 GM sales results (U.S.)
Comments
This drop in truck sales should have GM worried seeing as Ram isn’t exactly new or offering something special. Camaro either needs heavier promo or a quickie Avista-influenced refresh.
Cruze is under performing! Civic stole it’s thunder due to it looking near mid sized. Will Cruze be a bottom feeder?
I’ll offer a contrarian take:
1. The “drop” in Silverado sales is also seen at Ford with its F-Series (link below). The reason? FCA is king of the incentive mountain and is pretty much giving Rams away. Not so at GM (or Ford).
http://fordauthority.com/2016/10/ford-motor-company-sales-numbers-figures-results-september-2016/
2. Camaro is Camaro and is doing just fine, especially with the few incentives in September. Avista is a Buick concept quite distant from production. What the Camaro “needs” is to be more in line with Mustang pricing or incentives. Even so, Camaro outsold Mustang in September.
3. What are you basing your analysis on in saying that Cruze is “underperforming”? The new Civic is no doubt a good product, and will continue to do well based on name/reputation alone. It’s by no means a thunder-thief. I don’t think Chevy’s objective is to “chase” Civic, but instead is to continue building Chevy’s reputation in the mainstream compact segment, as the Cruze has been doing.
All in all, Chevy cut 1,600 retail sales *while* gaining 1800 retail units. That is very difficult to do. FCA and (to a lesser extent) Ford would die to be able to accomplish that pretty much across any vehicle line. Yet some are still not content.
Cruze not being in the top 20, considering it has been GM NA’s most popular product, is troublesome. Sales aren’t bad at 15,000 plus but with a new model Cruze should be out performing the overall segment. It isn’t. (Malibu is up even though midsizers are going through a similar decline in compacts).
As for pick ups, Ram has never pushed Chevrolet into third place regardless of incentives. GMC is down, too. Since 2008 GM has steadily lost truck market share, and Ram will no doubt build up some loyalty regardless of incentives. FCA is building Ram into a real contender for the first time in a generation.
Last generation Camaro consistently bested Mustang in sales so Camaro at 50 performing so poorly is reason for concern. Evolutionary design has been a failure! Once upon a time Pontiac Firebird aided sales; in 2016, this responsibility should fall to Buick with an Avista-like variant.
GM will continue to thrive in NA with so much new product flooding showrooms. My main concern is that GM is too tied to evolutionary design even when not presiding as segment leader (Cruze, ‘Nox, Camaro, Silverado). Nonetheless, you are correct about fleet sales being down.
The Cruze *was* GMNA’s most popular vehicle during a time that the automaker was front-loading fleet sales to daily rental firms. The Equinox has taken over that role, and has been that way for a while now, second only to Silverado. When GM began to implement the strategy of substantially reducing daily rental deliveries, Cruze sales started to slip. 2016 is not the first year that GM has been doing this, it just happens to be the one with the biggest changes.
Neither you nor I can not, with complete certainty, conclude whether or not the Cruze is or isn’t outperforming its segment based on the numbers available above, since we simply do not know the breakdown of fleet vs. daily rental fleet vs. retail. The same goes for GM’s competitors, which share even less information than GM does when it comes to the topic of sales segmentation. That said, GM’s (for the most part) exit from the daily rental firm space has been taken up by someone else — mostly FCA, Ford, and Nissan. It’s a stupid way to gain volume, as it adds nothing to the bottom line. In fact, sometimes it detracts from it.
As for pickups, Ram has — in fact — pushed Silverado down into third before. Here’s one example from March 2014:
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2014/04/ram-outsells-chevy-silverado-during-march-2014/
Once again, FCA is giving away its trucks (and most other vehicles) left and right. If you actually look at the cross-sale report data, you will see that incentives do next to nothing for loyalty, since incentive-based purchases go to the people who are price sensitive more so than they are brand sensitive. They are shopping for “a truck”, not for a “truck from a certain brand” and will always take the least expensive option. To those people, if you offered them a new Wuling for $5,000 out the door, they would buy it over the Silverado, Sierra, Ram, F-Series, Tundra or Titan, despite the Wuling being entirely uncompetitive.
What FCA is doing is giving its vehicles away, pretty much across the board. It’s also one of the automakers filling the void left by GM in the daily rental space. It’s not “building” much of anything, especially loyalty, since its strategy is very similar to that of old GM back in the 90s — overproduce because it’s cheap TODAY, dump incentives because it’s expensive TOMORROW.
Much has been said about Camaro sales. If I may be sold bold, here’s the definitive report on that:
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2016/08/what-chevrolet-says-about-slipping-sixth-gen-camaro-sales/
The bottom line is that higher price (for the purpose of fatter margins), a reduction in incentives, and a trimming of sales to daily rental fleets is causing Camaro to “trail” Mustang in cumulative deliveries. But I strongly suspect that’s not the case when it comes to retail sales.
To get an idea of just how big the rental car market is for pony cars, take a look at the 32% decrease in Mustang sales for September 2016:
http://fordauthority.com/2016/10/ford-motor-company-sales-numbers-figures-results-september-2016/
Why so red? Because Ford front-loaded all of its daily rental deliveries into the first half of the year. Retail demand for the Mustang has been steady (according to national cross-sale reporting), so the whopping 32% drop is explained by nearly a 100% decrease in rental fleet sales volume.
All in all, we can talk about Chevy product and its competitiveness (or lack thereof) on a per-segment basis, and that’s a different topic altogether. Overall, I tend to agree that Chevrolet can be more competitive in certain segments. But the reality is that Chevy is selling quite well, and is doing so without massively irresponsible incentives (FCA) or reliance on rental fleet sales (FCA, Ford, Nissan).
As a businessman, I’d much rather be in GM’s position of being responsible by focusing on profitable sales, while continuing to increase the competitiveness of my products. And I’d much rather be able to turn a profit even if the industry tanks 40%, than face massive issues as FCA given the same scenario:
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2016/03/general-motors-north-america-reduces-break-even-point-says-alan-batey/
Sadly I tend to agree. Chevrolet isn’t setting the world on fire in the full size truck realm and really hasn’t for a long time IMO. They need a better design, more like the 67-72’s with clean lines like Ram and Ford have. I love the Colorado though, particularly in high end trim. I’ve said from day 1 that the Avista should have been the new Camaro. It’s reminiscent of the split bumper 2nd gen and just gorgeous yet mean. A perfect Chevrolet muscle car. WHO in the world would even bother looking at a Mustang or Challenger if the Avista/Camaro was at your local Chevrolet dealer?? The answer is very few. And the Cruze has been disappointing to me since it’s debut. The old one just needed modernized. It had that perfect mini BMW look about it. Give it a coupe, AWD option and luxury sport options and it would have set the world on fire. It seems GM in only interested in Buick and some GMC stuff. The upcoming Regal options should have been Cruze/Malibu options.
Chevrolet is really getting the short end of the stick aside from the Corvette. And if they take Corvette away from Chevrolet as rumored, I’m not sure what Chevrolet really has left. I’ve been a Chevrolet man my whole life but I’m finding less and less reason to stay. It’s like do I become a Buick/GMC guy now? Or do I become a Ford man? I really find Ford more enticing than Chevrolet now but like Buick, I just can’t quite bring myself to park a Ford in my garage. The thought makes my head spin… lol
Matt-I totally agree! I’ve always favored GM which is of four my generation: I’m 40 yet always considered GM (until 2008) to be the king of variety…until now.
Buick and GMC are pure profit as they are essentially tweaked, perfected Chevrolet products paid for via Europe and China.
Chevrolet had been reduced to a mere value brand competing with Toyota as they, too, are a budget-minded brand careful not to step into premium Lexus space.
Aside from Impala, my love affair with Chevy is on hold. Seeing as I hate Ford, on the rental lots I’ve favored FCA product–both Dart and 200, being based on Alfa, have world class handling and braking and 300 is a powerful beast. I want to say this about Chevrolet…but can’t, and hate having to pay more for a Buick seeing as such features should always be standard. Luckily Chevrolet it’s high quality and reliable but I’m not if this is enough for sales dominance in 2016 when do many options exist.
GM is big enough for a strong Chevrolet and a luxury Buick and Cadillac. Marry Barra just needs to make it happen by further elevating Buich so to make space for Chevy.
Oh, I love the Impala. Good call on that! There was an Impala coupe picture I saw somewhere and I was in awe. It was My kind of Chevrolet! As is, if it was an AWD/RWD car it would be in my garage. Just beautiful. GM has no clue who their Chevrolet customers are.
To your other point, I see no reason why they can’t have soft luxury (Buick) and sport luxury (Cadillac) coexist. Even in the same Cadillac/Buick dealership IMHO.. There’s zero reason to handicap and damage Chevrolet to accomplish that.
As a side note, when I looked at the Trax and Encore the other night I could have sworn the little Chevy van they had was the same as our Nissan’s at work. I get online to check it out and yep. It’s like what in the world is up at Ren Cen? Chevrolet taking a back seat to Ford? Rebadging Nissan’s of all things? This isn’t the company I once knew.
People need to consider all the numbers. Yes, the Silverado is down about 15,000 units YTD. BUT they have sold 17,000 more Colorados. Most of the Colorado buyers would have bought a Silverado had the Colorado not been available. Everyone with a brain knew the full size trucks would drop in sales a bit when the mid size twins became available. Wait until the new Ranger is available and see what happens to full size F150 sales. Although I think Ford will call it the F100 Ranger just so they can keep its sales number in the total F-series numbers so they don’t lose their “50 yrs being #1” sales pitch.
That aside, I think its the interiors where GM is losing some people. The dash is very smooth/rounded with one main color – black. There’s some dark grey plastic trim but besides the High Country interiors, there is no flashiness to them. They need to have a few features added like rear vent ducts on the rear of the console with buckets, rear outboard heated seats available, and a surround camera from factory (not aftermarket like they have come up with). But overall they need to add some varying textures and edges to the interior like Ram and Ford have done.
Good point above on Colorado cannibalizing Silverado sales. Bound to happen because the mid-size pick-up segment was a void that needed to be filled and buyers were taking full size trucks begrudgingly.
Chevrolet and GM as a whole is doing fine I believe. The Equinox and Traverse are down but 2017 is an abbreviated model year for the Theta and Lambdas … the new Equinox is already being shown, the Traverse has been spied … by the end of winter we’re going to see the new vehicles hitting the showrooms. Because these designs are so old (even though they’re still not bad) it’s best to wind down those inventories at dealerships because once the new ones are available, may as well anchor the old ones to the showroom floor … or make like FCA and discount them 30%.