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General Motors U.S. Sales Up 4.2 Percent To 237,388 Units In February 2017

General Motors reported 237,388 new vehicle deliveries in February 2017, a 4.2 percent increase compared to February 2016. Sales were down at Buick and Cadillac, and up at Chevrolet and GMC.

General Motors sold 188,715 vehicles in February to individual or “retail” customers in the U.S., an increase of 4.9 percent from February 2016 levels. Due to record sales of crossovers, large SUVs and pickups during the month, GM’s retail market share increased more than one-half percentage point compared to a year ago while Average Transaction Prices (ATPs), which reflect what customers pay after sales incentives, set a new February record.

“Our retail-focused go-to-market strategy is delivering robust results,” said Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president, Sales Operations. “All of our brands grew their average transaction prices by healthy amounts, and we delivered solid growth in the industry’s fastest-growing and most profitable segments.”

Sales Summary - February 2017 - General Motors - USA

SalesSales Mix
Total237,388227,825+4.2%+9,563100.0%100.0%
Sale TypeFebruary 2017February 2016February 2017 / February 2016February 2017 - February 2016February 2017February 2016
Retail188,715179,958+4.9%+8,75779.5%79.0%
Fleet48,67347,867+1.7%+80620.5%21.0%

In the first two months of 2017, GM U.S. sales have increased 0.4 percent to 433,297 units.

GM U.S. February 2017 Sales Notes

General Motors sales overview:

Sale types:

  • Total sales increased 4 percent to 237,388 units compared to an estimated 1 percent decline for the industry, giving GM a market share of 17.5 percent, an increase of 0.9 percentage points
  • Retail sales increased 4.9 percent or 8,757 vehicles to 188,715 units compared to no retail sales volume change for the industry, equating to a retail market share of 17.7 percent, an increase of 0.7 percentage points. GM February retail sales accounted for 79.5 percent of total sales:
    • Chevrolet retail sales increased 2.8 percent to 125,207 units
    • GMC retail sales increased 15.6 percent to 38,417 units
    • Buick retail sales increased 8.1 percent to 15,480 units
    • Cadillac retail sales decreased 9.1 percent to 9,611 units
    • Small business deliveries, which are included in retail sales, were up 13 percent drive by a 22 percent increase in full-size pickup trucks and a 30 percent increase in large vans
  • Fleet sales increased 1.7 percent or 806 units to 48,673 units, accounting for 20.5 percent of total sales:
    • Government deliveries were up 4 percent
    • Daily rental deliveries were down 2 percent, as planned
    • Commercial deliveries increased 7 percent, making the best February Commercial sales performance since 2008, driven by an 11 percent increase in pickup truck sales and a 75 percent increase in Chevrolet Malibu sales

Average Transaction Prices (ATPs) & Incentive Spending:

  • ATPs based on J.D. Power PIN estimates:
    • GM’s ATPs, which reflect retail transaction prices after sales incentives, rose $570 per unit to $34,900, a new February record.
    • Three years of J.D. Power PIN data shows that GM has led the industry in ATPs in 35 of 36 months through February
  • GM internal data shows that incentive spending was essentially flat year-over-year, which is in sharp contrast to recently-published PIN estimates that noted an increase of 2.7 percentage points to 15 percent of ATP.
  • GM was the only domestic automaker and one of only two full-line automakers to reduce incentives as a percentage of ATP, with spending decreased 0.3 points to 12.7 percent, while the industry average was 12.3 percent, up 1.3 points.

Inventory:

  • February month-end inventory was 900,681 units for a 91-day supply:
    • An increase of 22,091 units from the 878,590 units at the end of January 2017
    • A decrease of 17 days from the 108 days supply at the end of January 2017

SAAR:

  • In February 2017, GM estimates that the seasonally adjusted annual selling rate (SAAR) for light vehicles was approximately 17.5 million units and 17.5 million units for 2017 calendar-year-to-date.

Chevrolet sales increased 3.4 percent to 164,095 units:

Cadillac sales decreased 8.6 percent to 10,823 units:

Buick sales decreased 9.4 percent to 16,131 units:

GMC sales increased 17.2 percent to 46,339 units:

Sales Results - February 2017 - USA - Chevrolet

MODELFEB 2017 / FEB 2016FEBRUARY 2017FEBRUARY 2016YTD 2017 / YTD 2016 YTD 2017YTD 2016
BOLT EV* 952**2,114 *
CAMARO-24.27% 4,6586,151-29.53%8,246 11,702
CAPRICE-64.79% 2571-7.61%85 92
COLORADO+1.69% 7,5197,394+7.98%13,932 12,902
COMMERCIAL TRUCK* 684**1,166 *
CORVETTE-1.65% 2,0812,116-7.55%3,344 3,617
CRUZE+18.23% 15,36712,998+29.08%35,316 27,360
EQUINOX+13.31% 22,46419,825+4.27%40,038 38,399
EXPRESS+21.97% 5,2584,311+32.61%9,580 7,224
IMPALA-21.67% 7,1659,147-31.18%13,137 19,089
MALIBU-42.08% 12,40621,418-42.53%20,783 36,164
SILVERADO+17.08% 50,50443,136+6.24%86,057 80,999
SONIC-49.54% 2,1404,241-46.52%4,235 7,919
SPARK+21.47% 2,1391,761+33.03%3,834 2,882
SS+50.30% 248165+23.32%312 253
SUBURBAN+9.43% 3,9223,584+39.42%9,556 6,854
TAHOE+17.96% 7,6606,494+6.68%13,541 12,693
TRAVERSE+14.40% 10,4779,158+15.60%18,695 16,172
TRAX+37.22% 6,6064,814+38.59%11,863 8,560
VOLT+61.63% 1,8201,126+61.69%3,431 2,122
CHEVROLET TOTAL+3.44% 164,095158,644+0.95%299,265 296,447

Sales Results - February 2017 - USA - Cadillac

MODELFEB 2017 / FEB 2016FEBRUARY 2017FEBRUARY 2016YTD 2017 / YTD 2016 YTD 2017YTD 2016
ATS-36.83% 1,0051,591-25.55%1,979 2,658
CT6* 802**1,436 *
CTS-37.51% 9131,461-35.17%1,604 2,474
ELR-100.00% 091-98.10%3 158
ESCALADE-21.21% 1,4341,820-12.96%2,652 3,047
ESCALADE ESV-3.34% 1,0121,047+9.28%1,991 1,822
SRX-99.48% 214,017-99.00%88 8,795
XT5* 4,291**8,174 *
XTS-25.81% 1,3451,813-11.91%3,194 3,626
CADILLAC TOTAL-8.59% 10,82311,840-6.46%21,121 22,580

Sales Results - February 2017 - USA - Buick

MODELFEB 2017 / FEB 2016FEBRUARY 2017FEBRUARY 2016YTD 2017 / YTD 2016 YTD 2017YTD 2016
CASCADA+27.68% 632495+61.92%944 583
ENCLAVE-27.94% 2,9734,126-27.54%5,665 7,818
ENCORE+11.15% 6,5285,873+9.20%11,786 10,793
ENVISION* 3,139**5,326 *
LACROSSE-49.00% 1,3482,643-60.37%2,655 6,700
REGAL-36.38% 1,0231,608-53.67%1,974 4,261
VERANO-84.08% 4883,066-84.84%898 5,925
BUICK TOTAL-9.43% 16,13117,811-18.94%29,248 36,080

Sales Results - February 2017 - USA - GMC

MODELFEB 2017 / FEB 2016FEBRUARY 2017FEBRUARY 2016YTD 2017 / YTD 2016 YTD 2017YTD 2016
ACADIA+25.95% 8,7816,972+43.08%17,680 12,357
CANYON+22.05% 2,9782,440+6.94%5,037 4,710
SAVANA+33.55% 1,8431,380+6.88%3,078 2,880
SIERRA+15.89% 17,61815,202+5.97%31,350 29,583
TERRAIN+6.69% 8,7838,232-11.97%15,024 17,067
YUKON+22.59% 3,7073,024+21.39%6,787 5,591
YUKON XL+15.31% 2,6292,280+10.11%4,707 4,275
GMC TOTAL+17.22% 46,33939,530+9.42%83,663 76,463

Sales Results - February 2017 - USA - GM Totals

BRANDFEB 2017 / FEB 2016FEBRUARY 2017FEBRUARY 2016YTD 2017 / YTD 2016 YTD 2017YTD 2016
CHEVROLET TOTAL+3.44% 164,095158,644+0.95%299,265 296,447
CADILLAC TOTAL-8.59% 10,82311,840-6.46%21,121 22,580
BUICK TOTAL-9.43% 16,13117,811-18.94%29,248 36,080
GMC TOTAL+17.22% 46,33939,530+9.42%83,663 76,463
GM USA TOTAL+4.20% 237,388227,825+0.40%433,297 431,570

About The Numbers

  • All percent change figures compared to February 2016, except as noted
  • There were 24 selling days in February 2017 and 24 selling days in February 2016
  • Starting in September 2016, GM began reporting sales of the Chevrolet City Express and Low Cab Forward on a single line entitled Commercial Truck

Further Reading & Sales Reporting

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Comments

  1. Now until March 13th. 20% OFF MSRP on 2017 Chevy SS Sedans! Get them while they last!

    I can’t believe it. I just got mine 10 days ago 🙁

    Reply
  2. Malibu should be doing better given it’s newness. The midsized segment it’s down but Malibu should be benefiting from a discontinued 200, a blah Altima and an aging Fusion.
    Buick has a nice line up but as a middle brand has a built in ceiling. New Regal is nice than Continental, IS, ATS but will never steal the show unless it sells cheap like Encore.

    Reply
    1. Is assume by “new Regal” you mean the new LaCrosse? If so, there needs to be a deep dive into why that has been a complete sales dud after a completely new renovation. Is it simply that “near premium” sedans are a basically a dead market? Continental sales were only around 1,100, so that’s not doing any better.

      One thing I’ve mentioned before: they do not seem to market this car, at all. I can’t recall seeing one ad — in print, on TV, or even online — for it. Do people even know this car exists?

      And I came across this news release from a dealer yesterday: they compare the LaCrosse with the Accord! The LaCrosse is $5-8,000 more expensive than the Accord — why is that the comparison? Why are they talking down their own car? Buick LaCrosse should be going against, favorably, Infiniti, Acura, Volvo, Kia (Cadenza) and Lincoln — not a freaking Honda Accord.
      http://www.palmengm.com/clp-2017-buick-lacrosse-vs-2017-honda-accord?utm_source=prnewswire&utm_campaign=27feb2017&utm_medium=press_release

      Reply
  3. Interesting that Bolt sales went down. Is that due to delivery issues or the fact that January was front-loaded?

    Cadillac…uggh. The XT5 is doing pretty well, I guess.

    What the heck is going on with GMC? Did they have some super sales event or something? Those sales figures are across-the-baord impressive, unless they had some super, duper discounting.

    Reply
    1. GMC: discounting and selling only trucks caused the spike in sales.

      Cadillac: what to say? Thought CT6 would be a little better. Also the Escalades.
      ATS, CTS and XTS did not surprise. XT5 did well though.

      Chevrolet: deep discounting especially on Silverado and cars.

      Buick: a new Enclave and Regal will be welcomed when they arrive. Buick will be fine though.

      Reply
  4. Cadillac isn’t uggh, it is sweat time! Even the regular Escalade had a tough month.

    Reply
    1. Not yet for sweat time.
      Their product mix is still sedan focussed which is a death sentence in today’s market.
      If they are still struggling after the arrival of the XT3 and XT7 then panic should set in.

      Reply
  5. Are we starting to see the beginning of a sales slump for the industry . If you take away the big SUV’s and trucks nothing else is looking very positive . GMC is definitely doing very well with the new Acadia , that seem to take some time t gain traction . Even the old Terrain sold as many units as the new Acadia . I have said it before but with the Terrain its styling is so different from the rest in its segment where if you took the badges off of some of them most people wouldn’t be able to tell what company they came from ( except Lexus ) .
    Buick must be dumb-founded as to the poor reception for its new LaCrosse . like what others have said I have not seen any ads promoting their flagship except for current deals on leasing . And it shows at dealerships near me that have rows of them that they didn’t even brush the snow off of them after our last snow storm .
    Cadillac NEEDS new product to sell , XT5 seems to have hit the wall and CT6 is worse and I don’t believe its all because its a car and not an SUV . The sell imposed hiatus is really hurting sales of their ageing portfolio .

    Reply

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