GM Retail Sales Outpaced The Industry In 2017
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Cumulative U.S. GM sales decreased 1.3 percent to 3,002,241 units during the 2017 calendar year. Of these, 2,424,419 units were retail sales – typically the sale type that is the most lucrative for and valued by automakers. But even though nearly 2.5 million retail car sales is a solid figure, it still represents a decrease of 0.9 percent (or 22,163 units) compared to GM’s retail sales in calendar year 2016. So, a drop in total and retail sales typically paints a doom and gloom scenario, but not this time.
In this case, the 0.9 percent drop in GM retail sales is actually good news, since the overall industry saw retail deliveries slip about 2 percent in 2017. As such, GM retail sales actually outperformed the industry in 2017.
Sales Summary - 2017 Calendar Year - General Motors - USA
| Sales | Sales Mix | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 560,687 | 546,628 | +2.6% | +14,059 | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| Sale Type | 2017 | 2016 | 2017 / 2016 | 2017 - 2016 | 2017 | 2016 |
| Retail | 477,980 | 474,319 | +0.8% | +3,661 | 85.2% | 86.8% |
| Fleet | 82,707 | 72,309 | +14.4% | +10,398 | 14.8% | 13.2% |
Crossovers drove GM’s gains at the retail level. According to J.D. Power PIN figures, the automaker grew its retail share of the crossover market 1.6 percentage points to 13.1 percent – more than any other automaker. In fact, the only other major automaker to gain retail share was up less than one point.
GM retail sales performance by brand for 2017 calendar year include:
- Chevrolet retail sales decreased 1.0 percent to 1,605,795 units
- Chevrolet became the industry’s fastest-growing crossover brand in 2017 based on retail market share, with the all-new 2018 Equinox and 2018 Traverse gaining more than one point of share in their respective segments.
- Equinox retail deliveries increased 21 percent
- Traverse retail deliveries increased 31 percent
- Trax retail deliveries increased 5 percent
- Cadillac retail sales decreased 8.8 percent to 135,350 units
- Cadillac retail crossover deliveries increased 9 percent thanks to the brand’s only crossover, the XT5
- GMC retail sales increased 0.8 percent to 477,980 units
- Buick retail sales increased 1.6 percent to 205,294 units
- Crossovers accounted for more than 80 percent of Buick’s retail deliveries, compared with about two-thirds in 2016
- Retail crossover sales for the brand were up 26 percent year over year
- Enclave retail sales increased 14 percent
- Encore retail sales increased 8 percent
- Envision retail sales increased 167 percent
About The Numbers
- All percent change figures compared to GM 2016 sales, except as noted
- 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
- GM news
- Running GM sales results
- Running Chevrolet sales results
- Running Cadillac sales results
- Running Buick sales results
- Running GMC sales results
- GM incentives and offers
- 2017 GM sales results
- U.S. GM 2017 sales results
- U.S. 2017 Chevrolet sales results
- U.S. 2017 Cadillac sales results
- U.S. 2017 Buick sales results
- U.S 2017 GMC sales results
- GM Canada 2017 sales results
- Canada 2017 Chevrolet sales results
- Canada 2017 Cadillac sales results
- Canada 2017 Buick sales results
- Canada 2017 GMC sales results
- GM China 2017 sales results
- Global 2017 Cadillac sales results
- U.S. GM 2017 sales results
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“Crossovers accounted for more than 80 percent of Buick’s retail deliveries, compared with about two-thirds in 2016.”
SALESMAN ON BUICK FLOOR: Hey, I can offer you a deal on a new LaCrosse
CUSTOMER: Thanks, but I’m looking at an Enclave
SALESMAN ON BUICK FLOOR: Listen. I can practically give you a LaCrosse
CUSTOMER: I’m really in an SUV mood, but thanks
SALESMAN ON BUICK FLOOR: Tell you what: you pay the taxes and I’ll give you a LaCrosse
CUSTOMER: Nope
SALESMAN ON BUICK FLOOR: I’ll pay the taxes and I’ll still give you the damn thing
CUSTOMER: Nope
SALESMAN ON BUICK FLOOR: I’ll throw in a Trax
CUSTOMER: Hmm…
It sucks how people disregard sedans. I’m one of the few drivers to enjoy a low driving position like Regal or Chrysler 200.
I actually hate SUV and crossovers.
I am in the same boat too.
As far as I am concerned automakers shrank the sedan to a point that non of us can transport our family and their bags forcing many of us to opt for an SUV.
However, I for one I went out and bought 2 Cadillac Devils 2005 and 1 buick Park Avenue 2005 hoping that one they die automakers will come back to their senses and start producing large sedans again.
ATP and profits?
This article just shows you how great a company GM is right now! GM could lead the sales crown in just about every catagory if they sold at this level retain and expanded the rental sales.
The problem is that they are market limited. They really need to return to Europe… and find a way to win there… which their current and future product would help in doing.
I doubt their current product line up will sell well in Europe and Asia.
Asians and Europeans have a slightly different taste and GM hasnt identified the tastes of these 2 markets yet.
Asia is a big place, and China accounts for an overwhelming majority of Asian automotove sales volume. GM is winning big time in China… so there’s Asia, for ya.
Furthermore, Chevy is actually doing well in a few Asian markets, south as South Korea. It’s not doing well in ASEAN markets due to a perception gap with Toyota, Isuzu. Nissan and Honda that’s not entirely based on the value, content or actual product characteristics.
As for Europe: I tend to agree that Chevy’s current lineup wouldn’t help it much in that market against VW, PSA…. but that can be resolved with one generation of vehicles, or even a midcycle enhancement, for most models, that addresses equipment by trim level, Diesel engines, and more premium materials.
It’s important to paint the context here: Chevy didn’t do great in Europe previously because it sold terrible, horrible rebadged Daewoo models. Not only did they suck on a product basis, this quick and dirty product strategy cost the brand its image once the region, big time. By comparison, today’s Chevy models that would be sold in Europe would be global and significantly better on an actual product basis.
Finally: let’s not forget that most Opel models sold in Europe have a Chevy variant, and those Opels sell decently, if not better. So it would stand to reason that, with proper marketing and equipment/trim configurations, Chevy would actually have a good chance in Europe.
But there’s a problem with retaining and expanding rental. Number one out doesnt make you more profitable, although volume would increase the profit margins would be they because the don’t sale those vehicles at market price.
Number two it hurts resale value, and we see as GM has cut rental, Chevrolets resale value has increased. It may be beneficial for volume but its not going to bring in what you need for the bottom line. That’s why GM and Mary Barra had stressed retail sales. Which gives you organic growth, profits and the customers you want. The same argument can be used as to why GM isn’t to heavy on incentives, it doesn’t make them profitable in the long run.
As long as retail sales stay or continue to increase then make rental or fleet sales won’t make a difference.
As for resale value the only people who care about that are the people who trade in their cars or trucks every few years. If you keep your cars and trucks for 10 or 15 years then that resale value is not a issue!
Product resale price is improving because overall the product quality has improved not because retail sales has decreased
Brian Dennis has pointed out the cold bloody truth about rentals.
The less rentals the better.
On the other hand building quality vehicles much more cost effective gives you not only more ATP but the flexibility to add incentive yet still make a profit while trying to balance inventories.
I read a story on Springfield where the sales of the SUV models are really up high for t so months then down one. They have has to go to three shifts with over time to 2 with 4O hours and back based on the fluid market all while trying to balance inventories.
This is not a race or contest vs others.. at the end of th e year it is about personal results of the company and in the end did they make a decent profit and set themselves up for a better year ahead with investment and marketing.
Competition is only a part of this game.
Brian look big picture here.
You sound like one of those guys who trade their cars in after a couple of years. Resale value should not be a reason people choose to buy a car or truck!
Normally if you buy a car and keep it for 10 years that car will only be worth around 5k to 10k. So resale is a joke!
Even if resale isn’t a factor, profitability will still be a factor. I am just look at how GM was operating 10 years ago, although rental fleet was not there only problem, verses GM today. Although they aren’t the largest they are far more profitable then they where. To me a great example of this being worked today, look at Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, they are heavy on incentives and fleet and even though they have a very large global reach, GM is in a much better position than Nissan in terms of profitability and technology.
That all thanks in part to their strategy globally (getting rid of the excess); cutting fleet, cutting incentive spending, cutting low profit margin regions, etc. And in doing so they have been able to focus their attention where it is need, in the products and in customer service, and the profits and customer loyalty and all the awards all show how much GM has improved.
Your not paying attention I said if retail sales continue to increase then making more rental and fleet cars and trucks only helps the bottom line!
So if GM is doing well by having high retail numbers then adding more rental and fleet cars and trucks will not hurt
I agree, profit, customer service, and customer loyalty, should be the focus and in that order. I think you accomplish that in reverse order. You get customer loyalty because of customer service and the profit will naturally come. I will just say this again and for the rest of my life, you can’t measure customer satisfaction or loyalty under the warranty period. And I still would love to see the raw data on the awards who gets the review or survey for the awards. Customer loyalty means customers will buy another GM car and if customers are keeping there cars longer how do you measure loyalty in 3 years under warranty. And if you don’t help customers with known troubles (3.6 timing chains, Fuel senders, steering gears,) all under 100,000 miles how is that customer service?
I don’t see how it’s GMs problem or worry after warranty is over! If the customer is smart enough to buy a extended warranty then he’s covered. If not you have no reason to complain!
These people who think a car should last for 10 years with no problems are ridiculous! Does it happen sure but that can’t be expected to be the norm!
We don’t treat tvs, radios, cameras, house hold appliances, lawn equipment as if they should work long past the warranty! That’s why we buy extended warranties on those things. But for some reason people seem to think cars and trucks should be different.
GM has a obligation to make sure the car or truck makes it threw the warranty period and if not then fix it! Outside the warranty it’s on the customer!
I am not naïve. I do not think it is GM’s problem to fix things wearing out. It is the poorly designed things,( this is only one example ) the you can’t steer your car things. I also agree racks, and even electric racks are better but if you can’t buy parts to rebuild them and it costs 1/3 the value of the car to fix, and all under 100,000 miles. Also when you only give those customers who bought the vehicle new the extended warranty after they prematurely failed. What about the rest of the customers who cant steer them. These people ” I bought that GM and love it. GM fixed Helen’s but would not fix mine, but Toyota fixed Helen’s and mine because they knew the steering gear had premature wear failure”. All of my comments are personal experiences. Look at Cadillac I owned a 1996 Cadillac Deville Northstar great car 200,000+ miles. So bought my mom a 1999 Deville Northstar at 95,000 miles the head bolt clamp load fails on most if not all, I will bet you an engineer sat in a meeting and convinced GM they could make a great thing cheaper by doing this. After they started failing GM fixed this, I also owned a 2005 SRX Northstar 148,000+ and still going, but it ruined the Northstar engine, and Cadillac lost a ton of old reliable Helens with moldy money, and not because it failed but because they did not fix it. Most of these Helens would have bought another until they died, passed it down until they died and so on, loyalty goes both ways. The new customers when this happens they try another and maybe you will get them back. maybe not. Again I’m not saying fix everything but if you screw up something fix it. Like Helen would say fess up kid, fix it.
one more thing. These people are out there 100s of thousands of them. You know what most of them drive now Toyota, even after Toyota’s big Camry trouble they owned it, fixed it and moved on. Sure they lost some customers for short term, but if you switched to a GM Enclave for example, then could not steer it at slow speed and GM would not fix it. O well Toyota fixed my Camry, at least if I buy a Toyota and they know they have a problem they will fix it.
The better the quality of the vehicle the higher the resale is. If GM continues to improve quality the vehicle resale value will improve and more customers will buy the cars.
Some people look for higgher resale value but again if the car is of good quality there will be a second hand market for it with decent resale value.
YES and so on and so on. Build a better vehicle stand behind it when you screw up. People will stick with you FOREVER. Don’t make excuses, or try to place blame. Listen to what all people want and move on. GM has a lot of room to improve on the customer service, dealer, customer support area. Continue to , fix it, improve it and move on.
As we roll into the spring, I’m expecting the sales numbers for the new GM Crossovers to make significant year over year gains.
With these new crossovers, GM is going to take some collective share from all others, in the same space.
Once this becomes apparent, GM will gain meaningful respect from all critics and investors.
GM is now, very well positioned, with a parade of totally new vehicles to continue to roll out, with no end in sight.
This is the best set up for GM in maybe 50 years.
They hold great future growth in China. But the rest of the world growth is limited outside of EV products that regulations will force on the markets.
Now that China has jumped on the EV boat GM is investing heavy in EV products. If they can continue to keep cost down and profit up while developing the new technology on the leading edge they will be fine.
Most companies are not near to the EV technology level of GM as the scramble to catch up with their financial side not as sorted out.
As of the market it was predicted that it would slow. GM has limited the drop better and built in better cost controls to protect them.
I expect every platform from here on out will be done so they can accept many forms power. Might note the new trucks are built this way.
Here is hoping that GM will improve quality reduce defects and increase the size of their sedans so that I may consider buying a new GM product again. Otherwise I will continue looking for the large sedans of yesteryears.
Retail sales that are high shows that that product is a good one . Also Car Companies that have a heavy lease rate want there products to hold value as the customer returns that leased vehicle for the company to either sell or send it to auction . Either way it’s still a good thing for profits .
Extended warranties that a company tries to sell to a customer has always been a big business and money maker . It’s not just cars either anything you but these days offer that type of warranty and in most cases it’s never used . There have been reports that if anything is going to go wrong with an item it will usually happen in it’s first year of use . However if you buy a car and do hold onto it for longer than it’s 3yrs. or 60-70,000 miles which ever comes first warranty and you end up with a problem 5 yrs. into it , in my case the dealership will usually pay for the fix or cut you some kind of a deal if you are a repeat customer . And then there are the cases of ” silent ” warranties where the automaker is aware of a problem but doesn’t release it to the public because they are not sure how many of their vehicles will end up with that specific problem . This has also happened to me .
In my old 2012 SRX out of warranty , the shifter would not go into Park , long story short after taking it in I find out it’s a covered fix and got a rental for free for 3 days too .
GM will be in a much better position for that bottom line as soon as Cadillac is up and running again , higher TAP’s and hopefully market share . The whole industry is slowing from years of record sales there is no where to go but down when the industry is selling 17-17.5 million units per year . Things will slow a bit to a more normal rate as long as the economy stays healthy and countries around the world are now ( finally ) doing better so GM should be in good shape as long as they get quality on par with the rest of the industry .
Whether or not a car company sells it when it returns from lease or send it to auction, it is still owned by someone. And if there is a known problem GM or whatever company should stand behind it. If people want an extended warranty for reassurance great. Its like buying vehicle insurance, gives you reassurance. I do neither both over your life just cost you money. But when it is a design or manufacturing problem fix it. I thought QS, and ISO quality standards solved most of this. But like the fuel senders in Enclave, Travers, Acadia, I’m not sure if it was ethanol fuel or what but they got it right with a new sender design, but all customers who didn’t have a great dealer or extended warranty paid. You could put in 10 of the old designs with no luck but one newer one no problems. Again what engineer said we have been making fuel gauges for over 60 years but I can do it better or cheaper, or we have been making ignition switches for over 60 years but I can make it cheaper with this spring. What I find interesting is the new design is exactly like the one in like my 2015 Canyon with the float bent different but costs five times as much for the Enclave. So not only is the customer upset the fuel gauge doesn’t work after several attempts to fix it, but its five times as much to fix. It is also obvious GM new it was trouble and changed design to fix it, and the customer paid.