General Motors Company has just announced that it will begin reporting its U.S. vehicle sales results on a quarterly basis. The automaker previously reported sales figures on a monthly basis, a practice that has been well-established for decades in the industry.
However, GM feels differently, stating that a 30-day window is not enough time to determine actual sales trends from other short-term impacts.
“Thirty days is not enough time to separate real sales trends from short-term fluctuations in a very dynamic, highly competitive market,” said Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president, Sales Operations. “Reporting sales quarterly better aligns with our business, and the quality of information will make it easier to see how the business is performing.”
The automaker goes on to explain that monthly sales in the auto industry “are subject to many issues that make them more volatile than quarterly sales, including product launch activity, weather, other seasonal factors, the number of selling days and incentive activity.”
GM will report its March 2018 sales figures today, April 3rd, 2018 – and GM Authority will report on these results as they take place. Subsequently, the automaker will report sales on a quarterly basis, as follows:
- Second quarter 2018 sales, which include sales from April, May and June, will be released on July 3rd, 2018
- Third quarter 2018 sales, which include sales from July, August and September, will be released on October 2nd, 2018
- Fourth quarter 2018 sales, which include sales from October, November and December, will be released on January 3rd, 2019
GM also stated that it will provide its quarterly sales numbers on a total, brand, and nameplate basis. It will provide overall fleet mix and inventory figures, but these will be total – rather than broken out by brand and model. Additionally, GM will share J.D. Power PIN estimates for incentive spending and average transaction prices, but these have historically been shared on a highly selective basis.
Stay tuned for GM Authority’s take on this change as the day unfolds. We also invite you to follow our continuous coverage of GM sales numbers and GM sales news.
Update: GM will also begin reporting sales on a quarterly basis in China.
Comments
Sounds fishy
Sounds to me like a clever way to limit the amount of bad news coming out of GM as the auto industry enters a time of little to no growth. Instead of monthly bad news, now it will just be quarterly bad news. I’d prefer the monthly reports for increased information and transparency. Monthly is the industry standard. It may be time to sell my shares in GM.
Why, Tesla has never done monthly reports and know has said word? Other manufactures will most-likely will follow.
Interesting…I don’t think its a bad thing, kinda sucks because its one thing I always look forward to at the beginning of the month, but I think it would be better because you can see how much growth/change actually happened over three months vs month to month basis. I mean though out the auto industry a lot of people still hold sales numbers of the utmost importance, but they don’t tell the whole story, and I think that’s what GM is getting at here. There’s a lot of other information that could be of use for investors, like for example total ATP increases or retail growth, I see where their going in that u can better follow GMs trend better
This may have more to do with stock traders at firms like Goldman Sachs. They position big, short or long, spot trades before monthly sales figures, only to dump the stock to lock in fast profits. This action hurts the buy and hold investor, by having a negative impact on GM’s share price.
The other issue is GM’s new pickup product launch. The monthly numbers will look weak over the summer, as GM builds inventory in the prior Q2, before an extended Q3 downtime for plant retooling. This could also be an issue when GM does a product launch for their new full sized SUV’s later next year.
Most important will be sales growth for GM’s bunch of new crossovers. I’m seeing many new GM crossovers on the road lately, on a daily basis.
This is a bold move. Every other manufacturer except Tesla releases monthly US sales figures, if not by model then at least a total. I thought it was an industry mandate. This will demotivate the others to release monthly sales. There should be some agreed standard to follow.
So how do you adjust monthly sales incentives? I am sure they will have the data internally but it can be a great motivator for your sales force.
It feels like something else is going on here . GM will have the information internally but just won’t publish it . On the news this morning it sounds as if the other automakers may follow suit .
It may be hard for investors in the public domain vs. the stock holders of the company ( Board Members ) to decide when it is a good time to buy or sell .
The third quarter results will be during product launches and sales of older models and the fourth during winter months which typically have slower sales . It sounds to me that GM may be expecting slower sales growth in the coming months .
And why now ? It does sound fishy .
Nothing but benefits for the automaker…
1. Less resources to report four times a year vs 12…
2. Many high ranking individuals have publicly thrown shade at Tesla, reporting quarterly is certainly a way to throw shade as every quarter the media will compare their sales results…
3. Ultimate control on pricing…At the end of month two, if the sales are meeting their quarterly target monthly average just up the incentives…