Chevrolet Suburban And Tahoe Sales Decrease 21 Percent To 31,328 Units In Q4 2019

March 12, 2020 10:59 am

Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe sales decreased in the United States, Mexico, and Canada during the fourth quarter of 2019.

Chevrolet Tahoe & Suburban Sales – Q4 2019 – USA

Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban sales in the U.S. decreased over 21 percent to 31,328 units in Q4 2019, comprised of:

21,086 units of the regular-length Tahoe, a decrease of 15 percent compared to 24,679 units sold in Q4 2018, and
10,242 units of the extended-length Suburban, a decrease of 33 percent compared to 15,200 units sold in Q4 2018

During the 2019 calendar year, Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe sales totaled 153,117 units in the U.S., a decrease of 7 percent compared to 164,786 units delivered during the 2018 calendar year.

Sales Numbers - Chevrolet Tahoe & Suburban USA Sales - Q4 2019 - United States

MODEL	Q4 19 / Q4 18	Q4 19	Q4 18	YTD 19 / YTD 18	YTD 19	YTD 18
TAHOE	-14.56%	21,086	24,679	-2.85%	101,189	104,153
SUBURBAN	-32.62%	10,242	15,200	-14.36%	51,928	60,633
TOTAL	-21.44%	31,328	39,879	-7.08%	153,117	164,786

Chevrolet Tahoe & Suburban Sales – Q4 2019 – Canada

Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban deliveries in Canada decreased 8 percent to 1,183 units in Q4 2019, comprised of:

808 units of the regular-length Tahoe, an increase of over 2 percent compared to 791 units sold in Q4 2018, and
375 units of the extended-length Suburban, a decrease of 24 percent compared to 494 units sold in Q4 2018

During the 2019 calendar year, Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban sales totaled 6,391 units in Canada, an increase of less than 1 percent compared to 6,385 units delivered during the 2019 calendar year.

Sales Numbers - Chevrolet Tahoe & Suburban USA Sales - Q4 2019 - Canada

MODEL	Q4 19 / Q4 18	Q4 19	Q4 18	YTD 19 / YTD 18	YTD 19	YTD 18
TAHOE	+2.19%	808	791	+16.36%	4,147	3,564
SUBURBAN	-24.09%	375	494	-20.45%	2,244	2,821
TOTAL	-7.91%	1,183	1,285	+0.09%	6,391	6,385

Chevrolet Tahoe & Suburban Sales – Q4 2019 – Mexico

Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe deliveries in Mexico decreased 11 percent to 799 units in Q4 2019, comprised of:

223 units of the regular-length Tahoe, an increase of 8 percent compared to 207 units sold in Q4 2018, and
821 units of the extended-length Suburban, a decrease of 16 percent compared to 688 units sold in Q4 2018

During the 2019 calendar year, cumulative Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban deliveries totaled 2,426 units in Mexico, a decrease of 27 percent compared to 3,318 units delivered during the 2018 calendar year.

Sales Numbers - Chevrolet Tahoe & Suburban Mexico Sales - Q4 2019 - Mexico

MODEL	Q4 19 / Q4 18	Q4 19	Q4 18	YTD 19 / YTD 18	YTD 19	YTD 18
TAHOE	+7.73%	223	207	-27.37%	690	950
SUBURBAN	-16.28%	576	688	-26.69%	1,736	2,368
TOTAL	-10.73%	799	895	-26.88%	2,426	3,318

Competitive Sales Comparison

Despite the decline in volume of units sold, Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe sales continued to dominate the segment during the fourth quarter of 2019 in the United States, with a combined 31,328 units sold – comprised of 21,086 units of the Tahoe and 10,242 of the Suburban. The Ford Expedition took second place in the segment with 24,267 deliveries (see running Ford Expedition sales), ahead of the Tahoe/Suburban corporate cousin – the GMC Yukon – in third place (see running GMC Yukon sales). It’s worth noting that Expedition sales figures include those of the regular-length Expedition and the extended-length Expedition MAX models. In comparison, Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe sales are reported separately.

Sales Numbers - Mainstream Full-Size SUVs - Q4 2019 - United States

MODEL	Q4 19 / Q4 18	Q4 19	Q4 18	Q4 19 SHARE	Q4 18 SHARE	YTD 19 / YTD 18	YTD 19	YTD 18
FORD EXPEDITION	+71.62%	24,267	14,140	28%	16%	+58.11%	86,422	54,661
CHEVROLET TAHOE	-14.56%	21,086	24,679	24%	28%	-2.85%	101,189	104,153
CHEVROLET SUBURBAN	-32.62%	10,242	15,200	12%	17%	-14.36%	51,928	60,633
GMC YUKON	-17.35%	20,966	25,366	24%	28%	-7.56%	74,673	80,784
NISSAN ARMADA	+6.37%	7,435	6,990	9%	8%	-1.86%	32,044	32,650
TOYOTA SEQUOIA	-10.28%	2,706	3,016	3%	3%	-7.48%	10,289	11,121
TOTAL	-3.01%	86,702	89,391			+3.65%	356,545	344,002

On a combined basis, Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe sales accounted for a 36 percent segment share, the highest in the segment by a long margin. The Ford Expedition came in second with 28 percent, beating GMC – which saw a 24-percent segment share – by 3,301 units. Taking into account the Tahoe, Suburban and Yukon, GM enjoyed a 60 percent segment share during the quarter.

The full-size mainstream SUV segment contracted 3 percent to 86,702 units in Q4 2019.

The GM Authority Take

While Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe sales in the fourth quarter enabled the Bow Tie brand to maintain its long-standing status as the undisputed sales leader in the segment, the Ford Expedition made up a lot of ground, increasing sales by an astounding 72 percent, while Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe sales dropped over 21 percent during the same timeframe.

We attribute the drop in Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe sales to these two main factors:

The fact that the UAW strike shuttered production for at least 40 days, resulting in less available inventory for dealers and a cessation of many fleet and commercial orders. Notably, the strike also set back the reveal and launch of GM’s new, 2021 model year full-size SUVs.
The announcement of the aforementioned 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe and 2021 Chevrolet Suburban. With consumers aware of these next-generation models, we can expect lackluster sales of the outgoing models to continue unless The General incentivizes them with heavy discounts.

Incentives will remain a particularly important element in enabling Chevrolet to maintain its sales volume in the segment until the all-new 2021 Tahoe and Suburban launch. Higher rebates are how the Bow Tie brand will be able to remain competitive against the Ford Expedition, which is a significantly newer and more modern offering compared to the aging Tahoe and Suburban. In fact, the Tahoe/Suburban are six years old as of the 2020 model year. All-new models will launch in the first half of the 2020 calendar year.

About The Numbers

All percent change figures compared to Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe Q4 2018 sales
In the United States, there were 78 selling days in Q4 2019 and 77 selling days in Q4 2018
Ford Expedition sales figures include sales for regular-length Expedition and extended-length Expedition MAX

GM Q4 2019 sales numbers: