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Chevrolet Express Sales Fall 23 Percent In Q1 2020

Chevrolet Express sales decreased in the United States, Canada, and Mexico during the first quarter of 2020.

Chevrolet Express Sales - Q1 2020 - United States

In the United States, Chevrolet Express deliveries totaled 13,309 units in Q1 2020, a decrease of about 23 percent compared to 17,215 units sold in Q1 2019.
MODEL Q1 2020 / Q1 2019 Q1 2020 Q1 2019
EXPRESS -22.69% 13,309 17,215

Chevrolet Express Sales - Q1 2020 - Canada

In Canada, Chevrolet Express deliveries totaled 914 units in Q1 2020, a decrease of about 29 percent compared to 1,288 units sold in Q1 2019.
MODEL Q1 2020 / Q1 2019 Q1 2020 Q1 2019
EXPRESS -29.04% 914 1,288

Chevrolet Express Sales - Q1 2020 - Mexico

In Mexico, Chevrolet Express deliveries totaled 76 units in Q1 2020, a decrease of about 30 percent compared to 108 units sold in Q1 2019.
MODEL Q1 2020 / Q1 2019 Q1 2020 Q1 2019
EXPRESS -29.63% 76 108

Competitive Sales Comparison

Chevrolet Express sales enabled the vehicle to maintain its established, second-place position in its segment by sales volume during Q1 2020, behind the Ford Transit in first place (see Ford Transit sales). The Express outsold the Ford E-Series – which is only available as a cutaway van (see Ford E-Series sales), Ram ProMaster, the Express’ corporate twin- the GMC Savana (see GMC Savana sales), as well as the Nissan NV.

The Ford Transit accounted for a commanding 47 percent of the segment, while the Express saw 17 percent, Ford E-Series saw 13 percent, the Ram ProMaster took 12 percent, and both the GMC Savana and Nissan NV held 5 percent.

Sales Numbers - Full-Size Vans - Q1 2020 - United States

MODEL Q1 20 / Q1 19 Q1 20 Q1 19 Q1 20 SHARE Q1 19 SHARE
FORD TRANSIT +15.68% 36,836 31,842 47% 38%
CHEVROLET EXPRESS -22.69% 13,309 17,215 17% 20%
FORD E-SERIES -6.42% 10,098 10,791 13% 13%
RAM PROMASTER -28.04% 9,585 13,319 12% 16%
GMC SAVANA -36.31% 4,182 6,566 5% 8%
NISSAN NV -17.28% 3,728 4,507 5% 5%
TOTAL -7.72% 77,738 84,240

Combined deliveries of the Ford Transit and E-Series totaled 46,934 units, accounting for 60 percent segment share during the quarter. Meanwhile, GM’s offerings, the Chevy Express and GMC Savana, saw cumulative deliveries of 17,491 units for a 22 percent segment share, significantly less than that of The Blue Oval.

The full-size mainstream van segment, which includes passenger, cargo, and cutaway/chassis cab models, contracted almost 8 percent to 77,738 units in Q1 2020. As such, Chevrolet Express sales during the quarter contracted more severely than the segment average.

The GM Authority Take

The Express is a very old model that traces its roots to the 1990s. In fact, it’s the oldest product in the Chevrolet lineup, and by a wide margin. Even so, it remains a solid seller for Chevrolet and General Motors, and the fact that the Express (and Savana) continue to garner as many deliveries is quite impressive given that GM’s twin vans are the oldest vehicles in the segment and have seen very few changes over the past two decades.

We attribute the moderate drop in Express sales during the first quarter of 2020 to two complications associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. This prevented some dealers from selling the units, while also preventing GM from fulfilling fleet and commercial orders as a result of idled production.

Despite the pronounced 27 percent drop in deliveries during the first-quarter of 2020, the Express saw only a 4.66 percent decrease in sales volume during the complete 2019 calendar year. We attribute the model’s sustained sales performance to the product being a proven workhorse in the marketplace and cost-effective to buy, upfit, operate and maintain, despite the availability of significantly newer and more competitive products such as the Ford Transit, Nissan NV and Fiat/Ram ProMaster.

Working in the Express’ favor are well-established upfitter products and processes that prepare or modify the vehicle for various commercial duties. We also believe that the introduction of the 2.8L Duramax turbo-diesel LWN engine and 8-speed automatic transmission (M5U), introduced for the 2017 model year, has generated increased demand for the model. That said, the Express’ success could dwindle in the market as the competition continues to offer newer vehicles, and as overall sales suffer due to the Coronavirus. Luckily, it seems that GM is working on a replacement, and it will very likely be battery electric.

About The Numbers

  • All percent change figures compared to Chevrolet Express sales for Q1 2019
  • In the United States, there were 76 selling days in Q1 2020 and 76 selling days in Q1 2019
  • Sales numbers for the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van are not available, since the Mercedes-Benz Vans division does not break out sales by model. Requests to provide the sales data have been continuously declined.
GM Q1 2020 sales numbers:
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Comments

  1. General Motors CEO Mary Barra makes one mistake after another as leaving the van market was a critical error as it just left a market segment for others to jump into; Chevrolet Express is outdated and needs a clean sheet redesign which is essentially too late since it will be replaced with an Electrified variant costing 3-4X as much.

    Reply
  2. Your share is the great knowledge I have gathered, you are an important person I admire, thank you

    Reply
    1. Should have come out with a new redsigned van 10 years ago especially with the
      passenger van with more leg room and Betty seats

      Reply
    2. Passenger van they need to redsign

      Reply
  3. It may be outdated but it still sells and has many faithful fleet fans. One word why sales were down in Q1: Availability. Built in the same plant as the Colorado they aren’t building enough Express vans.

    Reply
  4. I have bought 4 of these vans for the company i work for, and all have been bulletproof super reliable.

    Reply
  5. Guys,this van does not need a complete overhaul—but with a few minor efficient tweaks it could even be better than it is now.
    We need to see that GM is caring about it’s commercial van customers,and currently they are kind of leaving us with pretty Arcadia products.

    Reply
  6. There is nothing wrong with these vans. These are true workhorse’s in today’s lookalike copycat world. NONE of those “modern” eurovans have anywhere near the longevity and endurance that is simply inherent in these “ancient” vans. One of the last purpose-built vehicles in the light truck category. Funny how as Ford was phasing out the E series that Nissan was phasing in their NV . Hmmmm…. The platform these are built on is proven as is the overall design. If you want the current telematics, safety tech, and other gadgets, LOOK at the rather lengthy option list. NOT the one online, but the one the fleet/commercial truck manager has. You’ll be rather surprised. GM is sadly a much incorrectly maligned automaker. Having most of the absolute best all-around product value for the money.

    Reply
    1. Nothing wrong with the cargo van just the passenger vans just have no room and uncomfortable seats

      Reply
      1. Oh my! Yet another armchair warrior. Do YOU drive, ride, or own one of these vans? Have you ever? Are you another 30-something spoiled brat? One that never took cross-country vacations, went camping, was on a hockey team, in the scouts, a church , etc….. No! You are the little whiney b%€*h. The one that rode in daddy’s ‘Benz in a sweater. It’s a VAN! I grew up in the 70s & 80s in these. Jesus Christ! How much room do YOU need? You can actually move around in these unlike an SUV. Maybe you need a WONDER BREAD step van.

        Reply
  7. Oh my! Yet another armchair warrior. Do YOU drive, ride, or own one of these vans? Have you ever? Are you another 30-something spoiled brat? One that never took cross-country vacations, went camping, was on a hockey team, in the scouts, a church , etc….. No! You are the little whiney b%€*h. The one that rode in daddy’s ‘Benz in a sweater. It’s a VAN! I grew up in the 70s & 80s in these. Jesus Christ! How much room do YOU need? You can actually move around in these unlike an SUV. Maybe you need a WONDER BREAD step van.

    Reply
  8. Chevy or gmc vans are all we drive and we got 2 and that’s all we drove for the last 30 some years and there 15 passenger vans are only good for 11 people so don’t tell me they have a lot of room I don’t care about there cargo vans but I do know there passenger vans

    Reply
  9. another one I forgot to mention that put on 30000 miles s year so I know what it’s all about

    Reply
    1. First of all to show possession it’s “their” not “there”. Secondly for adults , if you’re carrying more than 12 passengers, I don’t believe you should be using one of these. On ANY vehicles it’s a mistake to have seats in the far rearmost of the vehicle, mainly from the standpoint of a safety concern in a rear- end collision, but also as severely raising concerns over exiting the vehicle in ANY accident. Not to mention the absence of cargo space once these rearmost seats are in place. If you’re carrying more than 12 adults , you need to be shopping for a shuttle van. There is some data accumulated over the years from accidents involving the once “3” 15 passenger vans. Dodge, Ford, and GM. At one point it was suggested that they should no longer be produced, based on data from NHTSA, IIHS. I believe that the outcome was that they are NOT for school-bus use. Only private passenger use. Hotel, church , etc. That being said, full size domestic vans since their inception have one of the safest passenger-mile records that exist. This isn’t all due to the van construction in and of itself, but rather a combination of factors. Those being ; the people that drive this type vehicle are usually better trained, more traveled , so hence have a better understanding of situations that arise on the road., realize that this is not a car and therefore it’s handling is far more truck-like , realize they are responsible for their passengers. The lack of Fatalities in full-sized vans over the decades has been somewhat of an anomaly. GM has added VSC and 3 layer rearmost side glass to prevent the ejection of unbelted passengers. There are after-market upfitters that make what they call a ” safety-van” ( not to be confused with the similar sounding ” safety – dance ” ) that incorporates high- backed seats with built in safety belts. Again, nothing is perfect however, all in all the big 3 did a great job over the decades with their full sized vans. So go buy a Mercedes if you don’t like the GM. It’s a free market.

      Reply

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