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[Oldsmoboi]

Retail Sales Propel General Motors to 49 Percent Gain in February

• Year-over-year retail sales gain of 70 percent highest on record
• Car, Truck and Crossover segment retail sales each rise 59 percent or more
• GM's newest vehicles continue to gain customers – retail sales up 119 percent
• Retail sales improve 52 percent for the first two months

DETROIT – General Motors total sales in the United States rose 49 percent in February, as dealers reported 207,028 deliveries for the company's four brands. For the second month in a row, the gain in total sales was driven by soaring retail demand for the company's products. During the month, retail sales rose 70 percent – the highest year-over-year gain in the company's history.

For the first two months of the year, GM's total sales have risen 36 percent, while the company's retail sales – those to individual consumers – have increased by 52 percent.

Retail sales of GM's cars, trucks and crossovers all rose at least 59 percent or more during the month, up 76 percent, 74 percent and 59 percent, respectively.

"Our plan was to get off to a quick start this year, and we did just that," said Don Johnson, vice president, U.S. Sales Operations. "Having the right vehicles in inventory, combined with aggressive advertising and targeted consumer marketing has been the key to our success in the first two months this year."

Newest Vehicles Lead Gains, More Than Doubling During February

Combined sales for GM's newest vehicles – Chevrolet Equinox, Silverado HD, Cruze and Volt; Buick LaCrosse and Regal; GMC Sierra HD and Terrain; and Cadillac SRX, CTS Wagon and CTS Coupe – increased 66 percent, while retail sales surged 119 percent for the month, compared to February 2010.

Passenger Cars

Total sales of GM passenger cars improved 40 percent during February, led by the sale of 18,556 Chevrolet Cruzes. Retail sales of GM passenger cars rose 76 percent for the month, with Cruze retail sales 212 percent higher than the compact car it replaced. Strong retail sales of the all-new Cadillac CTS Coupe helped propel CTS retail sales to a record high for the month of February, up 159 percent versus a year ago. The Buick Regal had its best month since launch, recording 3,541 retail sales.

Crossovers

February total sales for GM's industry-leading lineup of fuel-efficient crossovers were the best ever for the month, increasing 57 percent versus February 2010. Each of GM's most popular crossovers set a record for retail sales for the month of February – Chevrolet Equinox (up 98 percent) and Traverse (up 32 percent); GMC Terrain (up 76 percent) and Acadia (up 25 percent); Buick Enclave (45 percent); and Cadillac SRX (up 62 percent). Combined retail sales for these models rose 58 percent during the month, compared to last year's month.

Pickups and Utilities

Total sales of GM's full-size pickup trucks – Chevrolet Silverado and Avalanche, and GMC Sierra – improved 65 percent in February versus a year ago, with retail sales rising 83 percent. Total sales of GM full-size utilities – Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe, GMC Yukon and Yukon XL, and Cadillac Escalade – rose 50 percent during the month, with combined retail sales improving 52 percent.

Month-end dealer inventory in the United States stood at about 517,000 units, which is about 7,000 higher compared to January and about 101,000 higher than February 2010.

Brand Key Facts:

• Chevrolet: Chevrolet dealers delivered 142,919 total vehicles in February, a 43-percent increase versus last year. Retail sales for Chevrolet rose 69 percent and were propelled by improving Cruze sales, which were 212 percent higher than the compact car it replaces. Silverado retail sales rose 84 percent, while Equinox posted its best February ever, with retail sales almost doubling, up 98 percent (read more).
• Buick: Buick reported 15,807 total sales, a 73-percent increase compared to February 2010. This includes a 90-percent surge in year-over-year retail sales, led by Regal (3,541units), Enclave and LaCrosse, which had retail sales 45 and 28 percent higher than last year, respectively. This marks the 17th consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains for the brand (read more).
• GMC: GMC reported total sales of 32,534, a 59-percent increase compared to the same month last year. This marks the 17th consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases. Retail sales were 61 percent higher than last year, spurred by Sierra, Terrain, Yukon and Acadia – up 87 percent, 76 percent, 63 percent and 25 percent, respectively (read more).
• Cadillac: Cadillac reported total sales of 15,768 for February – 70 percent higher than last February, with retail sales increasing 83 percent. February was the 13th consecutive month of year-over-year total and retail sales gains. CTS retail sales rose 159 percent, driven by strong demand for the all-new CTS Coupe and Sedan. SRX retail sales were up 62 percent compared to a year ago, and the Escalade family saw retail sale rise 27 percent versus February last year (read more).

Fleet sales for GM's four brands were 43,900 for the month, a 2-percent increase for the month, with sales to rental fleets down 5 percent during the same period. Sales to commercial customers rose 19 percent for the month, the 11th consecutive month of commercial fleet sales gains. Fleet accounted for 21 percent of GM total sales during the month.

	February					(Calendar Year-to-Date)
						January - February
	2011	2010	% Chg Volume	%Chg per S/D		2011	2010	%Chg Volume
Selling Days (S/D)	24	24
Enclave	5,199	3,778	37.6	37.6		9,546	7,853	21.6
LaCrosse	4,329	4,045	7.0	7.0		8,100	8,291	-2.3
Lucerne	2,574	1,298	98.3	98.3		5,390	3,038	77.4
Regal	3,705	0	***.*	***.*		6,040	0	***.*
Buick Total	15,807	9,121	73.3	73.3		29,076	19,182	51.6
CTS	6,033	2,690	124.3	124.3		10,395	5,255	97.8
DTS	1,512	611	147.5	147.5		2,877	1,229	134.1
Escalade	1,279	1,418	-9.8	-9.8		2,793	2,655	5.2
Escalade ESV	756	552	37.0	37.0		1,348	948	42.2
Escalade EXT	167	102	63.7	63.7		320	223	43.5
SRX	5,502	3,542	55.3	55.3		9,738	6,776	43.7
STS	519	332	56.3	56.3		878	565	55.4
XLR	0	26	***.*	***.*		-1	62	***.*
Cadillac Total	15,768	9,273	70.0	70.0		28,348	17,713	60.0
Avalanche	1,414	1,029	37.4	37.4		2,811	2,401	17.1
Aveo	2,760	2,062	33.9	33.9		5,499	4,105	34.0
Camaro	6,245	6,482	-3.7	-3.7		11,008	11,853	-7.1
Chevy C/T Series	0	0	***.*	***.*		0	1	***.*
Chevy W Series	0	30	***.*	***.*		0	67	***.*
Cobalt	153	14,101	-98.9	-98.9		559	27,063	-97.9
Colorado	2,606	1,247	109.0	109.0		4,810	3,186	51.0
Corvette	955	624	53.0	53.0		1,676	1,478	13.4
Cruze	18,556	0	***.*	***.*		32,187	0	***.*
Equinox	15,434	8,061	91.5	91.5		28,281	17,574	60.9
Express	4,021	3,899	3.1	3.1		9,294	6,661	39.5
HHR	6,398	4,658	37.4	37.4		13,785	10,110	36.4
Impala	16,290	11,740	38.8	38.8		31,478	22,679	38.8
Kodiak 4/5 Series	0	155	***.*	***.*		0	293	***.*
Kodiak 6/7/8 Series	0	17	***.*	***.*		0	36	***.*
Malibu	19,092	15,150	26.0	26.0		33,194	31,589	5.1
Silverado-C/K Pickup	31,728	19,822	60.1	60.1		59,900	42,594	40.6
Suburban (Chevy)	2,383	1,680	41.8	41.8		4,726	3,995	18.3
Tahoe	5,068	3,325	52.4	52.4		10,349	7,881	31.3
TrailBlazer	2	22	-90.9	-90.9		11	88	-87.5
Traverse	9,533	5,882	62.1	62.1		18,138	11,606	56.3
Uplander	0	13	***.*	***.*		0	33	***.*
Volt	281	0	***.*	***.*		602	0	***.*
Chevrolet Total	142,919	99,999	42.9	42.9		268,308	205,293	30.7
Acadia	7,547	6,478	16.5	16.5		13,270	11,938	11.2
Canyon	765	510	50.0	50.0		1,459	1,210	20.6
Envoy	0	6	***.*	***.*		1	34	-97.1
GMC C/T Series	0	21	***.*	***.*		0	29	***.*
GMC W Series	0	27	***.*	***.*		0	105	***.*
Savana	673	720	-6.5	-6.5		1,391	1,222	13.8
Sierra	11,696	6,296	85.8	85.8		22,323	13,567	64.5
Terrain	7,190	3,789	89.8	89.8		13,559	8,091	67.6
Topkick 4/5 Series	0	125	***.*	***.*		0	315	***.*
Topkick 6/7/8 Series	0	41	***.*	***.*		0	80	***.*
Yukon	2,817	1,261	123.4	123.4		4,893	2,764	77.0
Yukon XL	1,846	1,182	56.2	56.2		3,296	2,404	37.1
GMC Total	32,534	20,456	59.0	59.0		60,192	41,759	44.1
Brand Total	207,028	138,849	49.1	49.1		385,924	283,947	35.9
HUMMER Total	0	296	***.*	***.*		0	561	***.*
Pontiac Total	0	84	***.*	***.*		0	473	***.*
Saab Total	0	97	***.*	***.*		0	608	***.*
Saturn Total	0	2,625	***.*	***.*		0	3,187	***.*
Other Brand Total	0	3,102	***.*	***.*		0	4,829	***.*
GM Vehicle Total	207,028	141,951	45.8	45.8		385,924	288,776	33.6

[Lamar]

They must be giving the Lucernes away...

Good month.  I've seen several Regals on the road here.  CTS rebounded in a huge way too.

[Oldsmoboi]

hey, I'd gladly take a free Lucerne.

[Northstar]

I wish they'd breakdown the CTS in sedan/coupe/wagon.

It looks like those Cruze, Malibu, and Regal lease deals got people into the showrooms.

[Oldsmoboi]

I emailed them last month asking for the breakdown and they said they don't track that. Not sure why they couldn't.....

[Croc]

Oldsmoboi, on 01 March 2011 - 04:08 PM, said:

I emailed them last month asking for the breakdown and they said they don't track that. Not sure why they couldn't.....

Oh I guarantee that they do...just internally.  How else will they be able to justify killing the wagon in a model year or two when it "doesn't sell"?

[balthazar]

Agreed- of course they know; they just don't care to publicize it. Their prerogative.
While I would like to know too, the only place those numbers will have significance is internet forums where people will use them to trash the CTS from the coupe & sportwagon angles.

[Chevy Nick]

only 281 Volts sold in February?  I thought the goal was like 30,000 per year? (2,500 per month)

[JamesBond]

Still ramping up Chevy Nick. I have seen 2 Volts in Fresno so far. They will sell well. Especially when it hits the cover of Consumer Reports next month.

[GXT]

JamesBond, on 01 March 2011 - 07:10 PM, said:

Still ramping up Chevy Nick. I have seen 2 Volts in Fresno so far. They will sell well. Especially when it hits the cover of Consumer Reports next month.

I haven't read the article, but it sounds like Consumer Reports panned it because of high cost and poor electric range and ICE MPG.  I think they were seeing ~25 miles electric range due to their cold temps.  I understand the main point they were trying to make is how the Volt doesn't make economic sense.

I don't know where they get this stuff

Perhaps it is still to early to tell, but there are hints that GM is already seeing some sales problems with the Volt.  Even though they are three months into sales and still only selling 300/month, they are already pulling ahead the nation-wide rollout and the dealer demos.  They've delivered ~900 Volts and the listings on autotrader.com are up to 205 (Feb saw an increase of ~65 on deliveries of 280).  Even with the limited volume and market, one frequently sees dealers trolling for sales on GM-Volt.com.  

Even though I was never a Volt fan, I never imagined that they would have any trouble all they could make for the first year or so.

Edited by GXT, 02 March 2011 - 01:24 AM.

[Oldsmoboi]

I'm going to have to read that CR article for once. There were times where the dash would say I had X miles left of EV range. I'd drive 10 miles and then I'd have X-4 of EV range. If they're going just by the number on the dash... it's just an estimate.

[Satty]

The  Cruze is out selling the Impala and isn't too far behind the Malibu, not bad considering its a boring, underpowered, overpriced compact.

And what ever happened to Buick and GMC failing hard due to the loss of Pontiac?

[smk4565]

Death of Saturn and Pontiac has helped out Buick and Chevy.  For one, GM has been able to put new product into Chevy and Buick without spreading it around to 8 brands, and secondly not having those extra brands means people have to look at Buick and Chevy if they want a GM car.

[regfootball]

Northstar, on 01 March 2011 - 04:06 PM, said:

I wish they'd breakdown the CTS in sedan/coupe/wagon.

It looks like those Cruze, Malibu, and Regal lease deals got people into the showrooms.

leasing, yes.

rather shocked at how well malibu is doing.  sets the stage for success with the next body style.

leasing across the board is taking off again, all it shows is how out of control new car pricing really is.

are we just propping the moment up for another failure very soon?

in the meantime if it means fewer accords and camry's i like it.

Edited by regfootball, 02 March 2011 - 10:59 PM.

[regfootball]

Satty, on 02 March 2011 - 08:37 AM, said:

The  Cruze is out selling the Impala and isn't too far behind the Malibu, not bad considering its a boring, underpowered, overpriced compact.

And what ever happened to Buick and GMC failing hard due to the loss of Pontiac?

cruze manages to hit a lot of basic virtues dead on.

lots of room to improve.  but at least its a usable car, and not something severely limited to most folks....like a mini.

[Cubical-aka-Moltar]

The Silverado numbers are surprising for one month..way more than any of the cars, almost as much as all of GMC.

Edited by Cubical-aka-Moltar, 02 March 2011 - 11:40 PM.

[Satty]

regfootball, on 02 March 2011 - 10:58 PM, said:

but at least its a usable car, and not something severely limited to most folks....like a mini.

Having owned a Mini for what seems like forever, and having done some time in a Cruze, I can honestly say that for the driving most people do the Cooper is the better choice. The Cruze is smoother and quieter on the highway, but the Mini is far more manageable in tight spaces and can, contrary to your beliefs, haul 4 adults, provided none in back is wearing a short skirt as its impossible to exit gracefully. The Cruze is a good little car, very refined, hopefully it erases memories of the Cavalier and Cavalier II.

Edited by Satty, 03 March 2011 - 12:21 AM.