April 2017: General Motors Co.

[William Maley]

GM Crossover Sales Surge Driving Retail Share Higher Daily rental deliveries down 20 percent per plan

DETROIT — General Motors (NYSE: GM) today reported April sales of 244,406 crossovers, trucks and cars, driven by exceptionally strong crossover sales at Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac.

GM expects to gain retail market share for the month, with industry volumes about equal to a year ago, adjusted for one fewer selling day.

• In April, Chevrolet crossovers were up 27 percent on a retail basis; Buick’s were up 48 percent; GMC’s were up 20 percent; and Cadillac’s were up 46 percent.
• Year to date, Chevrolet crossovers were up 24 percent on a retail basis; Buick’s were up 34 percent; GMC’s were up 15 percent; and Cadillac’s were up 23 percent.

“We see crossovers becoming an even bigger part of the industry and GM sales over the next five years,” said Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president of Sales Operations. “Just five years ago, about one in four GM sales were crossovers. Today, they account for almost one-third of our deliveries and we see more growth ahead.”

During April, Chevrolet dealers delivered 4,500 all-new 2018 Equinox 1.5L compact crossovers, with a 2.0L model arriving this summer, followed by a diesel model. The all-new 2018 Traverse midsize crossover will arrive during the summer. 

GMC dealers will begin delivering the all-new Terrain compact crossover in late summer and Buick dealers will roll out the new Enclave midsize crossover in the fall.

April Sales Overview (vs. 2016)

• GM’s total sales were down 6 percent. There was one fewer selling day in April year over year. Selling-day-adjusted sales are about 4 percentage points higher than reported sales.
• Retail sales were 191,911 units, down 4 percent. Selling-day-adjusted retail sales were essentially equal to a year ago.
• Fleet sales were 52,495 units, down 11 percent, or down 7 percent selling-day adjusted. Deliveries to daily rental companies were down 20 percent, as planned.  
• GM’s fleet portfolio is well-balanced, with Commercial and Government deliveries higher than rental in the first four months of the year and Commercial and Government market share is up versus the industry. GM is on track to deliver its third consecutive year of year-over-year decline in rental volume and mix.
• GM’s incentive spending as a percentage of average transaction prices (ATP) was lower than domestic and many Asian competitors, which was the case throughout 2016.
• GM’s spending in April was 11.7 percent, according to J.D. Power PIN estimates, which was below the company’s first quarter average of 14.1 percent and March’s level of 13.6 percent.
• ATPs were approximately $35,000, up more than $600 per unit compared to the first quarter of 2017.
• As planned, GM’s inventories reflect strong sales, lower car production and strategic, launch-related growth in truck and crossover stocks.
• The company expects to end 2017 at essentially the same inventory levels as 2016 on a days’ supply basis, but with fewer cars and more trucks and crossovers in stock.

“When you look at the broader economy, including a strong job market, rising wages, low inflation and low interest rates, and couple them to low fuel prices and strong consumer confidence, you have everything you need for auto sales to weather headwinds and remain at or near historic highs,” said Mustafa Mohatarem, GM chief economist.

April Brand Highlights (vs. 2016)

Chevrolet

• Chevrolet crossover sales set a new April and calendar year to date record for both total and retail sales.
• Chevrolet Bolt EV deliveries totaled 1,292 units during the month. 
• Retail deliveries of the Trax, a vehicle that helped spark the rapid growth of the small crossover segment, were up 45 percent. It had its best April and calendar year to date sales on both a total and retail basis.
• Retail deliveries of the Equinox and Traverse were up 23 percent and 19 percent, respectively. The Traverse had its best April and calendar year to date sales ever on a retail basis.
• Cruze retail deliveries were up 24 percent and total deliveries were up 51 percent.

Buick

• Buick had its best April retail sales in 15 years and its best April total sales since 2005.
• The Encore, which helped ignite the boom in small crossovers, had its best month ever in April. Its total and retail sales have now been up year over year for eight consecutive months.   
• Envision retail sales were 3,576 units for its best month since launch.  Enclave retail deliveries rose 4 percent.

GMC

• Denali models had their best month ever. Close to one-third of all GMC deliveries were Denalis, including half of all Sierra HDs.
• The Acadia had its best April ever, with total deliveries up 45 percent and retail deliveries up 42 percent. The vehicle has gained a full point of retail segment share in 2017 driven by the all-new design launched last year. 
• The Terrain was up 14 percent in total.

Cadillac

• Cadillac retail deliveries were up 7 percent.
• Year to date retail deliveries of the all-new XT5 crossover were 25 percent higher than the outgoing SRX.
• Calendar year to date, XT5 ATPs are up more than $3,300 year over year compared to the SRX.

[David]

To be expected in what we are seeing across the whole auto industry. Interesting is the big gain in Savanna sales. Guess companies are replacing older service vans.

[A Horse With No Name]

40 minutes ago, dfelt said:

To be expected in what we are seeing across the whole auto industry. Interesting is the big gain in Savanna sales. Guess companies are replacing older service vans.

Probably true on the service van part of the story.

Cruze is doing very well.

[Cmicasa the Great]

Over at Cadillac the XT5, alone almost beat the MKC, MKX, MKT, and Navigator alll by itself. The CT6 lost to the Continental, despite the much cheaper price of teh Lincoln, by 25 units.. and the combined XTS and CT6 vs MKS and Continental, the Cadillacs clobbered them

And WTF?? Camaro beat Mustang. Cruze beat Focus. Malibu beat Fusion. Impala beat Taurus

[A Horse With No Name]

4 minutes ago, Cmicasa the Great said:

And WTF?? Camaro beat Mustang. Cruze beat Focus. Malibu beat Fusion. Impala beat Taurus

Maybe common sense exists in our country after all....

[David]

2 minutes ago, Cmicasa the Great said:

Over at Cadillac the XT5, alone almost beat the MKC, MKX, MKT, and Navigator alll by itself. The CT6 lost to the Continental, despite the much cheaper price of teh Lincoln, by 25 units.. and the combined XTS and CT6 vs MKS and Continental, the Cadillacs clobbered them

And WTF?? Camaro beat Mustang. Cruze beat Focus. Malibu beat Fusion. Impala beat Taurus

Interesting conversation today at the coffee cooler at work, coworker just bought an XT5, traded in his BMW X5. He said he was really shocked when his wife said she saw it and liked the looks and thought they should check it out as a possible next auto. They liked it after test driving it so much traded in the BMW and came back to an American brand, First one in 18 years. He then went on to say that the German brands seem to have moved into a Toyota style of selling every thing cheap and not being a luxury brand any more. He liked that Cadillac does not look like the other GM products and seems only focused on luxury. Loved his experience at the Bellevue Cadillac dealership.

 I was shocked to hear this from a die hard BMW fan. I think Cadillac is starting to gain back the Luxury crowd and the German brands are loosing those they used to court with their badge as a luxury only brand as they introduce cheap products.

[A Horse With No Name]

2 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Interesting conversation today at the coffee cooler at work, coworker just bought an XT5, traded in his BMW X5. He said he was really shocked when his wife said she saw it and liked the looks and thought they should check it out as a possible next auto. They liked it after test driving it so much traded in the BMW and came back to an American brand, First one in 18 years. He then went on to say that the German brands seem to have moved into a Toyota style of selling every thing cheap and not being a luxury brand any more. He liked that Cadillac does not look like the other GM products and seems only focused on luxury. Loved his experience at the Bellevue Cadillac dealership.

 I was shocked to hear this from a die hard BMW fan. I think Cadillac is starting to gain back the Luxury crowd and the German brands are loosing those they used to court with their badge as a luxury only brand as they introduce cheap products.

Cadillac is not resting on its laurels, and I love Ms. Barra as president of GM.

[Cmicasa the Great]

1 hour ago, dfelt said:

Interesting conversation today at the coffee cooler at work, coworker just bought an XT5, traded in his BMW X5. He said he was really shocked when his wife said she saw it and liked the looks and thought they should check it out as a possible next auto. They liked it after test driving it so much traded in the BMW and came back to an American brand, First one in 18 years. He then went on to say that the German brands seem to have moved into a Toyota style of selling every thing cheap and not being a luxury brand any more. He liked that Cadillac does not look like the other GM products and seems only focused on luxury. Loved his experience at the Bellevue Cadillac dealership.

 I was shocked to hear this from a die hard BMW fan. I think Cadillac is starting to gain back the Luxury crowd and the German brands are loosing those they used to court with their badge as a luxury only brand as they introduce cheap products.

i've been saying this for years. Only getting better now. CT7+ and XT4, XT6, 7 and 8 better be coming correct

[A Horse With No Name]

Gm is positioned very very well.  They are focusing on their core values and product right when other companies are giving that up.

The current Impala is proof of that IMHO...best large sedan dollar for dollar on the planet.

[smk4565]

Ouch on the Impala, that segment is dying fast, by 2020 we won't have large sedans, other than the luxury ones.  

The S-class outsold every Cadillac sedan despite costing double.  I wouldn't celebrate Cadillac's success just yet.  Plus Cadillac is going to bring cheaper stuff than the X1 and CLA and A3 type cars.

interesting that the big SUVs were down a lot seems like crossovers sales are going smaller too.

[Stew]

Cadillac sill has a long way to go.  going over all the sales number, BMW and Mercedes still decimated them. 

[A Horse With No Name]

2 hours ago, Stew said:

Cadillac sill has a long way to go.  going over all the sales number, BMW and Mercedes still decimated them. 

Agreed, they cannot make up for 30-40 years of middle of the road mediocre product overnight.

[Cmicasa the Great]

1 minute ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Agreed, they cannot make up for 30-40 years of middle of the road mediocre product overnight.

See.. I take issue with this. 30-40 years ago was 1986 and 1976. Cadillac vehicles were quite nice back then with a few hiccups. The Germans were not seen as above them or superior in any way except driving dynamics. 20 years ago? Maybe. That's 1996-7. But that really only lasted for 10-12 years max.. or two generation. Cadillac is been building exemplary vehicles since 2007.. I'd even say 2005. But since then Cadillacs have been dynamically and luxuriously on par with the Germans in every category they competed directly within. 

[Cmicasa the Great]

2 hours ago, Stew said:

Cadillac sill has a long way to go.  going over all the sales number, BMW and Mercedes still decimated them. 

Despite your constant ignoring of the facts.. the Germans outsold the hell out of Cadillac in areas where they simply don't compete or won't compete. For example, comparing a CTS to 5 Series sales is ridiculous when U don't kno the product mix that BMW had vs the singular iteration of the CTS. Interesting that the singular XT5, their newest product, sold within striking distance of the X3, X4, and X5 combined, with one damn engine choice.. 

[David]

6 minutes ago, Cmicasa the Great said:

See.. I take issue with this. 30-40 years ago was 1986 and 1976. Cadillac vehicles were quite nice back then with a few hiccups. The Germans were not seen as above them or superior in any way except driving dynamics. 20 years ago? Maybe. That's 1996-7. But that really only lasted for 10-12 years max.. or two generation. Cadillac is been building exemplary vehicles since 2007.. I'd even say 2005. But since then Cadillacs have been dynamically and luxuriously on par with the Germans in every category they competed directly within. 

I go with 2004, First year of SRX, CTS both were a big jump in the right direction for Cadillac.

[Cmicasa the Great]

1 minute ago, dfelt said:

I go with 2004, First year of SRX, CTS both were a big jump in the right direction for Cadillac.

Granted. This.. during some of the darkest days at GM financially. OK.. "lesson learned, let's move on." And move they have been in the RIGHT DIRECTION. Seriously.. no one I can think of can get into a CTS, CT6, XT5, Escalade, or even XTS and come out saying those cars were behind the Germs in fit and finish, nor driving dynamics vs a similar model. Yes.. the ATS is the exception, but my excuse for that remains that it was designed almost 10 years ago and put on to the market in 2012... with the 2017 model year (for all cars) almost DONE

[A Horse With No Name]

43 minutes ago, Cmicasa the Great said:

See.. I take issue with this. 30-40 years ago was 1986 and 1976. Cadillac vehicles were quite nice back then with a few hiccups. The Germans were not seen as above them or superior in any way except driving dynamics. 20 years ago? Maybe. That's 1996-7. But that really only lasted for 10-12 years max.. or two generation. Cadillac is been building exemplary vehicles since 2007.. I'd even say 2005. But since then Cadillacs have been dynamically and luxuriously on par with the Germans in every category they competed directly within. 

Ohh I love the 1970's Cadillac products...80's left a few things to be desired, i would say more like 20 years. CTS was the real mark of change when it came out.

Interestingly enough, a lot more positive press and a lot bigger splash with the CTS than the new Conti had in its wildest dreams...

34 minutes ago, Cmicasa the Great said:

Granted. This.. during some of the darkest days at GM financially. OK.. "lesson learned, let's move on." And move they have been in the RIGHT DIRECTION. Seriously.. no one I can think of can get into a CTS, CT6, XT5, Escalade, or even XTS and come out saying those cars were behind the Germs in fit and finish, nor driving dynamics vs a similar model. Yes.. the ATS is the exception, but my excuse for that remains that it was designed almost 10 years ago and put on to the market in 2012... with the 2017 model year (for all cars) almost DONE

Agree with this...visually Cadillac just nails it IMHO....they and Audi...love the styling on both.

[Stew]

4 hours ago, Cmicasa the Great said:

Despite your constant ignoring of the facts.. the Germans outsold the hell out of Cadillac in areas where they simply don't compete or won't compete. For example, comparing a CTS to 5 Series sales is ridiculous when U don't kno the product mix that BMW had vs the singular iteration of the CTS. Interesting that the singular XT5, their newest product, sold within striking distance of the X3, X4, and X5 combined, with one damn engine choice.. 

1 bright light in an otherwise sea of dreariness.  Yes, they need more crossovers, but as of now they aren't beating anyone.......

[smk4565]

5 hours ago, Cmicasa the Great said:

Despite your constant ignoring of the facts.. the Germans outsold the hell out of Cadillac in areas where they simply don't compete or won't compete. For example, comparing a CTS to 5 Series sales is ridiculous when U don't kno the product mix that BMW had vs the singular iteration of the CTS. Interesting that the singular XT5, their newest product, sold within striking distance of the X3, X4, and X5 combined, with one damn engine choice.. 

XT5 had a great month, anything over 5,000 in that $40-50k lux SUV segment is strong as most sell more like 3500 a month.  The Q5 topped 5,000 last month, that is where you want to be in this segment.

CTS is supposed to be a direct competitor to the 5 series and it has an $8000 price advantage that is a fair sales comparison.  Cadillac's sedans just don't get the job done in sales and I think they will only consolidate them as times goes on.

25 minutes ago, Stew said:

1 bright light in an otherwise sea of dreariness.  Yes, they need more crossovers, but as of now they aren't beating anyone.......

Will be interesting to see what happens to XT5 sales when a cheaper XT4 is available. 

[Cmicasa the Great]

16 hours ago, smk4565 said:

XT5 had a great month, anything over 5,000 in that $40-50k lux SUV segment is strong as most sell more like 3500 a month.  The Q5 topped 5,000 last month, that is where you want to be in this segment.

CTS is supposed to be a direct competitor to the 5 series and it has an $8000 price advantage that is a fair sales comparison.  Cadillac's sedans just don't get the job done in sales and I think they will only consolidate them as times goes on.

Will be interesting to see what happens to XT5 sales when a cheaper XT4 is available. 

The 5 Series comes in more variants than the CTS and I'd hardly call a starting price $51K for the BMW vs the $46K for the Caddy an $8k price advantage. MATH.. and I mean elementary school variety tells me that its more like $5K. 

Also.. the XT5 outsold that ORB of an Audi by about 500 units last month. Fuck the Germans.. and anyone who tries to play down Cadillac in order to build Kraut up

[A Horse With No Name]

33 minutes ago, Cmicasa the Great said:

 

Fuck the Germans..

Given how attractive German females are, I can agree with this sentiment.