GM (GM) reported third quarter sales in the US that were lower compared to a year ago, though retail sales climbed higher and EV sales hit a fresh record.
For the quarter, GM delivered 659,601 vehicles, down 2% compared to a year ago; however, retail sales were up 3%. GM said it delivered more vehicles than any other automaker in the US in Q3.
GM did not say whether the company gained market share in the US in Q3, but it did say it was number one in overall pickup sales and in overall fulls-sized SUV sales, with a 63.7% market share.
SUVs like the new Chevrolet Trax, Cadillac XT4, and pickups including the GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Colorado led the way.
Overall, luxury brand Cadillac sales were up 4.2%; Buick sales were up 7.8%; and GMC trucks sales were up 6.4%. Chevrolet sales were down 6.4% however, with drops in sales for the outgoing Chevrolet Bolt EV, discontinued Chevrolet Malibu, and Silverado MD (medium-duty) pickup.
Despite the drop in sales for the Bolt EV, GM’s other EVs picked up the slack with sales up 60% compared to a year ago, with 32,195 EVs sold.
“GM’s EV portfolio is growing faster than the market because we have an all-electric vehicle for just about everybody, no matter what they like to drive,” said Rory Harvey, GM executive vice president and president of Global Markets.
EVs like the new Chevy Equinox, Blazer SUV, Silverado EV, and Cadillac Lyriq all saw strong gains, however none of the vehicles topped 10,000 units in sales for the quarter.
Nonetheless, GM said its US EV market share hit 9.5%, up from 7.1% last quarter, with the company claiming more than 50% of EV customers are new to GM, unlocking a subset of buyers that never purchased GM vehicles (EVs, gas, or otherwise) before.
Finally GM said its inventory stood at around 627,000 vehicles entering Q4, which is around 50 to 60 days of supply entering a typically busy holiday period. Several automakers including rival Stellantis had to take action recently to address ballooning inventory, though GM claimed its incentives in the third quarter were 4.5% of average transaction price (ATP), which the automaker said was two percent below the industry.
Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.
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