General Motors dealers reported 223,932 total sales in December, a 16-percent increase from a year ago for the company’s four brands. The gain was driven by solid retail sales which were 27 percent higher than a strong December a year ago. For the calendar year, total sales for GM’s four brands increased 21 percent to 2,202,927, while retail sales rose 16 percent for the year. GM’s four brands sold 118,435 more vehicles this year than the company did with eight brands in 2009, and will gain total and retail market share for the year.
The December total sales result includes an anticipated reduction in fleet sales to rental companies. For the month, overall fleet sales represented 17 percent of GM’s total sales.
According to Don Johnson, vice president, U.S. sales operations, the company’s annual sales performance shows the strong focus of the new company.
“Our sales this year reflect the impact of GM’s new business model,” Johnson said. “The consistency of results that we achieved demonstrates the focus on our brands, dealers and customers, and how we compete aggressively for every sale, every day.”
In December GM’s industry-leading lineup of fuel-efficient crossovers continued to gain in popularity with consumers. Sales of GM crossovers rose 42 percent versus December 2009. For the year, GM crossover sales were 50 percent higher than in 2009. GM sold 567,458 crossovers in the United States in 2010, far more than any other automaker.
Since 2005, the crossovers’ proportion of the U.S. market has almost doubled to about 22 percent of the industry. In the same period, crossovers as a proportion of GM sales have increased more than threefold and now represent 26 percent of the company’s sales volume.
“The crossover market is a great example of how consumers can have their cake and eat it too,” Johnson said. “More and more, consumers are choosing to purchase fuel-efficient crossovers like the 32-mpg highway-rated Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain because they get everything they want – comfort, utility and quality.”
In December, sales of the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain set records for each model (22,764 and 9,303 respectively) and led GM’s crossover gains – a result of improving availability. For the year, sales of these compact crossovers were up 74 percent and 331 percent respectively, enabling them to gain market share in the compact crossover segment where sales rose an estimated 27 percent year-to-date through December. In the mid-luxury crossover segment, the Cadillac SRX gained more share than any entry, with sales up 152 percent for the year.
GM’s full-size pickup truck sales improved 29 percent in December versus a year ago, when the company was clearing out a high proportion of past model-year trucks. During the month, 89 percent of GM’s full-sized pickup trucks sold were 2011 model year vehicles compared to 22 percent new model year trucks (2010) during the same month last year. In 2010, combined sales of the Chevrolet Avalanche, Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickups increased to 520,444 units – up 17 percent compared to 2009.
Total sales of GM passenger cars declined 6 percent during December, driven by anticipated lower fleet sales. However, retail sales of GM passenger cars rose 14 percent for the month, led by improving demand for the all-new Chevrolet Cruze, Buick Regal and Cadillac CTS Coupe. For the year, sales of GM passenger cars improved 20 percent.
Month-end dealer inventory in the United States stood at about 511,000 units, which is about 25,000 lower compared to November and about 126,000 higher than December 2009.
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