General Motors Co. (GM, Financial) released its first-quarter sales report on April 1. Quarterly sales surged despite the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. Sales were up for all of the company's major brands except Chevrolet.
Performance at a glance
The Detroit-based automaker delivered 642,250 vehicles in the first quarter, up 4% year over year.
Although General Motors issued its first-quarter sales report, it lacked key information that will be on the full earnings report, such as retail and fleet delivery numbers. However, the company mentioned that retail sales have returned to pre-Covid levels. As for fleet, sales are in the recovery stage.
In a statement, Executive Vice President and President of GM North America Steve Carlisle said:
"Over the last year, our dealers, supply chain and manufacturing teams have gone above and beyond to satisfy customers as demand for GM products rose sharply. The great teamwork continues. Sales are off to a strong start in 2021, we are operating our truck and full-size SUV plants at full capacity and we plan to recover lost car and crossover production in the second half of the year where possible."
How did the brands fare?
Cadillac witnessed 22.9% sales growth to 37,277 vehicles. Cadillac CT5 sales jumped 45.8% to 4,374 units. Likewise, XT6 sales climbed roughly 18% to 5,990 units. By contrast, sales of the division's top-selling XT5 sport utility were disappointing at 8,773 units, down 2.77% on a year-over-year basis. However, that had a negligible impact on the brand's quarterly growth.
The Chevrolet brand saw sales decline 1.7% to 427,950 units. The company attributed the overall decline to a 12.54% decrease in sales of Silverado Pickups to 126,591 units. Meanwhile, Equinox sales dipped approximately 14% to 63,218 units and Chevrolet Trax sales plunged 40% to 16,955 units. These headwinds adversely impacted the division's overall quarterly growth.
GMC sales totaled 131,239 units, up 10.5%. A 12.84% growth in sales of Acadia (19,956 units sold) and a roughly 60% growth in sales of Canyon (7,144 units sold) contributed to the brand's quarterly growth.
Buick's sales soared 35.2% to 45,784 units. Sales skyrocketed roughly 609% for Encore GX ((18,435 units sold) and 51.12% for Envision (10,476 units sold). Encore, the brand's top-selling vehicle, recorded a sales decline of 56.25% to 6,229 units.
2020 in review
General Motors sold 2.55 million vehicles in the U.S. in 2020, down 12% as compared to 2019. Most of the U.S. plants, including the truck and SUV plants, were non-operational for part of the year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to fall in production volume. This year marked the lowest volume sold since 2011. While fleet sales were down 33% during the year, retail sales tumbled 6%.
Looking forward
Going forward, General Motors expects auto sales to rebound as businesses ramp back up and consumers return to more frequent travel. Elaine Buckberg, the company's chief economist, commented:
"We look forward to an inflection point for the U.S. economy in spring. Widening vaccination rates and warmer weather should enable consumers and businesses to return to a more normal range of activities, lifting the job market, consumer sentiment and auto demand."
General Motors did not issue sales guidance for 2021.
Disclosure: I do not hold any positions in the stocks mentioned.
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