GM ( GM ) reported third-quarter U.S. sales down from a year ago, though retail sales climbed higher and electric car sales hit a new record.
For the quarter, GM delivered 659,601 vehicles, down 2% from a year ago; however, retail sales rose 3%. GM said it delivered more vehicles in the third quarter than any other U.S. automaker.
GM did not say whether the company gained U.S. market share in the third quarter, but did say it was No. 1 in total pickup sales and in total full-size SUV sales, with a 63.7% market share .
SUVs such as the new Chevrolet Trax, Cadillac XT4 and pickups including the GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Colorado led the way.
Overall, luxury brand Cadillac’s sales rose 4.2%; Buick’s sales rose 7.8%; and sales of GMC trucks increased 6.4%. However, Chevrolet sales fell 6.4%, with sales declines for the outgoing Chevrolet Bolt EV, the discontinued Chevrolet Malibu and the Silverado MD (medium-duty) pickup.
Despite the decline in Bolt EV sales, GM’s other EVs picked up the pace, selling a total of 32,195 EVs, up 60% from a year ago.
“GM’s EV portfolio is growing faster than the market because we have an all-electric vehicle for virtually everyone, no matter what they like to drive,” said Rory Harvey, GM’s Executive Vice President and President of Global Markets.
EVs like the new Chevy Equinox, Blazer SUV, Silverado EV and Cadillac Lyriq all posted strong gains, but none of the vehicles reached 10,000 sales in the quarter.
Nevertheless, GM said its US EV market share was 9.5%, up from 7.1% last quarter, with the company claiming more than 50% of EV customers are new to GM, opening up a subset of buyers who never bought GM vehicles (EVs, gas engines). , or otherwise) before.
Finally, GM said inventory was about 627,000 vehicles entering the fourth quarter, representing about 50 to 60 days of inventory heading into a typically busy holiday season. Several automakers, including rival Stellantis, recently had to take action to address rising inventory, although GM claimed the incentives amounted to 4.5% of the average transaction price in the third quarter, which the automaker said was 2% lower than that of the sector.
Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him Tweet and on Instagram.
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