Sales of Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups drove General Motors Co.’s first-quarter revenue to $34.9 billion and income to $2.1 billion. GM also declared a second-quarter dividend of 38 cents per outstanding share of common stock.
GM’s strategy to launch its high-content, high-margin full-size pickups before the rest of the fleet worked as sales of the trucks were up 20 percent compared to a year ago and transaction prices are nearly $5,800 more than the crew-cab models they replaced, according to the automaker.
“GM’s first-quarter operating results were in line with expectations we shared in January, says Mary Barra, chairman and CEO of GM. “My confidence in the year ahead remains strong, driven by our all-new full-size truck launch and our ongoing business transformation.”
In North America, GM’s first-quarter earnings before interest and taxes were $1.9 billion, largely due to delivering more than 665,000 vehicles in the United States, 80 percent of which were trucks, SUVs, and crossovers. Chevrolet’s Trax, Equinox, and Colorado set first-quarter sales records and the GMC Acadia posted its best quarter ever. Also, Buick Enclave sales were up 28 percent versus a year ago.
GM also announced today that it has declared a second-quarter 2019 dividend of 38 cents per outstanding share of common stock. The dividend is payable Friday, June 21, to all common shareholders of record at the close of business on Friday, June 7.
