General Motors Co. today announced it sold 2.88 million vehicles in the United States during 2019 including more than 1 million crossovers for the second year in a row.
GM reports its best year ever for crossovers, achieving yearly records in the compact, small, and small luxury segments. Crossover deliveries totaled more than 1.16 million for the year, up 12.7 percent compared to 2018.
Chevrolet Trax, sales up 29.9 percent, saw the largest increase over last year. GMC Acadia sales were up 12.2 percent, Buick Envision improved 10.2 percent, and Buick Encore sales moved up 10 percent. The Chevrolet Traverse and GM’s best-selling crossover, the Chevrolet Equinox, both continued to grow, achieving their best-ever sales in 2019.
The all-new Chevrolet Blazer mid-size SUV debuted in 2019 and gained retail market share nearly every month, according to the manufacturer. Cadillac crossovers also saw strong gains in 2019, up 22.4 percent year over year, given a full year of sales of the all-new XT4, continued popularity of the XT5, and debut of the XT6.
“We’ve focused our resources on what our customers want – crossovers and trucks — and that has paid off,” says Kurt McNeil, vice president of U.S. Sales Operations for GM. “In addition to our industry leading crossover sales, our full-size truck franchise is unmatched. We’re pleased with our full-size pickup launch and we look forward to launching our segment-leading, all-new full-size SUVs in 2020.”
Fourth quarter North American wholesales declined an estimated 25 percent year over year, due to the 40-day United Auto Workers work stoppage. This includes the company’s newly launched heavy-duty full-size pickups, which were off approximately 17 percent.
“Our fourth-quarter stocks were leaner than we wanted, but as we get ready to launch our all-new full-size SUVs, we look forward to another solid year in 2020,” McNeil adds.
Fourth quarter customer deliveries totaled 735,909 units, down 6.3 percent year over year.
Combined sales of the Chevrolet Silverado and the GMC Sierra were strong, totaling 802,962 pickups in 2019, while combined retail market share grew almost one full percentage point, according to J.D. Power.
GM’s fleet mix was 19.7 percent in the fourth quarter and 21.8 percent for the year. Commercial and government deliveries made up more than half the company’s fleet sales, as planned, for the third year in a row. Overall fleet sales for the year were up, driven by commercial and government sales, in spite of the 40-day UAW work stoppage.
Overall, GM’s average transaction prices were a record $37,558 in the fourth quarter and a record $36,844 for the year, above industry averages, according to J.D. Power. Year-end 2019 inventory was 616,023 units, down 18.4 percent from last year.
