In October, strong sales of the Chevrolet Silverado are pushing GM to a repeat of last month's results.
With sales of truck and utility vehicles going strong, early returns indicate October will be another good month for General Motors, executives said this week.
Sandor Piszar, Chevrolet director of Truck Marketing, said before a presentation on GM’s truck sales that overall sales of new vehicles have remained strong during the first part of October. So far this month, sales have basically continued on the same path as they were on during September, according to the reports from dealers, he said.
Chevrolet sold more than 50,000 Silverado trucks in September, resulting in a share gain of 6.5 percentage points in the large pickup truck market and making it the current-generation Silverado’s best sales month since its launch.
The Silverado’s strong performance helped GM increase its share of the large pickup truck market to nearly 39% – 5 percentage points higher than a year ago, he said. Exceptionally strong sales of trucks and crossovers helped GM earn average transaction prices (ATPs) of about $34,600, the highest in company history, according to J.D. Power PIN estimates. ATPs were up about $1,200 per unit compared with August, and they were up about $2,500 per unit from a year ago.
Sales of the 2015 Chevrolet Suburban were up 50% in September are performing even better in October.
Nearly 80% of retail customers who bought a large SUV during September purchased a Chevrolet or GMC product. In addition, the Chevrolet Silverado had its best retail sales month since 2008 and GM’s estimated share of the retail market for large pickups increased 5 percentage points from a year ago to close to 40%.
In the medium crossover segment, combined sales of the Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave were up 31%. GM compact car deliveries were also up 30%, and year-to-date sales were the highest since 2005.
In addition, Silverado sales were up 54%, Suburban up 50%, Traverse up 45%.
“We’ve had a very good year on the truck side, Piszar said.
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Total sales of the light-duty Silverado rose 71%, for the best light-duty September performance in 10 years. Light-duty double cab Silverado sales were up 130%, for the best double cab September sales in a decade.
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GMC deliveries, meanwhile, were up 28%, including a 25% increase for Sierra and a 16% increase for Terrain. Yukon sales nearly doubled and Yukon XL was up 64%. Sales of the new Cadillac Escalade more than doubled, helping the brand deliver results equal to a year ago.
Piszar also said GM expects the new midsized trucks to raise interest in the entire segment, which, despite continuing consumer interest, has been limited by the lack of new and more modern.
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Prior the launch of the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon this fall, the newest vehicle in the segment was the nine-year old Toyota Tacoma.
Underscoring consumer interest in the segment is the fact that GM has already tracked more than 110,000 visits to the configuration website that Chevrolet opened on Sept. 1. The length of time consumers have spent on website show that consumers are clearly interested in the new truck, Piszar said.