General Motors US auto sales surged 24% in the third quarter compared to the same period last year, outpacing industry analysts’ expectations of at least a 21.6% increase.
GM reported it sold 555,580 vehicles during the third quarter, an increase over the 447,000 sold a year earlier. Last year, the automaker struggled with supply issues of semiconductor chips, which caused sales to be lower than expected.
General Motors’ sales for the first nine months of the year totaled 1.65 million units, a decline of 7.1% from the same period last year. The company ended last quarter with 359,292 vehicles in dealer inventory and in transit. That total is an increase of 111,453 units from the previous quarter and nearly three times the company’s inventory at the end of Q3 in 2021.
GM said it plans to increase production on its electric vehicles, including the Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV, after the models broke a record for the quarter, posting 14,709 units sold. The company said it would boost calendar-year production for global markets from approximately 44,000 vehicles this year to more than 70,000 in 2023.
Meanwhile, the production of GM’s newer electric vehicles, like the GMC Hummer EV pickup, has been slow to start. The company has been producing the expensive Hummer EV pickup, which is the first vehicle to feature the company’s next-generation Ultium batteries and platform, at a pace that is much lower than is typical for the automaker. GM has only sold 782 Hummer EVs, which cost over $100,000 each.
The company has said it will pause production on the Hummer EV beginning in late November to pull ahead body shop upgrades for the upcoming Chevrolet Silverado EV.
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