General Motors saw a slight decline in sales over the first quarter driven by difficulties in its fleet business but retained its title as the U.S.’s best-selling automaker.
The company sold 594,233 new vehicles during the January-through-March period, down just 1.5% year-over-year. Despite the decline, retail sales improved 6% from early 2023, boosting General Motors’ numbers enough to pass Toyota’s 565,098 in U.S. sales.
The company’s pickup lineup performed especially well, with a 3.6% jump in sales, marking its best quarter since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other hand, General Motors’ electric vehicle sales dropped sharply as software issues and production delays held back performance. Manufacturing of the company’s flagship EV, the Chevrolet Bolt, was halted last year. No segment performed worse, however, than the automaker’s fleet sales, which dropped roughly 23% from last year.
Buick was the only General Motors-owned brand to report higher year-over-year sales, which rose 16.4%. While the automaker’s overall pickup deliveries improved, its truck-focused GMC label saw sales shrink roughly 5%. Chevrolet and Cadillac sales declined marginally from their prior-year numbers.
The decline in General Motors’ sales, however modest, comes during an increase in demand. Edmunds expects quarterly sales of roughly 3.8 million units, up 5.6% year-over-year, but, unless Ford and Stellantis post more optimistic numbers in the coming days, it seems likely that much of this increase will be driven by Asian brands. Toyota, despite its inability to surpass General Motors, reported a sales increase of roughly 20% this quarter. Honda and Hyundai also captured more market share, underlining the increased competition among foreign companies for American consumers.
