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General Motors Total US Sales Down Slightly in September, But for a Good Reason

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As the entire car industry has seen sales declines in the United States’ saturated new car market, General Motors has been no exception, with September sales facing a small 0.6% decrease from sales last year. This was made up of falling year-over-year sales from both Chevrolet and GMC which were offset by increased year-over-year sales by Cadillac and Buick.

That doesn’t sound good. However, it is totally okay. Honestly, the General is actually doing better than ever, because it decided a while back that it would stop selling so many vehicles to car fleets, which deliver lower profits while inflating sales numbers. Instead, GM has focused on raising its four brands’ retail sales numbers. This trend was evident in GM September sales, where total fleet sales are down 4.4% from 47,415 sales to 45,346, but retail sales have risen 0.3% from 203,895 to 204,449.

This trend was also especially clear in Chevrolet sales, where retail sales rose 0.9% to 135,448 units, gaining 0.3% of retail market share to 11%–the brand has risen in retail market share 8 out of the 9 months this year.

GMC retail sales actually decreased 5.6%. However, as the month progressed, the brand made something of a comeback, as it was able by the end to report the second-highest average transaction price it has ever had at $44,144 per sale.

Buick and Cadillac saw retail sales gains of 6.7% and 4.7%, respectively, both pulling in 0.1% more retail share.

So yes, total sales have decreased. However, the drop in fleet sales has been GM’s plan all along, so GM is making about $1,000 more per transaction than it did at this time last year.

News Source: GM Authority