GM keeps US sales crown, surges with 19% gain in 2nd quarter

General Motors reported a 19% sales gain Wednesday for the second quarter and it dominated the U.S. auto industry in sales for the first half with 1.3 million vehicles sold, an 18% year-over-year gain.

Through half of 2023, GM sold 581,114 pickups and large SUVs, which comprised about 45% of GM's total 1,295,186 new vehicles sold.

The automaker reported selling 36,322 electric vehicles during the first half — 33,659 of those were Bolt and Bolt EUV vehicles.

GM is still rolling out its newer EVs on its Ultium platform, including the GMC Hummer pickup and SUV, the Cadillac Lyriq and soon the Chevrolet Silverado EV. Sales of the Hummer were down 87% for the first half with GM delivering 49. GM launched the Lyriq later last year so it did not have a year-ago comparison for the first half, but the automaker reported delivering 2,316 Lyriqs.

"GM had a strong quarter with sales coming in a bit higher than most forecasts," said Michelle Krebs, executive analyst at Cox Automotive. "Retail sales were up as were fleet sales. GM had some big sales hikes in its large, pricey SUVs, which should boost profits. At the other end, the Chevrolet Trax looks to be off to a good start, indicating an appetite for more affordable vehicles."

GM still wears the sales crown

GM retains the sales crown. Its closest rival, Toyota Motor North America, reported first-half sales Wednesday of 1,038,520 vehicles, down 0.7% compared with the year-ago period. First-half electrified vehicle sales totaled 270,476, representing 26% of total first-half sales.

Stellantis’ U.S. sales in the second quarter were up 6% compared with the same period a year ago, the company reported Monday. For the first half, sales were relatively flat. Ford Motor Co. will report its sales Thursday.

In the 2nd quarter

GM's second-quarter U.S. sales increased 19% to 691,978 new vehicles sold. The gains came from continued strong demand for full-size pickups and big SUVs, including a 34% gain in commercial fleet sales. GM said its average transaction prices increased by $1,482 per vehicle.

Dealer inventory at the end of the quarter was flat with the first quarter at about 412,285 vehicles in stock. GM faces the challenge that all automakers grapple with right now: A shortage of rail cars to transport new cars from the factories to dealerships. CEO Mary Barra recently discussed the problem along with GM's slow EV rollout.

GM sold 20,921 of the new Chevrolet Trax small SUVs in the quarter and it expects sales growth in the second half as production increases.

EV sales in the quarter

For the quarter, GM sold 15,652 EVs. Of those, 13,959 were the Bolt and Bolt EUV — both of which will end production this year so that GM can retool the Orion Assembly plant to make the Silverado EV.

GM delivered 47 Hummer pickups, down 83% from the year-ago quarter and 1,348 Cadillac Lyriq SUVs. GM has said it is on track to build 50,000 EVs in North America through June and double that in the second half.

Cox Automotive is forecasting U.S. EV sales this year will surpass 1 million units for the first time. EV share is nearing 7% of the total U.S. auto market, Cox said.

Sales strong for high-profit vehicles

In the quarter, GM delivered 75,810 total Sierra light-duty and heavy-duty pickups, up 21.6% from the year-ago quarter. Sales of the Silverado dipped 1.2% to 141,299 sold.

All of GM's brands saw double-digit percentage growth in the quarter and the first half.

2nd quarter challenges

GM sales of its midsize pickup, GMC Canyon, dropped 14% in the first half and sales of the Chevrolet Colorado midsize pickup dropped 25%. The GMC Terrain SUV sales plummeted 21.1% in the first half. Sales of the Buick Encore fell 34.6% to 5,064, offset by big gains in sales of the Encore GX and the Envision SUVs.

Contact Jamie L. LaReau: jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. Read more on General Motors and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.