..:: AUTO REPORT AFRICA ::..
Related Articles
General Motors Co. said on Wednesday that it sold 2.36 million vehicles globally in the first quarter of 2016.
The company also disclosed that it delivered on its sales priorities, led by strong results in the SUV and luxury segments in China and retail performance in the U.S.
“The quality of GM’s global sales in the key segments and markets in the first quarter is in line with our efforts to drive sustained profitable growth,” GM President Dan Ammann said in a statement obtained by AUTO REPORT AFRICA.
According to Ammann, “In China, we continued to grow SUV sales and Cadillac expanded in the luxury segment. In the U.S., our disciplined approach to increased retail sales and lower rental fleet resulted in more profitable transactions.”
However, GM’s first quarter sales, the statement said, were down 2.5 percent compared to a year ago, mainly due to continued challenging conditions in parts of South America and Asia and the softening of the mini-commercial vehicle market in China.
In China, GM and its joint ventures delivered 964,000 vehicles in the first quarter, an increase of 0.2 percent. GM’s total SUV sales in the country were up 148 percent, led by the continued success of the Buick Envision and Baojun 560. Cadillac deliveries in China rose 6.1 percent.
North American sales, according to the statement, increased 1.2 percent to 800,000 vehicles while in the U.S., GM continued to grow retail share faster than any other automaker with retail deliveries up 7 percent, or 537,000 vehicles.
In Europe, sales of Opel and its Vauxhall sister brand increased by 8.4 percent to more than 300,000 vehicles in the first quarter, outperforming the industry growth of only 5 percent. Opel has received more than 150,000 orders for the new Astra that was recently awarded European “Car of the Year 2016.”
Global sales highlights (vs. first quarter 2015):
- Cadillac global sales up 0.3 percent, driven by a 6.1 percent increase in China.
- Cadillac U.S. Average Transaction Prices (ATP) up 5 percent, leading its competitive set.
- Buick sales in China up 22 percent supported by a 112 percent increase in Envision SUV deliveries. Global Buick sales increased 19 percent.
- Chevrolet retail sales in the U.S. up 10 percent, retail market share up a full point to an estimated 11 percent.
- Chevrolet continued to be best-selling brand in South America.
- Chevrolet sales in South Korea increased 14.7 percent.
- Baojun sales in China up 82 percent driven by strong demand for its model 560 SUV and model 730 MPV.
