General Motors Company (NYSE:GM)’s December sales edged up 4.9 percent, beating Chrysler to mark its best December sales in the past five years. General Motor’s iconic Cadillac was up overall 12.2 percent, a gain that was fuelled by new entrants XTS and ATS. Another notable winner was Buick, which rose 10 percent following new variants and hyped advertising starring key sport personalities. Chevloret’s Volt extended range electric also gained notably, about 72 percent. General Motor’s sales announcement steered away from the typical chain of action and made comparisons with November as opposed to December last year.
General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) noted that December’s total would make it the first to sell 1 million vehicles rated 30 mpg or more in the highway, in the saturated U.S market. The automaker also pointed out that the sales of its smallest cars-subcompact, mini and compact- increased an estimated 39 percent on a year-over-year basis.
In addition to the sales announcements, the automaker revealed that it would introduce new models this year. “In 2013, we’ll introduce new diesel, eAssist and plug-in vehicles in the United States and expand the availability of turbocharged four-cylinder engines,” remarked Mark Ruess, President of GM North America.
One notable highlight was the huge gain in retail sales, which increased 38 percent from November. Most automakers prefer retail sales to discounted sales. Retail sales present higher profit sales to individuals as opposed to low-margin discounted sales to fleet buyers like rental car companies.
General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) has taken the forefront in emphasizing retail sales each month, underscoring its undisguised efforts to take the focus away from the otherwise mundane monthly overall sales counts.
Huge Gains In December Cut Across A Significant Part Of The Industry
While General Motors has every right to exclaim its laudable feat, stakeholders have to bear in mind that the huge gains in December were an industry-wide phenomena. General Motors Company (NYSE:GM)’s close competitor Chrysler, as we reported, also posted its best December sales since 2007. In the report, Chrysler revealed that it gained 10 percent year-over-year, selling more than 150000 units during the month. Other players like Toyota also gained notably, increasing 9 percent. In the same light, Volkswagen AG (PINK:VLKAY) (PINK:VLKPY) had its best December since 1973.
