General Motors' U.S. light-vehicle sales rose 18 percent in the first quarter to 599,187 vehicles as all four of its brands achieved increases, the automaker said Monday.
Buick led GM's sales growth, with sales nearly doubling. Cadillac and Chevrolet reported double-digit increases, while GMC sales rose 7.6 percent.
"GM is off to a great start in 2023," GM North America President Steve Carlisle said in a statement. "We gained significant market share in the first quarter, pricing was strong, inventories are in very good shape and we sold more than 20,000 EVs in a quarter for the first time."
Duncan Aldred, vice president of global Buick and GMC, told Automotive News in January that 2023 represents a rebound year for Buick after the brand was "severely impacted" by microchip shortages in 2022. First-quarter sales of the Buick Encore GX subcompact crossover more than doubled, and sales of the Envision compact crossover more than tripled.
GM said its fleet sales rose 27 percent, which outpaced a 15 percent gain for its retail sales. Industrywide, analysts projected that fleet sales in the first quarter would offset weaker retail sales gains.
GM's record electric vehicle sales included 19,700 Chevrolet Bolts. Production of the Bolt EV and EUV had been idled in the first quarter a year ago as GM worked to fix a battery fire risk.
GMC sold just two Hummer EV pickups in the first quarter. GM said Hummer production at its Factory Zero plant in Detroit was halted in late October for a sealing issue related to the battery pack and resumed in January.
Cadillac reported sales of 968 Lyriq midsize electric crossovers in the first quarter, after selling 122 in all of 2022.
Brands: Buick, up 99%; Cadillac, up 29%; Chevrolet, up 16%; GMC, up 7.6%.
Notable nameplates: Buick Encore GX, up 128%; Envision, up 242%; Cadillac Escalade, down 12%; XT5, up 46%; XT4, up 83%; Chevrolet Suburban, up 12%; Corvette, down 10%; Silverado heavy-duty, down 2.4%; Silverado light-duty, up 7.5%; Blazer, down 19%; Trailblazer, up 225%; GMC Terrain, down 28%; Sierra heavy-duty, up 5.1%; Sierra light-duty, up 26%.
Q1 U.S. light-vehicle market share: 16.7% vs. 15.3% in Q1 2022
Incentives: $2,021 per vehicle, up 2.4% from a year earlier, according to TrueCar.
Average transaction price: $51,808, up 2.3% from a year earlier, TrueCarsaid.
Fleet mix: GM said its fleet mix was roughly 25%. TrueCar estimated GM's fleet penetration at 23% in March. GM said its commercial vehicle sales of 73,274 in the first quarter marked the fifth straight quarter of year-over-year gains. Commercial sales of the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickups increased 38 percent, which contributed to a 39 percent increase in fleet sales of full-size trucks.
Inventory: 412,285 vehicles at the end of the first quarter, including in-transit units. That tally compares with 273,760 vehicles a year ago and 410,682 vehicles at the end of the fourth quarter.
Quote: "We're leading in the fleet and commercial market, and all our brands have a lot of momentum heading into a busy season of new product launches," Carlisle said.
Did you know? Buick outsold Cadillac for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2021.
