GM: 25% year-over-year Q3 sales gain

General Motors on Monday said improved microchip supplies helped stabilize its production in the third quarter, pushing its U.S. sales 25 percent higher than a year ago.

It was the first increase in five quarters for GM, which said its retail market share rose nearly 3 percentage points as a result. Increased deliveries to commercial customers propelled fleet sales up 66 percent, the automaker said.

Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac each posted double-digit gains, but Buick sales fell for a fifth consecutive quarter, giving the brand its lowest total in the first nine months of a year since 2009.

GM said it achieved record combined sales of the Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV, with volume more than tripling from a year earlier after a $6,000 price cut. The company plans to build more than 70,000 Bolts in 2023, about 60 percent more than this year.

GM also plans to increase output of the Cadillac Lyriq in the fourth quarter and add production shifts for the GMC Hummer EV in 2023. Hummer output will be paused for several weeks, starting in late November, so body-shop upgrades can happen earlier than planned in preparation for next year's Chevy Silverado EV launch.

GM said it was the industry's top seller in three high-profit segments — full-size SUVs, full-size pickups and large luxury SUVs — in the third quarter, though its deliveries are down year over year in each of the segments.

Brands: Chevrolet, up 30%; GMC, up 24%; Buick, down 27%; Cadillac, up 50%.

Notable nameplates: Chevy Silverado, down 4.9%; Chevy Equinox, up 44%; Chevy Bolt EV/EUV, up 226%; Chevy Colorado, up 92%; Chevy Tahoe, up 22%; Chevy Malibu, up 7,941%; GMC Sierra, down 4.9%; GMC Terrain, up 81%; Cadillac Escalade, down 1.7%; Cadillac XT5, up 32%; Buick Encore GX, down 40%.

Q3 incentives: $1,455 per vehicle, down 54% from $3,125 a year earlier, TrueCar estimates.

Average transaction price: $51,220, up 3.9% from $49,290 a year earlier, according to TrueCar.

Fleet mix: 17.1%. Fleet sales rose 66% year over year.

Inventory: 359,292 vehicles, including units in-transit, 45 percent higher than at the end of the second quarter and nearly triple the available inventory a year ago.

Quote: "The design, technology and manufacturing investments we have made are helping us meet strong customer demand for our products, and they've translated into sales leadership in some of the industry's most important segments," said GM North America President Steve Carlisle.

Did you know? GM sold more full-size pickups in the U.S. than Ford Motor Co. in each of the past two years and is on pace to do so again in 2022.