General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) on Thursday posted U.S. February sales of 220,905 vehicles, a decrease of 6.9% compared with February 2017. Retail deliveries plummeted 10.5% in the month to 168,971 units and fleet deliveries rose to 23.5% for the month, up three percentage points year over year.
GM reported 779,378 units in inventory at the end of February, up by 29,849 from the total at the end of January. That represents an 85-day supply, down from a 94-day supply at the end of last month.
GM’s new vehicle sales for February were forecast at 225,000 by analysts at Cox Automotive. Kelley Blue Book (KBB) analysts also estimated an average transaction price of $40,013, up 0.9% month over month and up 3.5% year over year. KBB does not include applied consumer incentives to its calculation.
GM said average February incentive spending of 13.2% was down 1.7 points, or more than $500 per vehicle.
January sales of the company’s top-selling Silverado pickup tumbled by 16.3% year over year to 42,282 units, while GMC Sierra sales fell 25.3% to 13,162 units. Sales of the Colorado midsize pickup rose 7.1% to 8,050 units, and the comparable GMC Canyon saw a sales decrease of 22.1% to 2,319 units.
Cadillac brand retail sales jumped by 14% in February. Cadillac sales totaled 12,338 units in the month, driven by sales of the XT5, ATS and Escalade SUV.
Total Chevrolet deliveries in January fell by 8.8% year over year to 149,605 units, with retail sales falling by 13.5% to 108,246 units. The Chevy Equinox SUV posted a sales increase of 7.1% in February, and the Impala full-size car saw a sales drop of 53.4%. The Equinox is the Chevy brand’s second-best selling vehicle, behind Silverado.
The company’s Buick brand saw a year-over-year sales increase of 1.2% in February, including a decrease of 4.4% in retail sales. The Buick LaCrosse posted a year-over-year sales gain of 47.6%, and Regal sales rose 126.6%.
For the auto industry as a whole, GM’s forecast for the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 2018 sales is 17.1 million.
GM’s stock traded down 2.2% Wednesday morning to $38.51, in a 52-week range of $31.92 to $46.76. The 12-month consensus price target on the stock is $48.35.
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