General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) posted total February sales of 231,378 vehicles, a rise of 4% compared with February 2014 sales of 222,104. Last month’s total represents a modest gain, at best, led by increases in pickup and sport utility vehicle (SUV) sales.
GM’s new vehicle sales for January were forecast at 239,000 by analysts at WardsAuto, while Kelley Blue Book projected sales of 235,000 units and Edmunds forecast sales slightly over 230,000.
GM’s year-over-year improvement is due entirely to the new Chevrolet Colorado pickup and the venerable Silverado pickup, which added 6,562 and 8,811 units, respectively, to the month’s sales totals.
Cadillac’s total sales for the month fell 12.6% year-over-year. Cadillac’s retail sales fell 18.4% in February, a sharp turnaround from the 3.4% growth posted in January. For all of 2014, Cadillac sales were down 6.5% and retail sales were down 6.1%.
Total Chevrolet deliveries in February were up 3.8% year-over-year. The two pickups aside, sales rose most for the full-size Suburban SUV, the full-size Tahoe SUV and the mid-size Traverse crossover. Corvette sales were up nearly 7%, but Malibu sales were down nearly 20% and Impala sales were down nearly 25%.
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Sales of the mid-size Chevy Equinox SUV rose just 0.6% in February, compared with a rise of 34.4% year-over-year in January. The drop in gasoline prices undoubtedly caused the uptick in full-size pickup and SUV sales. Now that gasoline prices have begun rising again, there is some reason to think sales of these large vehicles will taper off. However, with gas prices for 2015 not expected to rise above $3 a gallon, Americans may well continue to indulge their preference for big cars.
GM said its average transaction price in February reached $34,700, a drop of $100 from January, but up $2,700 year-over-year.
Another dim spot in GM’s report is sales for the company’s Buick brand. Sales fell 9.2% in February, compared with February 2014 sales. Buick sales rose 11.4% in 2014 and fell 5.5% in January 2015.
For the auto industry as a whole, GM’s forecast for the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of sales is 16.5 million for February. For 2015 the company estimates SAAR of 16.5 million to 17.0 million light vehicles. These estimates are unchanged from last month.
GM’s stock traded down less than 1% Tuesday morning, at $37.57 in a 52-week range of $28.82 to $38.18.
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