GM Reports 1.3% January Sales Gain

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) on Thursday posted U.S. January sales of 198,548 vehicles, an increase of 1.3% compared with January 2017. Retail deliveries dipped 2.4% in the month to 151,244 units, and fleet deliveries rose to 23.8% for the month, up 2.9 percentage points year over year.

GM reported 749,529 units in inventory at the end of January, down by 3,025 from the total at the end of December. That represents a 94-day supply, up from a 63-day supply at the end of last month.

GM’s new vehicle sales for January were forecast at 205,000 by analysts at Kelley Blue Book (KBB). The analysts also estimated an average transaction price of $40,313, down 0.5% month over month and up 4.1% year over year. KBB does not include applied consumer incentives to its calculation.

GM said that the company’s average January transaction price was up $1,270 year over year and that incentive spending of 12.8% was down a point year over year and down two points month over month. GM reports J.D. Power PIN estimates.

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January sales of the company’s top-selling Silverado pickup jumped by 14.5% year over year to 40,716 units, while GMC Sierra sales fell 18.3% to 11,224 units.

Sales of the Colorado midsize pickup rose 24.9% to 8,011 units, and the comparable GMC Canyon saw a sales increase of 5.4% to 2,171 units.

Cadillac brand retail sales fell by 3.9% in January. Cadillac sales totaled 9,895 units in the month.

Total Chevrolet deliveries in January increased by 5% year over year to 141,947 units, with retail sales falling by 1.9% to 101,805 units. The Chevy Equinox sport utility vehicle posted a sales increase of 50.3% in January, and the Impala full-size car saw a sales drop of 47.3%. 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 4% in January, including an increase of 1.7% in retail sales. The Buick LaCrosse posted a sales gain of 130%, and Envision sales rose 13.7%.

For the auto industry as a whole, GM’s forecast for the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 2018 sales is 17.4 million.

GM’s stock traded down by 0.4% Wednesday morning, at $42.24 in a 52-week range of $31.92 to $46.76. The 12-month consensus price target on the stock is $47.30.

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