GM Says Auto Sales Down 5% Year-Over-Year, But Chevrolet Gaining Market Share

Investors of General Motors Company GM seem to have preferred locking in profit after the company delivered a 5 percent drop in sales for August. The company claimed the sales number was in line with the industry trend. Earlier, Ford Motor Company F reported a similar drop of 8.4 percent in total vehicle sales for August.

In August, General Motors sold 256,429 vehicles despite a tight dealer inventories. On a month-to-month basis, this represented 4.05 percent drop from July's 267,258 unit sales.

The company's vice president of sales operations, Kurt McNeil, said, "Despite tighter dealer inventories, we had a solid retail performance in August led by Chevrolet, which gained retail share in eight different segments."

Related Link: Ford Auto Sales Slip 8.4% In August, Company Cites Lower Industry Volume

General Motors indicated that its Chevrolet's retail market share witnessed 0.4 percent growth in August to 11.0 percent. In the current year, the company claimed the brand added retail market share in seven of the eight months in the current year and maintains the industry's rapidly growing full-line brand.

The biggest American automaker said it sold 212,915 vehicles to retailer customers in August representing five percent drop on a year-over-year basis. On a month-to-month basis, this represented 9.87 percent fall from July's 236,235 unit sales.

The company indicated that Malibu, Cruze, Trax, Silverado, Colorado, Spark, Tahoe and Suburban and Corvette added retail share in their respective segments in August. The automaker's Colorado, Suburban, Tahoe and Trax recorded a jump of 35 percent, 42 percent, 29 percent and 17 percent respectively in August.

For the year-to-date period, GM claimed Chevrolet posted the best retail sales after the year 2007. Similarly, its Malibu recorded best performance after 1981 while Corvette, Tahoe and Suburban had its best August sales performance after 2008.

The automaker said that its average transaction price recorded a growth of $2,500 on a year-over-year basis. The company added that its ATP was $1,600 higher than it witnessed in July and nearly $5,800 more than the industry average.

Following the news, the stock shed $0.06, or 0.19 percent, to $31.86.

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