General Motors maintained its position as America's best-selling automaker despite a slight decline in first-quarter sales due to difficulties in its fleet business.
The company sold 594,233 new cars in the January-March period, down just 1.5% from the same period last year. Despite the decline, retail sales have increased 6% since the start of 2023, pushing General Motors' U.S. sales to more than Toyota's 565,098 units.
The company's pickup truck lineup performed particularly well, with sales increasing 3.6%, the company's best quarter since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, General Motors' electric vehicle sales fell sharply as software issues and production delays held back performance. Production of the company's flagship EV, the Chevrolet Bolt, was halted last year. But no segment fared worse than automakers' vehicle sales last year, with sales down about 23% year-on-year.
Buick is the only brand owned by General Motors with sales increasing year-over-year, increasing 16.4%. While pickup deliveries improved across automakers, the truck-focused GMC brand saw sales decline by about 5%. Sales of Chevrolet and Cadillac decreased slightly compared to the same period last year.
General Motors' sales decline, even if modest, comes as demand increases. Edmunds expects quarterly sales to rise 5.6% year over year to about 3.8 million units, but unless Ford and Stellantis release more optimistic numbers in the coming days, much of that increase will come from Asia. It seems likely that it will be made by the brand. Toyota reported sales rose about 20% this quarter, even though it couldn't surpass General Motors. Honda and Hyundai also gained more market share, highlighting increased competition among foreign companies for American consumers.
