Cars Reach Highest Share of Chevy Sales in 20 years
Thursday, June 30th, 2011 | Car News, General
General Motors Co. said today that cars will account for nearly half of its Chevrolet brand sales in the first half of the year — its highest tally since 1991.
GM said it expects cars to account for 47 percent of Chevrolet total sales through June 30.
Chevrolet sales accounted for about 71 percent of GM’s U.S. total sales through May 30. The Chevy brand accounted for 747,000 of the 1.05 million vehicles GM sold in the United States through May 30.
U.S. Chevy sales are up 16.6 percent this year, while GM as a whole is up 18.2 percent here.
Chevrolet car sales are expected to be up 23 percent for the first six months of the year, when June sales are reported Friday. Trucks, utilities and crossovers are expected to be up 9 percent over the first half of 2010, GM said.
Chevrolet cars have outsold combined sales of trucks, crossovers and utilities in April, May and June of this year.
The last time cars led Chevrolet’s sales for three consecutive months was in May, June and July of 1991. That year, cars represented 52 percent of Chevrolet sales.
In 2010, 44 percent of Chevrolet sales were cars.
The big upswing is the sales of the Chevrolet Cruze — and 90 percent of sales are retail. The Cruze was the top selling vehicle in the compact segment in May.
Higher gas prices have shifted more buyers into smaller more fuel efficient vehicles.
“Chevrolet has always been known for building great trucks,” said Alan Batey, U.S. vice president, Chevrolet Sales and Service. “Today, we are in the middle of transforming the brand with a strong lineup of cars that match the appeal of our trucks and crossovers.
Last week, GM North American chief Mark Reuss said June would be a “good” month.
“We’re seeing stability in the car markets,” Reuss told reporters.
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