The stock price of General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) fell more than 3% to $39.57 per share after posting a disappointing sales performance for the month of December.
December auto sales results
The largest automaker in the United States sold 230, 157 vehicles in Decembers, a 6.3% drop from 245,733 vehicles delivered in the same month a year ago.
During the period, General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) sold 15, 379 Buick vehicles, 18,165 Cadillac units, 153,493 units of Chevrolet brand, and 43,120 GMC units. Among the Buick vehicles, the sales of the Regal model increased by 14%. The Cadillac escalade Escalade and Cadillac ATS recorded a 30.5% and 7.2% sales increase respectively.
Some of the Chevrolet models with sales increases include Chevrolet Caprice 68.2%, Impala, 10.3%, Malibu 33.2%, Tahoe 0.5%, and Traverse 5%. The Acadia and Yukon XL models of the GMC brand recorded 53% and 7.8% sales increases, respectively. The sales of the rest of the vehicle models of the four brands of General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) suffered sales decline in December.
In a statement, General Motors vice president of U.S sales operations, Kurt McNeil said, “December started a little slow but sales were stronger later in the month, especially in the week between Christmas and New Year’s. We didn’t make any big changes to our ‘go-to-market’ strategy during the month, which is to offer competitive incentives and market aggressively, and we are carrying good momentum heading into January.”
Full year 2013 sales performance, achievements
For the full year 2013, General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) sold approximately 2.8 million vehicles, an increase of 7.3% year-over-year.
According to the company, Buick recorded its best sales year since 2006 after expanding into new segment such as Verano sedan and Encore small crossover. Its Cadillac brand became the fastest growing full-line luxury brand, and Chevrolets redesigned iconic brands—Corvette, Silverado 1500, and Impala won numerous awards for product excellence.
General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) became the first American automaker in the history to top the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study. The automaker received eight individual model awards.
GM ends monthly U.S. sales call
General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) also announced that it will end its regular monthly U.S. sales call with analysts and journalists.
Jim Cain, spokesperson for the automaker explained, “We are ending the call to concentrate on conferences and other forums that allow us to discuss our strategy and our results with a long-term view and in a very holistic way.” According to him, General Motors will continue to releases its monthly sales results.
