General Motors Co. sold 771,323 vehicles in its fourth quarter of 2020, a 5% increase over last year’s Q4 and its best fourth quarter for retail sales since 2007. Sales for 2020 were 2,547,339 units, down 12% over 2019.
“GM outperformed the industry in the quarter and the full year by a significant margin because of our manufacturing and supply chain teams and dealers helped keep people safe at work and our launches on track,” said Steve Carlisle, GM executive vice president and president of GM North America. “Extraordinary teamwork has set up everyone to succeed in 2021 as the economy continues to recover and we further ramp up truck and SUV production.”
Due to COVID-19, GM had to curtail some production of the all-new Cadillac Escalade, GMC Yukon, Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, but expects these vehicles to be at full production values for 2021. These vehicles are produced at the company’s Arlington, Texas, facility.
“Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac set the bar high for these products in terms of technology, refinement and utility, and sales are exceeding our expectations,” said Carlisle. “We launched them on time despite the pandemic, and the team in Arlington is working around the clock to meet demand. We have quickly recaptured all the short-term gains our competitors made as we transitioned to the all-new models.”
- For the fourth quarter, the Cadillac Escalade sold 9,454 units compared to Q4 2019 sales of 8,889, a 6.4% increase. For the year, the Escalade sold 24,547 units compared to 35,424 in 2019, a decrease of 30.7%.
- The Chevrolet Tahoe sold 28,698 units in the fourth quarter compared to 21,086 sold during Q4 2019, an increase of 36.1%. For the year, Tahoe sold 88,238 units compared to 2019’s 101,189 units, a decrease of 12.8%.
- The Chevrolet Suburban sold 13,577 units during the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to 10,242 units in Q4 2019, an increase of 32.6%. For the year, Suburban sales decreased 27.5%, from 51,928 sold in 2019 to 37,636 sold during 2020.
- The GMC Yukon sold 24,759 units in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to 20,966 units in Q4 2019, an increase of 18.1%. For the year, Yukon sold 63,440 units, down 15% from 2019’s unit sales of 74,673.
GM also has a plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, devoted to making the Corvette. The Corvette sold 8,992 units during the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to 3,491 units sold in Q4 2019, a 157.6% increase. For the year, Corvette sold 21,626 units compared to 17,988 units sold in 2019, a 20.2% increase.
GM’s Spring Hill, Tennessee, plant makes the GMC Acadia, and Cadillac XT5 and XT6 vehicles. The GMC Acadia sold 21,378 units in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to 19,471 units in Q4 2019, a 9.8% increase. For the year, Acadia sold 72,537 units compared to 99,429 units sold in 2019, a decrease of 27%.
Cadillac XT5 sold 10,950 units in the fourth quarter of 2020, down 2% from Q4 2019 sales of 11,168 units. For the year, XT5 sales were down 29.4% with 35,223 units sold in 2020 compared to 49,879 in 2019.
Cadillac XT6 was only slightly down in sales for the fourth quarter 2020, with 7,155 units sold compared to 7,169 units sold in Q4 2019. However, for the year, XT6 sales were up by 95.6%, with 22,609 units sold in 2020 compared to 11,559 units in 2019.
