Even though there were problems with the supply chain, the Detroit automaker was able to make a small gain in annual U.S. vehicle sales and take back the top spot from Toyota Motor in 2017.
General Motors announced on Wednesday that its U.S. sales of 2.27 million vehicles in 2022 were up 2.5% from 2021, with a 41.4% increase in the final quarter. Sales in the U.S. auto industry are expected to have dropped by between 7 and 10 percent last year compared to 2021.
Toyota reported last year’s U.S. sales of 2.1 million, down 9.6 percent from the previous year. The company outperformed competitors in managing supply chain issues related to semiconductor chips.
By a margin of 114,034 vehicles, Toyota outsold General Motors in 2021, marking the first time a Japanese automaker has outsold a Detroit rival since Ford Motor Company overtook it in 1931. CEO Akio Toyoda last year told dealers he did a “happy dance” when he found out Toyota had achieved the highest sales position, despite previous statements to the contrary from Toyota executives.
On Wednesday, Jack Hollis, executive vice president of Toyota Motor North America, said that despite the increased profitability of commercial and fleet sales, retail sales remain Toyota’s primary focus. For a long time, Toyota was the market leader in this category.
EVs
Toyota announced on Wednesday that it is the market leader in sales of electrified vehicles, despite recent criticism of its all-electric vehicle strategy. Hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and all-electric vehicles fall into this category.
On the other hand, General Motors has mostly stopped making hybrids in favor of making all-electric cars, but it has been slow to ramp up production. In 2022, EV sales will account for less than 2% of GM’s revenue in the United States.
Wednesday’s press release from GM described electric vehicles as “growth opportunities.” Chevrolet’s Blazer and Equinox EV are two examples of its upcoming mainstream offerings.
In 2022, Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV sales in the United States hit a new high at 38,120 units for General Motors. Its luxury GMC Hummer EV and Cadillac Lyriq cars, however, failed to attract many buyers, selling fewer than a thousand units between them.
In response to high demand around the world, GM has announced that Bolt production will increase to over 70,000 units in 2018. The company’s goal of producing 400,000 electric vehicles in North America by 2023 was pushed back to the middle of 2024.
Pickups
Even though electric vehicles (EVs) may be GM’s future, the company’s pickup trucks and SUVs use a lot of gas now. In 2022, the automaker from Detroit sold more than 1.1 million mid-size pickups, full-size pickups, and SUVs. About half of their annual sales came from those sales.
Such vehicles are very profitable and important to GM’s bottom line as it invests in electric and self-driving cars, which require a lot of money.
For nine years, GM has sold more pickups than any other company. For three years in a row, GM sold more full-size pickups than Ford. But Ford’s F-Series has been the best-selling truck in America for 46 years in a row and the best-selling car for 41 years.
Even though both automakers are having trouble with their supply chains, full-size pickup sales are going down. In 2022, GM sold 754,876 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, which is about 2% less than the year before. Through November, sales of Ford’s F-Series were down by almost 13% compared to the same time last year. However, Ford said on Tuesday that last month’s sales were expected to be the best for the F-Series in 2022.
