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DETROIT – General Motors’ U.S. vehicle sales increased by 18.8% in the second quarter compared to subdued results a year ago when the automaker was battling supply chain issues.
The Detroit automaker reported sales Wednesday of 691,978 new vehicles from April through June. That compared to 582,401 vehicles during the second quarter of 2022. It also is a sequential increase compared to GM’s first-quarter sales of just over 600,000 new cars and trucks.
GM’s second-quarter sales, along with those of other automakers such as Honda Motor, Nissan Motor and Stellantis, indicate demand for new vehicles remains strong as inventories of cars and trucks improve from historically low levels during the coronavirus pandemic and supply chain problems.
Auto industry forecasters project industry sales to have increased 16% to 18% during the second quarter compared to a year earlier.
Cox Automotive recently increased its full-year new vehicle sales forecast to 15 million for the broader industry, a gain of nearly 8% from 2022, when sales finished at 13.9 million due to low inventory levels and inflated prices.
GM said retail sales increased 15% through the first half of the year, while its fleet business jumped 30%.
GM’s EV sales topped 36,300 during the first half of this year, including 15,652 in the second quarter.
The company previously said it planned to produce 50,000 EVs during the first half of the year, followed by 100,000 during the second half of the year.
A GM spokesman reconfirmed those targets Wednesday, but did not immediately comment on whether the company had met them. Sales trail production due to logistics and inventory on dealer lots. Further production details are expected to be discussed when the automaker reports second-quarter earnings on July 25, the spokesman said.
GM maintained its status as the country’s largest automaker through the first six months of the year, with sales up 18.3% to nearly 1.3 million vehicles. The Detroit carmaker regained that decades-long title last year after Toyota Motor took the top spot in 2021. That year was the first time since 1931 that GM wasn’t the best-selling car company in the U.S.
On Wednesday, Toyota reported sales of more than 1 million vehicles in the U.S. through June.
