Despite the economic instability, GM managed to notch an impressive performance in the fourth quarter.
In a report released on Tuesday, the automaker sold more than 771,000 units of vehicles, up by 4.8% compared to the same time a year ago.
This is the firm’s best fourth-quarter retail sales recorded in the last 13 years.
The robust sales are attributed to the market’s good reception to their SUVs and pickups, especially in the United States.
In a separate report, General Motors’ auto sales in the key location showed strong signs of recovery towards the end of the year.
According to the company’s representative, the strong quarterly report is attributed to the effective coordination between their manufacturing and supply chain teams and the GMC dealers.
The teams have been lauded for keeping the workers safe while putting delayed launches on track.
Despite the optimistic report, sales of new vehicles for 2020 fell by roughly 12% compared to 2019’s figures. The actual figure came at an 11.8% descent to 2.5 million new vehicles sold.
Although, the drop is still viewed as considerably modest than the general projection of at least a 15% fall during the challenging year.
According to analysts, the industry is expected for a sharp comeback this year. However, the biggest hurdle on the automaker’s path to recovery is the inventory.
Currently, some of the biggest income generators in the market are getting out of sale due to the trudging manufacturing process.
GM ended 2020 with more than 410,000 units in inventory which includes deliveries that are in transit. The data is down by more than 200,000 than the preceding year.
What’s Waiting for General Motors in 2021?
Since the start of the easing of lockdowns in May, General Motors witnessed an uptick in sales especially for its big SUV units and pickup trucks.
This is amid the growing trend for family vehicles as more people are afraid to take public transportation with the rising number of Covid-19 cases.
According to experts, Chevrolet’s SUV Blazer and the Silverado remains one of the most sought-after vehicles in the market today.
However, the tight inventory fails to live up to the growing demand, thus undermining the opportunity towards profitability.
GM readies for a busy 2021. This includes the full-year production of the new Cadillac Escalade, the GMC Yukon, Chevy’s Tahoe, among other launches during the year.
While the market remains volatile, the automaker said that it is positive that the year will be better than the previous one.
