GM reports 2.2% decrease in third-quarter sales, but EVs make gains

DETROIT – The increase in sales of electric vehicles and small crossovers helped General engines reports slightly better than expected sales in the third quarter.

The Detroit automaker reported a 2.2% decline in third-quarter sales from a year earlier, falling to 659,601 vehicles sold. Auto industry forecasters such as Cox Automotive and Edmunds had expected GM's sales to fall more than 3% in that period.

GM's third-quarter revenue is expected to be in line with the industry as a whole. Cox Automotive and Edmunds expect third-quarter sales across the industry to decline about 2% from a year earlier.

GM sales were supported by a roughly 60% year-over-year increase in EV sales during the quarter, to about 32,100 units sold. Yet electric vehicles made up just 4.9% of the company's total revenue in the third quarter.

GM forecasts its market share to be 9.5% of the US EV market, up 3 percentage points from the first quarter of this year.

Although GM has withdrawn most of its previously announced electric vehicle targets, the automaker believes its EV sales momentum is finally increasing thanks to a growing range of all-electric vehicles – with a price range from about $35,000 to more than $300,000.

“We are absolutely outpacing the industry in terms of growth, in terms of EVs,” Rory Harvey, GM president of global markets, including North America, told CNBC last month. “We currently have the most extensive EV lineup of any manufacturer in the industry in the U.S.”

GM's EV sales were led by the Cadillac Lyriq crossover with approximately 7,224 units sold during the quarter, followed by the Hummer EV pickup and SUV with 4,305 units.

Sales of small gas-powered crossovers, such as the Chevrolet Trax and Buick Envista and Envision, also saw a notable increase from a year earlier, GM reported.

GM's total third quarter sales of 1.95 million vehicles in 2024 were down 1% from the first nine months of 2023.

An unknown outlier in the third quarter is how much effect Hurricane Helene had on car sales in the South after it hit the US in late September. It is also unclear how much a strike at U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast ports will impact fourth-quarter sales.

GM is one of several automakers to report third-quarter or September sales on Tuesday. Here are other reported US sales compared to Q3 2023:

• The Hyundai Brand reported total sales of 210,971 units, up 5% from Q3 2023 and the second-best third quarter in the company's history. Hyundai's luxury brand Genesis reported its best-ever third quarter with 20,117 units, up about 4% from a year earlier.
• Toyota engine reported an 8% decline in third-quarter sales, including a 20.3% drop in September.
• Nissan reported a 2.2% decline in sales to 212,068 vehicles sold in the third quarter.
• Honda engine reported an 8% increase in third-quarter sales to 366,214 units.