General Motors $GM has clawed its way to the top in a particularly somber year for car sales.
Car sales in the US last year were at their lowest in more than a decade
General Motors $GM has clawed its way to the top in a particularly somber year for car sales.
In 2022, the US auto industry sold the least number of new cars since 2011 because of supply chain snags across manufacturing, inventory, shipments, and more. But in the second half of the year, the Detroit-based automaker, which lost its grip on the top spot for the first time since 1931 in 2021, was able to make a sharp recovery. GM’s annual sales rose 2.5% year-over-year to 2.27 million.
The Detroit-based automaker’s jump was an anomalous one. Japanese rival Toyota $TM, which snatched the throne from GM last year, battled supply-side headwinds to post a near 10% drop over the same period, coming in at 2.1 million sales. In fact, most major car manufacturers, including homegrown Ford $F as well as foreign brands like South Korea’s Hyundai, clocked declines in sales.
Out of the four core GM brands–Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac, Buick—Chevrolet sold the most cars in 2022 at 1.4 million. Two other sub-brands—GMC and Cadillac—are doing fine but Buick is not.
“We’re out of the worst phase, but ... it’s not necessarily a situation where we’re fully supplied. I don’t know when the chip shortage will be resolved.” —Kazunari Kumakura, Toyota’s purchasing group chief, in November 2022
13.9 million: Cars sold in the 2022, according to Cox Automotive’s forecast
8%: Drop in car sales in 2022 versus 2021
15 million: Forecast for 2023 car sales
17.5 million: Peak US car sales in 2016
When it comes to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, GM…
On the electric vehicle side of things, GM plans to…
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