General Motors sales to be worst since 1958 due to chip shortage

The shortage of chips has affected the production of various car companies, forcing them to stop the production process of various models. General Motors is preparing to present the level of sales since 1958 just behind Toyota

Running out of raw materials to produce the product you are selling is a big tragedy. It's an even bigger problem when you're a global automaker and you can only stare in horror. how it puts you on the path to the worst yearly sales since the 1950s. This is the situation for GM right now, approaching the end of 2021.

Unprecedented drop in sales

In its recently released third quarter 2021 sales report, General Motors recorded 446,997 vehicle deliveries in the United States. This is fewer cars than in the same quarter last year., and an even greater drop of 291,641 2019 compared to the third quarter of 1958. That puts GM on pace for the worst U.S. sales volume with 80,000 and trails Toyota by about a sales figure and rising.

GM's third quarter of 2020 was clearly undermined by a combination of COVID-related production disruptions and poor dealer traffic, while GM attributes its biggest downturn in 2021 to supply chain disruptions in Malaysia. 

GM is optimistic about the crisis

Despite this and GM remains optimistic that it will achieve a financial result within the "target range" of its calendar targets for 2021. This may in part be due to notable profits from its premium brands as Buick, Cadillac and GMC continue to are reporting growth of 27%, 11% and 8% respectively, while several high-margin products posted notable growth in the third quarter of 2021.

In particular, full-size truck sales remained strong, with retail share up 2% to 38 units for the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra, while fleet sales were up 13%. GM also continues to dominate the full-size SUV segment with about 70% of the market. Chevrolet Tahoe y Suburban, and GMC Yukon. 

Cadillac Escalade is positioned as the company's best-selling SUV.

All saw sales growth, especially fleet customers who bought 89% more SUVs, though none were as successful as the . Sales of the facelifted top-of-the-line Cadillac are up 123%, confirming its status as the best-selling luxury SUV.

Despite being a crossover for people who lead boring lives, the Chevy Trailblazer also made significant gains, up 147% while its Buick Encore GX sibling went up 3%. And now that it's running as fast as the turbos in the upcoming C8 ZR1, Chevy Corvette sales are up as well, up 60% for the 2021 model.

Despite the shortage, GM is positioned as a big

So while overall sales have declined, GM knows that saving on semiconductor chips for the most profitable models is the way to profit. Don't believe that a bad quarter could be a sign that this member of Detroit's "big three" is failing, especially with halo products like the 2022 GMC Hummer EV.

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