General Motors reports 603,208 vehicle deliveries during the first quarter of 2023 in the United States. That’s a 17.6 percent increase year-over-year, but the result is still some 6 percent below Q1 2021.
The most important thing for us is that GM is quickly increasing battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales, setting a new all-time quarterly record – and it’s the first time above 20,000 units.
In Q1, the company delivered 20,670 BEVs (up from just 457 a year ago), which is also 3.4 percent of the total volume. The previous best quarterly result was noted in Q4 2022 (16,266 units).
The numbers include three brands – Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC. The commercial vehicle brand BrightDrop is counted separately by the manufacturer.
As we can see below, GM is reaching new record levels still relying mostly on the Chevrolet Bolt EV/Bolt EUV duo. However, the Ultium-based EVs are finally expanding. In Q1, the company was close to 1,000 units – thanks to the Cadillac Lyriq (968 units), as the GMC Hummer EV Pickup noted just two units. On top of that comes a small and undisclosed number of BrightDrop vans (production of those is already in the hundreds per quarter).
Starting from Q2 2023, we expect that Ultium-based EV sales will increase to a few thousand, potentially even reaching a five-digit level in Q3 and Q4.
GM BEV sales in Q1 2023:
For reference, in 2022, General Motors delivered 39,096 all-electric vehicles in the US (up 57% year-over-year), which was 1.7 percent of the total volume.
GM BEV sales in Q1-Q4 2022:
- Cadillac (Lyriq): 122 (new)
- Chevrolet (Bolt EV/EUV): 38,120 (up 54% year-over-year)
- GMC (Hummer EV Pickup): 854 (up from one a year ago)
- Total: 39,096 (up 57%) and 1.7% share of GM’s volume
* excluding an undisclosed number of BrightDrop all-electric vans
In 2023, GM should be able to easily double all-electric vehicle sales. The company says that its target in North America is 50,000 EVs produced in the first half of the year and double that in the second half of the year, which indicates 150,000 in total.
Sales are usually a little bit behind the production, and narrowing the volume just to the US, we should expect no less than 100,000+ vehicle deliveries in 2023.
The list of GM models includes:
- Cadillac Lyriq (ramp-up)
- Chevrolet Blazer EV (Summer 2023)
- Chevrolet Bolt EV/Bolt EUV (production increase to over 70,000/year)
- Chevrolet Equinox EV (Fall 2023)
- Chevrolet Silverado EV (Spring 2023)
- GMC Hummer EV Pickup (ramp-up)
- GMC Hummer EV SUV (mid-2023)
- BrightDrop Zevo 600 (ramp-up)
- BrightDrop Zevo 400 (launch in 2023)
By 2025, the company would like to increase BEV sales in North America to 1 million annually (about 250,000 per quarter).
