General Motor (GM) released their Q1 sales results on Monday, which showcased the automaker’s momentum as their sales reflected an 18 per cent increase and EV sales surpassed 20,000 for the first time in a quarter.
“GM is off to a great start in 2023. We gained significant market share in the first quarter, pricing was strong, inventories are in very good shape, and we sold more than 20,000 EVs in a quarter for the first time,” said GM Executive Vice President and President GM North America, Steve Carlisle. “We’re leading in the fleet and commercial market, and all our brands have a lot of momentum heading into a busy season of new product launches,” he added.
2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV
Carlisle’s commentary mirrors the sentiment shared by GM’s CEO Mary Barra at a tech conference early this year. “We are different from the rest of the traditional OEMs, and this is our really going to be our year to demonstrate it,” she claimed. If the automaker’s Q1 results and forthcoming production plans are any indication, GM is certainly trending in the right direction.
According to GM’s release, Q1 was the third consecutive quarter in which sales of the Chevy Bolt EV and EUV broke previous records, coming in at 19,700 units (a significant increase from Q1 2022 results when the Bolt was recalled). Since Bolt production resumed in April of last year, it has become a top-selling, consumer-favourite EV model for the brand, with much credit to its affordability.
Alongside the Bolt, the Cadillac Lyriq sales reached 968, while two Hummer EV pickups were sold in the first quarter. According to GM, deliveries of the Lyriq are “rapidly accelerating” while the Hummer EV pickup and SUV models are being built and shipped from GM’s Factory ZERO.
As for the commercial EV segment, GM has been hard at work on the fulfilment of over 500 BrightDrop Zevo 600s, which were built at the automaker’s assembly plant in Ingersoll, ON.
With plans to build another 50,000 EVs in North America by June, GM shows no sign of slowing down production for the rest of 2023. In fact, the automaker plans to double its output of EVs during the second half of the year, with a proposed 70,000 units of the Chevy Bolt EV and EUV in 2023. The new Chevrolet Silverado EV WT edition will also begin deliveries in late spring, with over 340 fleet customer orders already.
