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Tracking General Motors Vehicle Wholesale Number By Region

A 1958 GM Oldsmobile vehicle. Flickr Image.

This article keeps track of General Motors (NYSE:GM) vehicle wholesale figures.

For your information, GM presents two types of vehicle sales or vehicle delivery data:

(1) Wholesale vehicle sales, and
(2) Total vehicle sales.

What Is Wholesale Vehicle Sales

According to GM, wholesale vehicle sales or just vehicle deliveries are vehicles delivered to dealers or distributors, and the sales of these vehicles are translated to revenue in the income statements.

However, wholesale numbers do not include vehicles sold by GM’s joint ventures or affiliates such as those in China in which GM does not have a controlling interest.

Here is a quote extracted from GM’s statements regarding wholesale deliveries.

  • “We present both wholesale and total vehicle sales data to assist in the analysis of our revenue and our market share.

    Wholesale vehicle sales data consists of sales to GM’s dealers and distributors as well as sales to the U.S. Government and excludes vehicles sold by our joint ventures.

    Wholesale vehicle sales data correlates to our revenue recognized from the sale of vehicles, which is the largest component of Automotive net sales and revenue.”

Referring to the statements above, GM’s vehicle wholesale are vehicles delivered to dealers and distributors, and revenues are recorded once the transactions are completed.

What Is Total Vehicle Sales

On the other hand, total vehicle sales are retail sales and are vehicles delivered from dealers or distributors to end consumers.

Total vehicle delivery bypasses General Motors and does not have any relationship with the company.

Therefore, total vehicle sales do not translate to GM’s sales revenue presented in the income statements.

Here is a quote extracted from GM’s statements regarding total vehicle sales.

  • “Total vehicle sales data represents:

    (1) retail sales (i.e., sales to consumers who purchase new vehicles from dealers or distributors);
    (2) fleet sales, such as sales to large and small businesses, governments, and daily rental car companies; and
    (3) vehicles used by dealers in their businesses, including courtesy transportation vehicles.

    Total vehicle sales data includes all sales by joint ventures on a total vehicle basis, not based on our percentage ownership interest in the joint venture.”

Therefore, GM’s total vehicle sales include retail volume, fleet sales, and vehicles delivered from dealers to other businesses.

However, the sales of these vehicles are not recognized as sales revenue earned by GM.

What Is Presented In This Article

In this article, you will find GM’s vehicle wholesale or just vehicle sales data that correlate with revenue presented in the income statements.

The wholesale data and total sale data are vastly different and can differ by a huge margin.

The vehicle sales data presented on other websites may not be clearly explained whether they are wholesale or retail sales data.

Sometimes the retail sales data may not necessarily indicate the realistic nature of GM’s business condition simply because the retail sales data represents only sales from dealers and distributors to customers.

Readers who are interested in GM’s retail sales may visit this webpage – GM retail sales and market share.

Let’s start with the following topics.

GM Vehicle Wholesale

GM vehicle wholesale

GM vehicle wholesale (click image to enlarge)

* All data are obtained and referenced from GM’s earnings reports, financial statements, and SEC filings.
* Projected figure for fiscal 2023 is calculated by the author based on GM’s 2023 guidance obtained from the 1Q 2023 earnings report.
* GM’s fiscal year begins on Jan 1 and ends on Dec 31.

On a global basis, GM delivered 3.6 million vehicles as of 2022, a significant rise over 2021 and roughly in line with the number reported in 2020.

GM used to do nearly 5 million vehicle sales back in fiscal 2018.

However, this figure has been on the decline and reached a record low of 2.9 million vehicles in fiscal 2021 before recovering to 3.6 million units as of 2022.

For vehicle wholesale in 2023, General Motors guided for an adjusted EBIT of $12 billion on average.

Based on an average EBIT margin of 8.6% reported between 2019 and 2022, GM’s automotive revenue for fiscal 2023 was estimated at $126 billion.

Therefore, GM’s vehicle delivery for fiscal 2023 may come to about 3.1 million units on the back of a vehicle ASP of around $40,000, a drop of 14% year-over-year.

GM Vehicle Wholesale By Quarter

GM vehicle wholesale by quarter

GM vehicle wholesale by quarter (click image to enlarge)

* All data are obtained and referenced from GM’s earnings reports, financial statements, and SEC filings.
* GM’s fiscal year begins on Jan 1 and ends on Dec 31.

On a quarterly basis, GM’s vehicle wholesale was seen trending down over the past 9 years.

GM used to deliver more than 1.5 million vehicles on a global basis per quarter between fiscal 2015 and 2017.

However, this figure has come to less than 1 million vehicles per quarter since 2020.

As of Q1 2023, GM delivered 864,000 vehicles on a global basis, which was slightly higher compared to the figure reported a year ago.

On average, GM’s vehicle wholesale totaled about 1.2 million units since 2015.

Therefore, the latest vehicle delivery figure reported in 2023 was significantly below its historical average.

While demands for GM’s vehicles have recovered since 2022, the numbers were still considerably lower than those reported prior to the pandemic.

GM Vehicle Wholesale By TTM

GM vehicle wholesale by ttm

GM vehicle wholesale by ttm (click image to enlarge)

* TTM plots are calculated based on the sum of the quarterly data on a trailing 12-month or 4-quarter basis.
* GM’s fiscal year begins on Jan 1 and ends on Dec 31.

To smooth out the bumps in the quarterly plot, I created the TTM or trailing 12-month plot above to better represent the long-term trend of GM’s vehicle deliveries.

As seen, the TTM plot displays a much better trend compared to the quarterly plot.

On a TTM basis, GM’s global vehicle wholesale has clearly been trending down since fiscal 2015.

The downtrend seemed to be much worse in fiscal 2020 and 2021, most likely driven by the COVID-19 crisis.

However, in fiscal 2022, the plot reversed its downward direction and has since been moving higher, illustrating that the bottom may have already been reached and a turnaround is ongoing.

As of 1Q 2023, GM’s vehicle wholesale trended to a record high of 3.6 million units on a TTM basis, up a massive 24% from the quarter a year ago.

GM Vehicle Wholesale By Region

GM vehicle wholesale by region

GM vehicle wholesale by region (click image to enlarge)

* All data are obtained and referenced from GM’s earnings reports, financial statements, and SEC filings.
* GM’s fiscal year begins on Jan 1 and ends on Dec 31.

There are only 2 regions presented by GM in its financial reports, namely GM North America (GMNA) and GM International (GMI).

GM Europe was divested in fiscal 2017 and has therefore ceased to exist.

Granted, fiscal 2022 probably was the pivot point for General Motors.

As seen, there was a significant rise in vehicle deliveries in fiscal 2022 in all regions.

Prior to 2022, GM’s vehicle wholesale was on a downtrend before a significant turnaround occurred in 2022.

As of 2022, GM delivered 2.9 million vehicles in its North American operation alone while that of the International region came in at a record high of 654 million over the past 3 years.

Also, GM’s vehicle deliveries in North America were much bigger, at more than 4X higher than the figure reported in its International operation in 2022.

GM Vehicle Wholesale By Region – Quarterly

GM vehicle wholesale by region on quarterly basis

GM vehicle wholesale by region on quarterly basis (click image to enlarge)

* All data are obtained and referenced from GM’s earnings reports, financial statements, and SEC filings.
* GM’s fiscal year begins on Jan 1 and ends on Dec 31.

On average, GM North America delivered 800,000 vehicles per quarter while GM International’s figure totaled 250,000 vehicles per quarter over the past 9 years.

In 2022, GM delivered 723,000 vehicles, which was slightly below its historical average.

Similarly, GM International’s vehicle wholesale totaled only 141,000 units, also a much lower figure compared to its historical average.

Therefore, on a long-term basis, GM’s vehicle deliveries in both regions seem to be getting fewer.

GM Vehicle Wholesale By Region – TTM

GM vehicle wholesale by region on TTM basis

GM vehicle wholesale by region on TTM basis (click image to enlarge)

* TTM plots are calculated based on the sum of the quarterly data on a trailing 12-month or 4-quarter basis.
* GM’s fiscal year begins on Jan 1 and ends on Dec 31.

Again, to smooth out the quarterly plot, the TTM plot above is created to better show the trend of GM’s vehicle wholesale by region for the period from fiscal 2015 to 2023.

The TTM plots by region follow closely the trend of the consolidated plot.

For example, GM’s vehicle wholesale in both GM North America (GMNA) and GM International (GMI) has only managed to recover since 2022 and the recovery continued into 2023.

As of Q1 2023, GMNA delivered nearly 3.0 million vehicles, up 26% year-on-year.

Similarly, GM International delivered 658,000 vehicles as of Q1 2023 on a TTM basis, also up by a massive 24% year-on-year.

Despite the remarkable recovery in vehicle delivery since 2022, GM’s results in both regions were still way below their historical highs, indicating that there might still be room for improvement.

Similar to the quarterly plot, GMNA’s TTM vehicle deliveries were much higher, at more than 4X the figure reported in GMI.

GM Vehicle Wholesale Vs Automotive Revenue

GM vehicle wholesale vs automotive revenue

GM vehicle wholesale vs automotive revenue (click image to enlarge)

* Plots shown in the chart above are presented on a TTM basis which is calculated based on the sum of the quarterly data on a trailing 12-month or 4-quarter basis.
* GM’s fiscal year begins on Jan 1 and ends on Dec 31.

According to the chart, GM’s automotive revenue seems to be growing at a much faster growth rate than the respective vehicle wholesale numbers.

For example, compared to the results a year ago, GM’s automotive revenue grew 26.5% in 1Q 2023 while vehicle wholesale grew slightly lower at 26%.

However, the gap beings to widen considerably for a 2-year period.

For example, GM’s automotive revenue grew 36% in 1Q 2023 over the same quarter 2 years ago compared to a 12% growth rate for vehicle wholesale.

The gap widens even more for a 3-year period.

In this case, GM’s automotive revenue registered a positive growth rate while the respective vehicle wholesale registered a decline.

Therefore, on a long-term basis, GM has managed to increase its automotive revenue at a much faster rate compared to the growth of vehicle delivery.

Although vehicle delivery is slower compared to revenue growth, both plots correlate closely, meaning that when vehicle delivery increases, so will the automotive revenue and vice versa.

GM Vehicle Average Selling Price (ASP)

GM vehicle average selling price

GM vehicle average selling price (click image to enlarge)

* ASP is calculated by the author based on GM’s TTM vehicle wholesale and TTM automotive revenue.
* GM’s fiscal year begins on Jan 1 and ends on Dec 31.

As the name implies, the vehicle average selling price (ASP) represents the average sale price of a vehicle.

This figure can be estimated based on the presented automotive revenue and vehicle wholesale figures which are available in GM’s financial reports.

According to accounting standards, GM’s automotive revenue is only recognized when the ownership of vehicles is passed to dealers or when the vehicle is delivered to the hands of dealers.

Therefore, we can use this information to estimate GM’s average selling price of a vehicle.

Keep in mind that the estimated ASP represents only the wholesale price and not the retail price which can be much higher.

Granted, GM’s ASP has been on a steady rise over the last 9 years according to the chart above.

In fiscal 2014, GM’s ASP was only about $25,000 per vehicle on average.

This figure has risen to $41,000 per vehicle on average as of fiscal 1Q 2023 and represents a growth rate of more than 60% over the last 9 years.

Moreover, GM’s vehicle ASP soared significantly between 2019 and 2022 as shown in the chart above.

In fiscal 2021 alone, GM’s vehicle average selling price grew as much as 21%, from $34,000 reported in 1Q 2021 to $41,000 reported in 1Q 2022.

On average, GM’s ASP grew 1.5% from quarter to quarter since fiscal 2014.

Therefore, it is no surprise to see sky-high retail prices of trucks, and SUVs in most GM dealerships nowadays.

Besides, the rising trend of GM’s ASP also explains the much faster growth rates of GM’s automotive revenue compared to the vehicle wholesale.

GM Vehicle Wholesale Sequential Growth Rates

GM vehicle wholesale quarterly growth rates

GM vehicle wholesale quarterly growth rates (click image to enlarge)

* Quarterly growth rates come from the author’s own calculation.

At first glance, GM’s sequential growth rates consist of mostly negative figures, illustrating that GM’s vehicle wholesale has mostly been on a decline on a quarterly basis.

In Q1 2023, GM delivered 11% fewer vehicles compared to the prior quarter.

GM Vehicle Wholesale Year-Over-Year Growth Rates

GM vehicle wholesale YoY growth rates

GM vehicle wholesale YoY growth rates (click image to enlarge)

* YoY growth rates come from the author’s own calculation.

Similarly, GM’s YoY growth rates also consist of mostly negative figures, illustrating that GM’s vehicle wholesale has mostly been on a decline on a year-over-year basis.

In Q1 2023, GM delivered 4% more vehicles compared to the quarter a year ago.

Conclusion

In summary, General Motors’s vehicle wholesale has declined considerably over a long-term basis but the post-pandemic recovery looks very promising.

Granted, both GM North America (GMNA) and GM International (GMI) have recorded a considerable uptick in vehicle wholesale since fiscal 2022 and the rally continued into fiscal 2023.

While GM sells considerably fewer vehicles over the years, GM records an increasing automotive revenue, all due to the rising vehicle average sale price (ASP).

GM’s ASP increased at around 1.5% on average from quarter to quarter in the past 9 years and rose significantly between fiscal 2021 and 2022, illustrating the ability of the company to raise vehicle sale prices.

References and Credits

1. All data in this article were obtained and referenced from GM financial statements, earnings reports, and SEC filings which are available at General Motors Investor Relation.

2. Featured images in this article are used under creative commons licenses and sourced from the following websites: Cam Miller and GM Europe.

Disclosure

The content in this article is for informational purposes only and is neither a recommendation nor a piece of financial advice to purchase a stock.

If you find the information in this article helpful, please consider sharing it on social media and also provide a link back to this article from any website so that more articles like this one can be created in the future. Thank you!

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