OREANDA-NEWS.    General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) dealers delivered 222,104 vehicles in the United States in February 2014. Total sales were down 1 percent compared with a year ago, beating outside expectations. Retail and fleet sales were both down 1 percent. GM increased its sales from January 2014 by 30 percent, more than 10 percentage points better than the industry as a whole.

“Weather continued to impact the industry in February, but GM sales started to thaw during the Winter Olympic Games as our brand and marketing messages took hold,” said Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president of Sales Operations. “Car and crossover sales were particularly strong at Buick and Chevrolet, and we continue to have a strong mix of pickup sales.

“Despite a slower start to 2014 than most people expected, we look forward to a very successful year, backed by plenty of new products and what should be the strongest GDP growth since the end of the recession.”

February Sales Highlights (vs. 2013)

Passenger car sales were up 8 percent, with Buick deliveries up across the board.
The Chevrolet Sonic, Cruze and Malibu posted double-digit sales increases.
The Chevrolet Cruze and the Buick Verano had their best February sales ever.
Deliveries of the Corvette were up 149 percent.
The all-new 2014 Cadillac CTS sedan helped drive a 7 percent increase in retail sales for the CTS range. Segment share is estimated to be up 1.6 points.
Crossover sales were up 4 percent. Sales of the Buick Encore nearly doubled, the Cadillac SRX was up 23 percent and GMC Acadia deliveries were up 2 percent. The Buick Enclave and Chevrolet Equinox had their best February sales ever.
Retail deliveries of Chevrolet and GMC large SUVs were up 14 percent.
GM’s retail share of light-duty pickup sales increased an estimated 2 percentage points or more from January 2014.
The mix of light duty pickups powered by GM’s all-new EcoTec3 V6, which offers best-in-class fuel economy, towing and payload (depending on configuration) increased 2 percentage points month over month to about 20 percent of retail sales. 
The average transaction prices for GM’s full-size pickups were in line with January 2014 levels, according to mid-month J.D. Power PIN estimates. More than half of light-duty pickup sales continue to be premium-contented models.
Incentive spending increased slightly month over month on both an absolute basis and as a percentage of average transaction prices due primarily to the sell-down of older model heavy-duty pickups and large SUVs. GM’s increase was less than the industry average, according to J.D. Power PIN.
GM increased its commercial fleet sales for the fourth month in a row, with deliveries up more than 1 percent; commercial deliveries are up 8 percent year to date.