General Motors has reported a sales increase of 17 percent in the first quarter of 2025 across its four brands: Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC. Buick led the way with a year-over-year sales increase of 39 percent. Cadillac sales rose 21 percent thanks to a big boost from new EV models. GMC sales increased 18 percent, and Chevy sales were up 14 percent. The bowtie brand also passed Tesla to become the fastest-growing EV brand in the U.S.
America’s largest automaker had other data points to brag about, as well. The average transaction price of one of GM’s vehicles in Q1 was around $51,000, which is less than a three-percent increase compared to last year. It also had growth in both retail and fleet sales, with the more profitable former rising 15 percent and the latter growing 25 percent. Lastly, GM’s sales of electric vehicles were up 94 percent compared to last year and totaled 31,887 units. Credit for that goes to vehicles such as the new Chevrolet Equinox EV and popular Cadillac Lyriq.
Breaking Down The Numbers
For Chevrolet, Q1 2025 was its 11th consecutive quarter of sales growth. The Colorado midsize pickup truck led the way with a 62-percent increase in sales, followed by the Traverse full-size SUV with an equally impressive 62-percent increase and the subcompact Trax SUV with a 57-percent gain.
Cadillac, meanwhile, has nearly three straight years of retail sales growth under its belt and is celebrating its best market share since 2014. The new Escalade, in particular, had its best ever Q1, as did the brand’s V-Series of high-performance vehicles.
GMC set a slew of Q1 sales records, including its best-ever Q1 retail market share, best-ever Q1 for Denali models, and best-ever Q1 sales for the full-size Sierra pickup (up 13 percent) and midsize Canyon pickup (up 66 percent). Sales of the new Acadia full-size SUV were also up 73 percent.
Lastly, Buick enjoyed its 9th consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth, with sales of the new Enclave full-size SUV up 37 percent. The smaller Encore GX and Envista SUVs also had their best first quarter of sales ever. Buick can also brag that 50 percent of its sales are now going to non-GM conquest buyers.
How’d The Competition Do?
Following GM, Hyundai and Kia both had a very good first quarter with sales increases of 10 percent and 11 percent, respectively. Beleaguered brand Nissan managed to pull off a win with a sales increase of 5.7 percent. Honda was right behind with an increase of 5.3 percent, while Toyota managed to eke out a 1-percent gain.
Other automakers were squarely in the red during the first quarter, including Stellantis, which reported a 12-percent decline in sales during the first quarter. Ford sales were also down year-over-year, though only by 1.3 percent. Blame here can be placed squarely on the discontinuation of the Edge midsize SUV.
Tesla, meanwhile, experienced its largest sales decline in history. The EV automaker reported a 13-percent decline in sales, far worse than analysts expected. The company placed the blame on planned, partial shutdowns in some of its factories to upgrade equipment for the launch of the new Model Y, but CEO Elon Musk’s highly controversial participation in politics and government is the more likely culprit.
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