GM Q2 2024 auto sales: best since 2020

DETROIT- General Motors reported its best quarterly revenue in more than three years, including a notable increase in sales of large pickup trucks and all-electric vehicles.

The Detroit automaker on Tuesday reported second-quarter sales of 696,086 vehicles, up 0.6% from a year earlier and the highest quarterly unit sales since the fourth quarter of 2020.

Deliveries of electric vehicles rose 40% from a year earlier to 21,930 units. Still, electric vehicles accounted for just 3.2% of total sales in the second quarter.

Auto industry analysts such as Cox Automotive and Edmunds expect second-quarter sales across the industry, including July 1, to be about flat compared to a year earlier, due to weaker retail demand.

One unknown outlier in the second quarter is how much of an impact cyberattacks on dealer software vendor CDK Global will have on sales. The June 19 ransomware attack forced CDK, an industry leader, to shut down its dealer management system, impacting nearly half of all dealers in North America.

“The cyberattacks on CDK have derailed sales in the second half of June, impacting what is likely one of the most lucrative and busiest times of the month and quarter for dealers,” said Jessica Caldwell, chief insights officer at Edmunds.

Dealers, including the largest publicly traded companies in the sector, have been forced to delay sales or come up with workarounds to sell vehicles since the attacks occurred.

All six major listed franchise dealer groups have disclosed their exposure to the CDK issue. Five of the six — Asbury Automotive Group, AutoNation Inc., Group 1 Automotive Inc., Lithia Motors Inc. And Sonic Automotive Inc. — use CDK as their primary dealer management system supplier, according to Automotive News.

“The good news is that unlike other ‘black swan’ events the industry has faced in the past, sales will not be lost or severely delayed, but rather pushed into the third quarter,” Caldwell said.

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