General Motors has noted a record quarterly first-quarter profit on robust sales of its large pickup trucks and crossovers in the United States, as unpredictability surrounds the entire pace of domestic vehicle sales for the market.
The results likewise highlight a shift where U.S. customers are preferring bigger SUVs, crossovers and trucks, instead of cars.
The leading U.S. automaker stated it recorded the highest profit of all time for a first quarter, including pre-bankruptcy which it emerged from in 2009.
The outstanding quarter bodes well for a market that had disappointing sales in March.
New vehicle sales struck a record of 17.55 million units in last year, and experts expect a minor sales decrease in 2017.
The results show that GM will “continue to strengthen the core business, produce the best possible return for our owners and after that continue to perform with a huge sense of seriousness on the transformative innovations that are really going to allow us to have a leadership position,” CEO Mary Barra informed experts on a teleconference.
U.S. sales of Chevrolet trucks and crossovers increased 3.5 percent and 12 percent, respectively, throughout the quarter, while GMC truck and crossover sales leapt nearly 10 percent.
Pretax margin profit was 8.2 percent, that’s 1.1 percentage points improvement from a year previously.
U.S. sales of less profitable cars, dropped compared to the first quarter of last year.
Fiat Chrysler reported a higher operating profit because of soaring SUV sales.
Ford on Thursday reported lower quarterly net profit because of greater product, engineering and recall expenses, and a drop in auto sales.
