GM plug-in vehicle sales disappoint in first quarter 2022

The first quarter of 2022 proved to be very challenging for General Motors as total vehicle sales fell 20% year over year to 512,846.

This includes 344,033 Chevrolet vehicles (down 19.6% year over year) and 121,437 GMCs (down 7.5%). Both brands sold only 457 plug-in electric vehicles in the US and that’s it – a very disappointing 95% decrease year-on-year and 0.1% of total volume.

While the company (and the entire automotive industry) is heavily impacted by manufacturing constraints, demand appears to remain strong.

Specifically, demand for plug-in electric vehicles is very high, but it looks like GM needs more time to rebound significantly from the low in the fourth quarter of 2021, when U.S. plug-in vehicle shipments hit the lower at 26 units.

The long-term plan is to increase North American electric vehicle sales to over one million by the end of 2025.

left to right: 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV and 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV

2022 GMC Hummer EV Edition 1 pickup in production, ready for customer deliveries

As for the detailed results, the Chevrolet Bolt EV/Bolt EUV (affected by a massive battery recall) remains low, while the GMC Hummer EV pickup picks up steam.

• Chevrolet Bolt EV/Bolt EUV: 358 (96% decrease year over year from 9,025)
• GMC Hummer EV Pickup: 99 (New)
• Total: 457 (down 95%)
  *excluding an undisclosed number of BrightDrop electric vehicles

According to GM, the launch of the GMC Hummer EV pickup “is proceeding as planned, with early production focused on fulfilling launch edition orders.” The company has over 65,000 reservations for this model.

In the case of the Chevrolet Bolt EV/Bolt EUV, mass production is scheduled to resume on April 4:

“Production of the Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV will resume on April 4. Chevrolet dealerships continue to service customer vehicles and recently resumed shipments of certain completed Bolt EV and Bolt EUVs in stock.”

The good news is that the Cadillac Lyriq entered production in Tennessee earlier than expected and is expected to launch this quarter.

“Production of the Cadillac LYRIQ began March 21, nine months ahead of the company’s original target. Cadillac will begin taking orders for future editions on May 19.”