General Motors slid to second place in 2021 U.S. auto sales, ceding first place to Toyota by approximately 100,000 units in a still-tumultuous Covid recovery market plagued by lingering supply chain issues. While many automakers are now in a position to start building cars again (with some even altering available options in order to build complete units), the chip shortage has already taken its toll, and getting units into customer hands remains a challenge.
Toyota sold approximately 2.3 million cars in the U.S. in 2021, to GM’s 2.2 million. GM had been tops in sales for 90 years, since 1931.
GM’s hardships were largely due to its inability to deliver bread-and-butter pickup trucks due to parts shortages. While assembly lines are moving again and GM dealers are starting to see the best inventory numbers since a year ago, the damage is already done. Despite a market aching for new trucks, GM moved about 64,000 fewer Silverados and 4,000 fewer Sierras than it did in lockdown-stricken 2020 because the parts just weren’t there to build them.
Hyundai saw a drop of 23% for the month compared to December 2020 despite setting a company record for total retail sales in a calendar year. Kia likewise surpassed its previous year-long best (retail and fleet combined) by nearly 10% despite a December drop.
Gauging sales in relation to 2020’s performance has been dicey this year at best, but the second half of 2020 saw strong rebounds as dealers re-opened after spring lockdowns. In many cases, declines in the latter half of 2021 are as much an indicator of strong second-half sales from the previous year as they are of continued chip shortages. Hyundai and Kia have posted five months of consecutive declines, for example, despite setting the aforementioned sales records.
Most major automakers should release their results this week; Ford is expected to announce on Wednesday. We will keep this story updated as numbers come in.
