GM’s headline-making first-quarter gain in 2019 applied to one specific slice of its business: combined sales of the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 crew cabs rose 20% year over year. GM’s total U.S. vehicle sales did not rise: the company reported 665,840 deliveries, down 7% from Q1 2018. The 20% figure is not an overall sales gain, nor does the available source establish it as the industry’s best comparable result.
What did GM’s 20% first-quarter gain measure?
In its April 2, 2019 release, General Motors reported that combined sales of the all-new Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 crew-cab configurations increased 20% year over year. That result covered those two models in one body style; it was not a measure of every GM pickup or every vehicle the company sold. GM’s Q1 2019 release
The release headline referred to the new pickups’ gain, while the broader company result moved in the opposite direction. GM reported 665,840 U.S. vehicle deliveries for Q1 2019, a 7% decline from the same quarter a year earlier.
Why crew-cab sales were not the whole pickup story
GM said the new pickups were launching during the quarter and that crew cabs made up more than 70% of its light-duty pickup production mix. The company also said regular- and double-cab availability was very limited because of launch timing. That makes the crew-cab increase especially important to read as a configuration-specific result, not as a proxy for all Silverado and Sierra sales.
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GM further reported that more than 95% of all-new Sierra 1500 crew-cab sales were high-end trims. Then-U.S. vice president of Sales Operations Kurt McNeil said, “Our production launch was very smooth and crew cab sales are brisk, especially those with premium trims.” These are company statements about the launch and sales mix, not independent findings about buyer preferences across the market. GM’s Q1 2019 release
What else GM reported for Q1 2019
- Sales mix: Trucks, SUVs and crossovers accounted for more than 80% of GM’s sales mix, according to the company.
- Average transaction price: GM reported a first-quarter record of $35,881, citing J.D. Power PIN estimates. This is GM’s reported estimate, not an independently verified figure in the sources cited here.
- Pickup transaction-price comparison: GM said its all-new light-duty pickups’ average transaction price was $8,040 higher than that of their outgoing models in Q1 2018, citing J.D. Power PIN estimates.
GM chief economist Elaine Buckberg said at the time that the retail seasonally adjusted annual rate had risen each month since January. That was her assessment of the market in 2019; it does not by itself establish what caused GM’s sales results. GM’s Q1 2019 release
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How to compare GM’s first-quarter results across years
Quarterly percentage changes depend on what is being counted and the year used as the comparison base. These company-reported U.S. figures cover different periods and measures, so they should not be treated as a continuous measure of the 2019 crew-cab result.
| Quarter | GM-reported U.S. result | What the figure represents |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 2019 | 665,840 deliveries; down 7% year over year | GM total vehicle deliveries. Separately, Silverado 1500 and Sierra 1500 crew-cab sales combined were up 20% year over year. GM |
| Q1 2024 | 594,233 deliveries; down 1.5% year over year | GM total deliveries, while retail sales were up 6%. GM |
| Q1 2025 | Sales up 17% year over year | GM’s reported U.S. sales change for that quarter. GM |
| Q1 2026 | 626,429 vehicles; down 9.7% year over year | GM’s reported U.S. sales. The company said the prior-year comparison was affected by an exceptionally high industry selling rate in March 2025. GM |
The year and sales measure matter when interpreting any “best gain” claim. Total deliveries are not the same as retail sales; a company-wide change is not the same as a model- or configuration-level change; and a percentage increase does not show the underlying unit volume. The reviewed GM release reports the 20% crew-cab increase, but does not establish an industry-wide ranking using a comparable measure across automakers.
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For a separate example of how timing can affect comparisons, the Associated Press reported in April 2025 that analysts saw the possibility that some March purchases had been moved earlier ahead of tariff changes. That discussion concerned 2025 and should not be used to explain GM’s Q1 2019 result. Associated Press, April 1, 2025
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