(February 1, 2017) DETROIT — General Motors overall sales were down 3.8 percent in January year-over-year, and down 4.9 percent to 155,010 units for retail sales. But GM says it maintains a positive outlook in part because transaction prices set a new January record.

“In early January, we focused on profitability while key competitors sold down their large stocks of deeply discounted, old-model-year pickups,” said Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president of Sales Operations.

“We gained considerable sales momentum as we rebuilt our mid-size pickup, SUV and compact crossover inventories from very low levels following record-setting December sales.”

Volume fell 1.9 percent at Chevrolet, 28 percent at Buick, 4.1 percent at Cadillac, but deliveries rose 1.1 percent at GMC.

At Chevrolet, Cruze sales were up 22 percent, Volt sales up 56 percent, and the Trax up 40 percent, all three having their best-ever January sales. At Buick, crossover sales led by the sub-compact Encore were up 20 percent, and transaction prices increased by 9 percent. The all-new Acadia led GMC with a 15 percent gain year-over-year.

Cadillac sales were up only 1 percent, but crossover deliveries led by the new XT5 were up 11 percent and the large Escalade was up 10 percent.

General Motors says it is the industry’s fastest-growing full-line automaker on a retail sales basis, and Chevrolet has been the fastest-growing full-line brand for two consecutive years on a retail basis. Chevrolet grew retail market share in 2015-2016 by almost one full percentage point, which translates to more than 120,000 incremental sales.

“Our go-to-market strategy in 2017 is the same as 2016,” McNeil said. “We are focused on strengthening our brands, growing retail sales and share, reducing daily rental deliveries and maintaining our operating discipline.”