(January 3, 2019) DETROIT — General Motors reported its third-consecutive year of slight U.S. sales declines as its growing lineup of utility vehicles couldn't offset significant drops in most of its passenger cars.

GM said sales last year slid 1.6 percent compared with 2017 to 2.95 million vehicles — marking the first time the automaker's sales have been below 3 million since 2014. That includes a 2.7 percent decline in the fourth quarter and an estimated 3.7 percent drop in December.

GM said it delivered more than 1 million crossovers, almost 974,000 pickup trucks and more than 280,000 large SUVs in 2018.

“We have built the most successful pickup, SUV and crossover business in the industry and we gained considerable momentum in the fourth quarter of 2018 as dealers began delivering the all-new Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra and Cadillac XT4,” said Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president, Sales Operations.

GM said its fourth quarter deliveries totaled 785,229 units and the company’s share of the industry’s retail sales grew every month from October through December.

“We feel confident heading into 2019 because we have more major truck and crossover launches coming during the year and the U.S. economy is strong,” McNeil added.

GM crossover deliveries totaled 1,034,808 in 2018, up 7 percent versus 2017, and the following five nameplates had record calendar year sales:

    GMC Terrain up 34 percent
    Chevrolet Traverse up 19 percent 
    Chevrolet Equinox up 15 percent
    Chevrolet Trax up 13 percent
    Buick Encore up 6 percent 
   
The first-ever Cadillac XT4 became the best-selling vehicle in its segment just two months after launch. Cadillac will be introducing all-new models every six months, on average, through the end of 2021.

Sources: General Motors, Automotive News