General Motors Co.’s new lineup of Chevrolet and GMC sport utility vehicles are driving strong in their first few months on sale. The vehicles, since arriving in dealerships in early-February, are selling quickly and demanding substantially higher transaction prices.
WEST BLOOMFIELD, MI- General Motors Co.’s new lineup of Chevrolet and GMC sport utility vehicles are driving strong in their first few months on sale.
The vehicles, since arriving in dealerships in early-February, are selling quickly and demanding substantially higher transaction prices.
“It’s a segment that we’ve had success with in the past,” said GM Vice President of Truck Strategy Rick Scheidt during a media event Wednesday morning. “We’re selling everyone that we can build.”
The Detroit-based automaker reports the average turn rate, or how quickly it takes a particular vehicle to sell after it is delivered to the dealer, is 17 days for the Chevrolet Tahoe and 10 days for the Chevrolet Suburban. The GMC Yukon SLT is averaging 22 days and the luxury Denali version is only at 11 days. The segment average is above 60.
Pricing
SUVs have always commanded a higher price, but GM reports customers of the 2015 models are opting even more so for the higher-end models.
According to Chevrolet, 50 percent of all Tahoes sold last month were the top-of-the-line LTZ model, while 65 percent of all Suburbans were in LTZ trim. The vehicles' average transaction prices are roughly 17 percent higher than the previous generation.
The pricing trend is even more apparent with GMC, with more than 90 percent of customers opting for the SLT or Denali models over the standard SLE. The Yukon is averaging $57,000; Yukon Denali is at $67,000; Yukon XL at $62,000; and Yukon XL estimated at $68,000.
The 2015 Chevy Tahoe starts at $45,890. The Chevy Suburban starts at $48,590. The high-end LTZ models start between about $60,000 and $65,700. Prices include a $995 delivery charge.
The GMC Yukon family starts at $46,335, and the Yukon Denali XL at the top of the hill with a starting price of more than $65,000.
“Denali’s a really important piece of the GMC business,” said GMC Product Director Roger McCormick. “We’re really proud of what Denali has done for us.”
Since Denali’s introduction on the Yukon in 1999, more than 675,000 Denali models have been sold across GM’s lineup.
Sales
It’s what those in the industry call “early days” for sales of the new SUVs, but they are making impacts for their brands.
Retail sales of the Tahoe and the Suburban in April more than doubled from a year earlier – increasing by 108.4 percent and 109.8 percent over April 2013, respectively. Overall, sales through April are actually down 1.4 percent for the Tahoe and nearly 12 percent for the Suburban compared to the same months a year ago. However, with 2015 models accounting for 66 percent of Tahoe sales and 50 percent Suburban sales in April, sales increased 7.8 percent and 31.5 percent.
“This is a very important segment for Chevrolet,” said Sandor Piszar, Chevrolet Trucks marketing director. “Really, we founded the segment with Suburban in 1935 … for 12 generations, we’ve led the segment.”
As for GMC, retail SUV sales are up 50 percent, including 141 percent last month. Combined, Yukon and Yukon XL sales through April were about even compared to a year ago at 16,434 units, but officials expect those numbers to increase now that the vehicles are in full availability.
The full-size SUV segment, although smaller than its peak in the late-1990s and early-2000s, is critical for GM. Since 1975, the automaker has consistently represented more than 40 percent of the full-size SUV market, including an 80 percent stake in 1995.
GMC and Chevrolet currently combine for nearly 75 percent of the segment.
Upgraded
The GMC and Chevrolet SUVs both were completely redesigned for the 2015 model-year, and unlike their predecessors share no sheet metal with their full-size pickup counterparts.
“These vehicles are designed to move people and their stuff easily, with a lot of versatility,” Luke said.
The new Chevrolet SUVs feature greater refinement, efficiency and safety with the same capability customers have come to expect from the two vehicles, which are the industry’s best-selling duo of full-size SUVs. They also feature interior and exterior enhancements, including part of the side panel cutting through the dual stacked head lamps of the vehicle that particularly separates it from its GMC brethren.
The 2015 GMC Yukon family – Yukon, Yukon XL and luxury Denali vehicles – are smoother than the Chevrolet models and a bit more clean-looking. Styling cues include highly detailed, chrome-accented grilles matched with GMC’s signature C-shaped light-emitting diode lighting motif, front and rear. Officials described the Yukon models – particularly the Denali – as the epitome of “function, refinement and sophistication.”
All of the new Chevrolet and GMC SUVs except for the Yukon Denali come standard with GM’s new EcoTec3 5.3-litre V8, which debuted earlier this year in the all-new 2014 GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado. The Yukon Denali comes standard with an EcoTec 6.2-litre V8 engine, which GM expects to deliver the segment’s best horsepower and torque.
The EcoTec3 engines feature direct injection, cylinder deactivation, continuously variable valve timing and an advanced combustion system, designed to make the most of power, torque and efficiency across a broad range of operating conditions.
All the new SUVs are capable of more than 20 miles per gallon on the highway
Besides the new powertrains and interior and exterior aesthetics, including up to 22-inch wheels, all of the new SUVs also offer a host of new safety and theft protection technologies.
The new Yukon family will be built at GM’s assembly plant in Arlington, Texas. The new Tahoe and Suburban will be built at GM’s Arlington, Texas assembly plant.