GM agreed to sell its Opel/Vauxhall subsidiary and GM Financial’s European operations to PSA Group to support the company’s focus on higher-return opportunities. Once closed, the transaction will immediately improve GM’s EBIT- adjusted and adjusted automotive free cash flow. It also will allow the company to lower its cash balance by $2 billion, which it plans to use to accelerate share buybacks, subject to market conditions. In connection with the transaction, GM will take a primarily non-cash special charge of approximately $4.5 billion.
In March, Cadillac introduced Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communications in the CTS performance sedan that can alert drivers to upcoming potential hazards, laying the groundwork for a connected, safer future. In early April, Cadillac also announced Super Cruise automated highway driving technology – the industry’s rst true hands-free driving technology system, which will be available in the fall of 2017 on the Cadillac CT6 prestige sedan.
Advancing its lead in vehicle connectivity, in March GM became the first mass-market automaker to offer an unlimited data plan. Demand for the new plan helped make March the best month ever for data plan sales. Since its launch, GM has sold more than 100,000 unlimited data plans.
GM has more than 5 million OnStar 4G LTE-connected vehicles on the road today, more than any other automaker.
CAPITAL RETURN
In the rst quarter of 2017, GM paid $0.6 billion in common stock dividends. GM expects to return up to $7 billion to shareholders by the end of 2017 through common stock dividends, and through share buybacks subject to market conditions.
Q1 VEHICLE SALES
In the first quarter, GM delivered 689,521 total vehicles in the United States, driven by a 16-percent increase in crossover deliveries and a 3-percent increase in truck deliveries. These results included the best first-quarter retail sales since 2008, as GM increased U.S. retail market share to an estimated 16.9 percent, up 0.3 percentage points — the fastest growth of any full-line automaker.
In China, retail deliveries decreased 5.2 percent to 913,442 vehicles, due to a reduction in the country’s vehicle tax purchase incentive.
Chevrolet continued its 16 years of South American market leadership, delivering 147,000 vehicles, up 10.9 percent compared to 2016.
For more details on first-quarter sales, click here.
To build on the momentum of the recently launched Chevrolet Trax and Equinox, Buick Encore and GMC Acadia, GM plans to launch three more all-new crossovers in the U.S. in 2017 — the Chevrolet Traverse, Buick Enclave and GMC Terrain.
Baojun and Cadillac set first-quarter sales records in China, up 25.1 percent and 90.5 percent, respectively. The Baojun 510, introduced on Feb. 20, sold 23,000 units in the first quarter. The Cadillac XT5 sold 15,000 units — more than twice the volume of the SRX that it replaced.
To capitalize on the ongoing shift in consumer preference for sport utility and multi-purpose vehicles, GM China will launch 9 new or refreshed SUVs and MPVs in 2017.
