Sales fall

General Motors (GM) shares declined in early trading on Friday as the biggest US carmaker reported its first drop in deliveries in four quarters.

Dealers at General Motors Co. (GM) delivered 446,997 vehicles in the US in the third quarter of 2021, down 218,195 units from a year ago, the company said in a press release today.

The reason is due to semiconductor supply chain disruptions and historically low inventories of parts and manufactured autos.

In the previous second quarter, GM's shipments growth was strong: 39.7%, the company delivered 688,236 auto units.

However, the decline was evident, with GM saying last month that the problems forced it to extend downtime at a number of its plants in the US, Canada and Mexico.

General Motors shares are down 10.8% over the last quarter, but the trend over the last month is positive +7.55%, up 26.6% YTD.

The company expects its financial outlook to remain within the calendar year forecast range stated earlier, as the GM team continues to develop solutions to mitigate the effects of the semiconductor shortage and the Chevrolet Bolt EV recall.

Nevertheless, all GM's large pickup, SUV and mid-size pickup plants in North America are running this week.

According to JD Power PIN estimates, despite challenging conditions in the third quarter, GM maintained or increased its retail market share in key segments compared to last year. GM continues to sell more full-size pickups than in any other calendar year of the automaker. Sales of large pick-up trucks were up 13%. Nearly seven in 10 customers in the SUV segment bought a Chevrolet Tahoe, Chevrolet Suburban or GMC Yukon. Suburban (up 28%), Tahoe (up 5%) and Yukon (up 24%) sales were up from last year. General Motors also recently announced plans to provide all of its US facilities with 100% renewable energy by 2025 five years earlier than previously announced.

A presentation from GM awaits investors next week on 6 October. The company will reveal details of the launch of the electric Silverado EV and other vehicles, details of its partnership with FedEx (FDX) and a timeline for the launch of its Cruise commercial robot taxi service.

On 24 September, Citi analyst Itay Michaeli said the October presentation could be a "significant positive catalyst" for GM shares.