Toyota gross sales surge, however G.M. and Ford’s rebounds are weaker.

General Motors saw a slight increase in auto sales in North America in the first quarter, but operations continue to be hampered by a shortage of computer chips.

GM announced Thursday that it had sold 642,250 cars and light trucks in the first three months of the year, up just 4 percent, although sales slowed sharply a year ago when the coronavirus pandemic hit.

In contrast, Toyota Motor saw a strong increase in sales compared to the previous year. The Japanese company reported that North American sales rose 22 percent to 603,066 cars and light trucks in the first three months of 2021. Sales in March were a record high for the month.

Toyota’s big leap helped it outperform the Ford Motor, which was also hit by the semiconductor shortage. Ford’s sales rose just 1 percent to 521,334 in the first quarter. Stellantis – the company formed through the merger of Fiat Chrysler and France’s Peugeot SA – reported that sales in the US rose 5 percent in the first quarter.

Both Ford and GM saw significant sales increases from individual customers at dealerships, while sales declines were reported from fleet operators such as car rental companies and governments.

GM and Ford had to shut down or slow down production at a handful of plants. GM has resorted to manufacturing some vehicles with no parts using computer chips to install those components prior to sale if supply improves.

In a statement, GM hoped its strategy of building cars without some components would help “quickly meet highly anticipated customer demand later this year.”

This approach to automobile construction “underscores the dire nature” of semiconductor shortages, said Garrett Nelson, an analyst at CFRA Research, in a report. “One of the key questions is how much better the recovery in US auto sales can be from here.”

The chip shortage is reflected in GM’s unusually low inventory of 334,628 vehicles. That is around 76,000 fewer than at the end of the fourth quarter and half of the vehicles that dealers had in stock a year ago. Ford’s inventory was 56,100 lower than at the end of 2020.

GM’s weak sales were limited to the Chevrolet brand, whose sales fell 2 percent in the first quarter. This included a 13 percent drop in sales for its full-size Silverado pickup, a key profit maker for the company. Buick, Cadillac, and GMC brands had strong sales for the quarter.

Toyota also reported a drop in sales of its full-size pickup, the Tundra. However, the decline was more than offset by strong sales increases in the sport utility vehicles and cars RAV4, Highlander and 4Runner of the luxury brand Lexus.

Also on Thursday, Honda Motor announced that sales in North America rose 16 percent to 347,091 vehicles in the first quarter.

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