But with the inventory shortage industrywide, coupled with strong customer demand, “that doesn’t mean we will have lots full of trucks … as long as demand stays where it’s at,” he said. But “if they can increase production of HD, especially for us down in Texas, that’s huge. That’s something that I’m excited about.”When the electric Sierra goes on sale, GMC will have two electric trucks in the market. The GMC Hummer EV pickup launched late last year.
On the Buick front, dealers will have to wait until a meeting in May to learn more about future electric vehicles. For now, the brand is focused on keeping average transaction prices high and launching freshened versions of vehicles in its all-crossover lineup.
Much of the discussion at Saturday’s make meeting revolved around issues facing dealers of all brands, such as back-ordered parts and low inventory levels due to the global microchip shortage.
“That was on everyone’s minds,” Gilchrist said.
Aldred expects Buick-GMC production to increase at least 30 percent this year over last year.
“But we also expect demand to remain very, very high,” he said. “So we still don’t expect any stock growing on the dealer lots. We think they’ll be in, and they’ll be out.”
