General Motors Just Manages First Quarter Profit Despite Recall Stigma

2014 Chevy Silverado
2014 Chevy Silverado First Drive On and Off-Road Review

General Motors managed to post a $125 million profit for the first quarter of the year, just barely overcoming the losses do to their faulty ignition switch recall.

That may seem like a lot of money, but to put it in perspective, that’s down 86% from the same period last year. Their bottom line was hit hard by $1.3 billion in recall-related expenses and another $200 million for restructuring their European business. Many analysts had predicted GM would see a loss this quarter.

They were saved by record-high transaction prices in North America which allowed them to pull out a 17th straight quarterly profit. Average transaction price rose by roughly $2,000 to $32,794. Trucks far outpaced the overall numbers with an increase of about $5,000 per transaction to $38,675.

Sales of General Motors‘ top-selling Chevrolet Silverado were actually off 8 percent through March but they’re offsetting the drop in sales with stronger pricing. On the flip side, the GMC Sierra is up 4 percent so far this year.

Watch our review of the 2014 Chevy Silverado…

Nicole Wakelin fell in love with cars as a teenager when she got to go for a ride in a Ferrari. It was red and it was fast and that was all that mattered. Game over. She considers things a bit more carefully now, but still has a weakness for fast, beautiful cars. Nicole also writes for NerdApproved and GeekMom.