GM to Stop Reporting Sales Monthly – Will Report Quarterly

Citing the volatility of the automotive industry, GM has decided to stop reporting monthly sales and instead report its sales every three months.

This, says the company, will give onlookers and analysts a more accurate picture of its business. The move, though, distinguishes GM among its peers.

Ever since giving up 10 day sales reports in the ’90s, nearly every player in the automotive reports its sales every month. After thorough review, though, GM has decided that monthly reports aren’t the way to go.

“Thirty days is not enough time to separate real sales trends from short-term fluctuations in a very dynamic, highly competitive market,” said Kurt McNeil, U.S. VP of sales operations, in a statement. “Reporting sales quarterly better aligns with our business, and the quality of information will make it easier to see how the business is performing.”

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GM says it looked at other industries before making this decision, to see how quarterly sales reports worked for Apple, Amazon, John Deere, Penske, and even Tesla.

The decision will likely have wider implications for the automotive industry, though, since GM led the way in the ’90s when it decided to stop reporting sales every 10 days. After they did it, the rest of the industry followed suit.

Not all of GM is participating in this decision, though. GM Canada will continue to report every month, as will GM’s Brazilian and Mexican offices. GM China, though, will stop reporting every month.

Although the move could make the company less transparent, GM argues that the same volume of data will be released, just less frequently.

A version of this story originally appeared on GM Inside News.