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General Motors’ all-new Chevrolet 2016 Camaro is seen during its official debut at Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan, May 16, 2015. Camaro sales were down in May ahead of the all-new version due out later this year, but GM outpaced the industry last month on strong demand for its core SUV and truck inventory. Reuters/Rebecca Cook

General Motors benefited last month from Americans’ shift toward big SUVs and trucks, with sales up 3 percent to 293,097 units. The Detroit automaker says May was its best month since August 2008, as sales outpaced the industrywide forecast of a 1 percent drop in U.S. new-auto sales.

“Chevrolet has the hot hand in the pickup market thanks to our three-truck strategy,” Kurt McNeil, company head of U.S. sales, said in a statement, referring to the midsize Chevrolet Colorado, the full-size Chevrolet Silverado and the Silverado Heavy-Duty Series of larger trucks commonly used commercially.

Sales of the Chevrolet Silverado and upscale cousin the GMC Sierra were up 4 percent and 11 percent, respectively. GM’s two popular pickup trucks made up nearly a fourth of company sales last month, or 28 percent if you include the recently released Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize pickups. In essence, while Ford’s F-150 is the country’s most popular vehicle, GM has emerged as truck king with four strong models.

Sales of the GMC Acadia full-size crossover grew 67 percent to 10,498 last month. The Acadia received a facelift in 2013. The 2014 model year Acadia got some crash avoidance technology and extra USB ports. GM dominates the full-size SUV segment; six of the 10 best-sellers last year were GM vehicles, led by the Chevrolet Tahoe (second to the top-selling Ford Explorer), the Chevrolet Traverse and the GMC Acadia. The 2017 GMC Acadia should receive a significant redesign, considering how much the company concealed the car in a test run earlier this year.

Cadillac sales continue to rely on Escalade full-size SUV and Cadillac SRX midsize crossover sales. GM’s luxury sedan sales continue to flounder. The Cadillac ATS compact luxury car, first released in 2013, saw sales drop 6 percent, to 2,353, while the Cadillac CTS midsize luxury car introduced in for the 2014 model year declined 38 percent, to 1,1792.

Meanwhile, Buick sales were flat, with Buick Enclave full-size luxury SUVs and Buick Encore subcompact crossover carrying the brand as Buick car sales declined.

Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid car sales declined 4 percent to 1,618 ahead of the introduction of the 2016 Chevrolet Volt, which is expected to boost electric-only range to 50 miles, from the current 38 miles.

Likewise, Chevrolet Camaro muscle car sales dropped 6 percent ahead of the 2016 Camaro, due out later this year.

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