Print

Mail

wiki links

GM admits US vehicle sales less than expected

eneral Motors Corp, the world's largest automaker, said US vehicle sales last month probably will fall short of its earlier forecast as winter snowstorms kept consumers away from dealerships.

The company had predicted an industrywide annual sales rate of about 16.9 million cars and light trucks last month, up from 16.2 million for the year-earlier month. General Motors' executives now estimate the rate will be less than 16.9 million.

"Demand was not real strong," said Robert Lutz, vice chairman in charge of the automaker's North American operations.

"What I've heard from a lot of our dealers is that they were hampered by weather conditions," Lutz said in an interview on Saturday at the National Automobile Dealers Association's annual convention in Las Vegas.

General Motors is counting on rising vehicle demand and new models to help it recover from a 2.2 percent decline in sales last year and regain market share from Asian automakers.

General Motors may have been hurt more by last month's weather than its rivals because the storms hit in the Midwest and Northeast, where the automaker's sales are historically the strongest, Lutz said.

The Detroit-based company also is looking at ways to increase demand for its new Saturn Ion small car by boosting marketing and emphasizing a new higher-horsepower model, Lutz said.

Ion sales have been less than General Motors expected, forcing it to halt production of the car for about two months last year and two weeks so far this year.

"We're devoting a lot of energy to the Ion and Saturn in general because we are absolutely determined to get that going," Lutz said. "Right now, Ion sales are a little tough."

But dealers are upbeat about the sales for this year.

New vehicle sales probably will rise 1.2 percent this year as automakers keep offering rebates and low-interest loans, the chief economist of the nation's largest association of car dealers said on Saturday.

Consumers will probably purchase 16.8 million new cars and trucks this year, up from 16.6 million last year, said Paul Taylor of the National Automobile Dealers Association.

Taylor said he raised his estimate by 100,000 units during the past three weeks because of a "surge in enthusiasm" for incentives among car companies such as General Motors and Ford Motor Co.

The three US-based automakers -- General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler unit -- spent US$3,712 per vehicle on incentives last year, above the US$2,664 industrywide average, according to Autodata Corp.

Taylor expects that spending to remain above US$3,000 this year, based on offers advertised so far this year.

"Even with the new product, the existing products that have been on the market for a year or more will have significant incentives," he said.
This story has been viewed 1559 times.