Giorgos
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« on: July 01, 2010, 11:53:50 AM » |
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NEW YORK (CNN) General Motors and Ford Motor both reported U.S. sales strongly up from a year ago, but weaker than both May's sales levels and industry forecasts.
The weaker than expected sales and the slower sales pace could be a sign that the weakening economic and jobs outlook could be cutting into demand for cars.
A survey released Tuesday from the Conference Board found consumer confidence falling sharply and the percentage of Americans planning to buy new cars in the next six months falling to a record low of 1.2% from 2.7% in May.
GM, the nation's leading automaker, reported sales up 11% from a year ago, as the four brands it continues to actively sell -- Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC -- posted a 36% rise. There was a 98% drop in sales for Hummer, Saturn, Pontiac and Saab, the four brands GM shed as part of the bankruptcy process. Those brands now make up only 0.3% of its sales as GM disposes of its remaining inventory.
But GM sales slipped 12.5% from May. Forecasts had been for a decline of between 8% and 10% compared to May.
Steve Carlisle, GM's vice president of global product planning, said most of the decline from June was due to a 30% drop in fleet sales to businesses customers, such as rental car companies, and that the decline was planned due to the front-loading of those sales early in the year. Retail sales to customers declined only slightly from May he said.
"It's not so far off expectations," he said. Carlisle said GM is expecting retail sales to remain flat the rest of the summer.
Ford reported that sales at its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands up 15% from a year ago, but down 13% from May. Forecasts had been for a 17% rise from a year ago.
Sales fell 29% from a year ago at the its Volvo brand, which it is in the process of selling to Chinese automaker Geely.
Other automakers, including Toyota Motor (TM), are also expected to also show improvement compared to a year ago but slower sales than in May when they report later Thursday.
Forecasts for the industry wide U.S. sales are for a seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of between 10.9 million to 11.2 million vehicles. That's better than the 9.7 million sales rate of a year ago, but would be well below the 11.6 million sales rate achieved in May of this year.
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