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GM Trims Sales Forecast for U.S. Car Market
General Motors Co. tells analysts it now expects new car and light-truck sales in the U.S. will drop to the “low 17 million” range from 17.55 million vehicles in 2016.
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General Motors Co. tells analysts it now expects new car and light-truck sales in the U.S. will drop to the “low 17 million” range from 17.55 million vehicles in 2016.
GM previously forecast this year’s sales would approximately match last year’s total. But sales have trailed year-ago totals all year and currently are down 2% compared with January-May 2016. Says Chief Financial Officer Chuck Stevens, “The market is definitely slowing.”
Stevens says overall volume this year could shrink by as much as 300,000 units. He notes that GM has reduced fleet sales—a drain on used-car residual values—in an effort to at least partly offset the decline. Lower used-car prices lower demand for pricier new cars.
Stevens reiterates that GM is attempting to trim dealer supplies of unsold models to 70 days by the end of the year from 110 days now. A 60-day supply is considered normal.
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