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June 27, 2005
GM auto sales strong in June
One feature of past oil shocks that contributed to an economic downturn was a sudden change in consumers' car purchases. But the latest indications are that U.S. automakers so far at least are not experiencing the same kind of problem this time around.
Automotive News carried this story today:
Analysts: June is sales home run for GM General Motors, spurred by its program of employee discounts for everyone, is the runaway U.S. sales winner in June, several industry analysts say. Estimates of GM's sales gain for the month range from 26 percent to more than 30 percent over June 2004.
This would seem to lay to rest concerns arising from GM's weak light truck sales and plans announced earlier this month to eliminate 25,000 jobs.
Posted by econbrowser at June 27, 2005 08:07 PM
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Comments
"This would seem to lay to rest concerns arising from .......... to eliminate 25,000 jobs"
Or maybe GM is just dumping excess inventory (bow-wow!)on the market & grabbing a little cash (since their bonds are basically junk).
Or not.
I'm just sayin' it. Everyone thinkin' it.
Posted by: JackNYC at June 30, 2005 07:39 AM
I can not agree with your assessment of the auto industry despite this being an excellent blog (fully recommended!).
GM's increase in sales seems more the result of a desperate move of giving employee discounts to clients than an increase in overall demand. Chrysler already announced they are matching this discounts.
Posted by: PlanMaestro at July 1, 2005 09:26 AM
GM simply doesn't want to get crushed under the weight of excess inventory. When the incentives are gone, GM's outlook remains dismal.
Posted by: sjlen at July 5, 2005 03:29 PM