Domestic Car Sales Fall 4.8% in Early June

New domestic auto sales fell 4.8% in early June, compared to the same period a year ago, the eight domestic auto makers reported Tuesday.

The slight drop in sales, industry analysts said, may signal that the auto market is beginning to cool slightly after surprisingly strong sales in the first five months of 1988.

“The small decline in early June car sales is probably indicative of a slight softening of the automotive market for the rest of the year,” said Dennis Sperduto, an automotive analyst with Argus Research in New York. “(Analysts) expected this from the beginning of the year. The first five months were quite a bit stronger than expected.”

Auto analysts also agreed that the slight decline for the June 1-10 period is nothing to get excited about. “The numbers tend to bounce around a lot,” said Jerry Paul, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., also of New York. “There’s not much to be concerned about until we see a sustained reduction” in sales.

Of the eight domestic auto producers, only Toyota showed a sales increase, due to expanded production of its U.S-made Toyota Corolla.

AUTO SALES

June 1-10 % 10-Day 1988 change GM 100,721 -6.2 Ford 58,461 -3.2 Chrysler 27,779 -6.4 Honda U.S. 6,692 -0.3 VW U.S. 917 -8.0 NissanU.S. 2,418 -27.6 ToyotaU.S. 1,052 +557.5 MazdaU.S. 607 -- TOTAL 198,647 -4.8

There were 9 selling days in the selling period this year and last year.