P.M. BRIEFING : GM Ups Prices of Power Options $10 to $20 Despite Slow Sales

General Motors Corp. raised prices $10 to $20 on some of its most popular power options despite slow early 1990 car and light truck sales, the company announced today.

Cruise control, power door locks, power windows and power seats will show increases, mostly in the $15 to $20 range, GM spokesman John Mueller said.

Mueller said the increases on options on cars made April 2 or after will help recoup higher raw material, labor and health-care costs.

They followed an average $29 increase in prices for options on most cars by Ford Motor Co. last month. Chrysler Corp. hasn’t increased prices since the fall start of the model year.

GM’s sales of cars and light trucks were down 8.4% in the April 1-10 sales period from a year earlier.

But Mueller said the company reviewed the market and, “We believe such modest adjustments will not adversely affect new model sales.”

The move indicates GM has been able to trim excess inventories through production cuts despite the slow market, said auto industry analyst Scott Merlis of Morgan Stanley & Co.

“They’re saying that the market is strong enough and inventories are in balance enough to pass on these cost increases,” Merlis said. “If inventories were out of line, this would not be possible.”