GM’s August Sales Plummet Nearly 37%
Summer strikes that crippled General Motors Corp. devastated its U.S. sales for the second consecutive month in August as its market share remained nearly 10 percentage points below normal.
Sales figures released Thursday show the world’s largest auto maker again gave up the top U.S. sales spot to Ford Motor Co. as its assembly plants worked overtime to restock dealer lots decimated by the strikes.
GM said its sales fell nearly 37% last month, compared with August 1997. That was only a slight improvement from July’s 38% decline.
Ford’s sales increased 8% last month, led by a 13% surge in demand for its light trucks. Car sales rose just 1%.
GM’s August market share was just under 22%. That’s up slightly from July’s 21% but still far off the 31% share in the first six months of the year. GM officials had predicted early last month that the auto maker would regain half its lost share in August.
“We’re hoping to get back to a more normal month in September,” said Michael C. DiGiovanni, GM’s market research chief. He declined to make any specific predictions.
The company’s production came to a near halt in July because of two parts plant strikes by the United Auto Workers in Flint, Mich. They were settled in late July.
The size of GM’s sales decline caused an industrywide drop of nearly 7% in August, even though most auto makers’ sales were up. The Big Three total was down 14%, despite gains posted by Ford and Chrysler Corp. Chrysler reported Tuesday that its U.S. sales were up 3.5%, an August record.
European auto makers showed the largest improvement, up 36%, while Asian auto makers’ sales rose 5%.
At Ford, sales of the Explorer and Expedition sport-utility vehicles and F-series pickups--the nation’s top-selling vehicles--also set August records.
“Ford and the U.S. economy were hitting on all cylinders in August,” said Bob Rewey, Ford’s vice president of sales and marketing.
But the biggest percentage gains last month were posted by foreign auto makers: Porsche, up 134%; Mercedes-Benz, 75%; Volkswagen, 71%; Audi, 38%; Mazda, 37%; and Toyota, 11%.
“It looks like the imports will grab almost 40% of the market this month,” DiGiovanni said. “That’s kind of a frightening number.”
GM managed to find some good news in its August figures. Officials said sales in the last 10 days of the month were up sharply--nearly 60% of GM’s August sales came in that period--as the company initiated new rebates and advertising.
