GM’s Sales Are Stuck in Neutral

General Motors Corp.’s new car and truck business rose less than 1% in April, a lackluster result that wrapped up a month in which consumer demand failed to meet industry expectations.

GM, the world’s largest automaker, said Tuesday that overall sales rose 0.4% last month compared with a year ago. Truck sales, aided by big incentives, rose 1.2%, while car sales were off 0.8%.

GM reported April results a day after most major automakers because of a glitch late last week in its vehicle delivery reporting system.

Some analysts had forecast that GM sales would rise 3% to 5% in April, based in part on hefty incentives on most 2004 trucks. But sales of sport utility vehicles and pickups didn’t lift results as much as anticipated.

“I would conclude that the month was best described as ‘OK’ from an industry standpoint, a little bit below expectations,” Paul Ballew, GM’s executive director of global market and industry analysis, said Tuesday.

Industrywide, sales for the month rose a modest 0.8% from a year ago, according to Autodata Corp. This year, U.S. sales are up about 3%.

Some observers predicted April sales would rise 5% or more based on the recovering economy and the influx of tax refunds. Instead, showroom traffic seemed to stall for some brands, possibly hurt by rising gas prices and incentive offerings that have become stale.

The seasonally adjusted annual sales rate for April was 16.4 million units, the same as a year ago and down from the seasonally adjusted rate of 16.7 million last month. The sales rate indicates what sales for the full year would be if they remained at the same pace for all 12 months.

Full-year sales for 2003 were 16.7 million, and most analysts and industry executives have predicted an uptick this year.

GM shares fell 35 cents to $47.94 on the New York Stock Exchange.