U.S. CAR SALES UP 6.7 PCT IN LATE FEBRUARY
Sales of new cars by the U.S. auto
industry rose 6.7 pct in late February from the weak levels of
a year ago, but industry giant General Motors Corp <GM> was an
exception with an eight pct drop.
    The figures represented a slight recovery for the industry
from weak mid-February sales, but the eight domestic-based car
manufacturers still saw sales fall 9.1 pct for the full month
from last year.
    GM, whose sales have been weakening for several months,
took only 48.1 pct of domestic car sales in the February 21-28
period compared with 55.7 pct a year ago, when sales for the
entire industry were depressed from the ending of major
marketing incentive campaigns.
    At the same time, rival Ford Motor Co <F> said its car
sales in the period rose 29.3 pct and Chrysler Corp <C> was up
11.3 pct.
    The industry leader's slide was even more marked for the
full month as GM took only 37 pct of all car sales in February,
including imports, compared with 43.5 pct a year ago.
    Industry analysts said the 198,818 domestic-make cars sold
in the seven selling days of late February represented a
seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 7.0 mln units while the
556,953 sold in the month were at a 7.4 mln annual rate.
    Last year, the industry sold a record 11.44 mln new cars,
including 8.2 mln domestic makes. But consumers have taken a
breather since then and car sales sales have been weaker in
1987 due to tax-induced heavy buying in December, a lack of
widespread sales incentives and intermitent bad weather,
analysts said.
    GM sales vice-president C.N. "Bud" Moore said in a
statement that his company's sales "began their recovery from
the low point reached in January, and we expect the improvement
to continue in coming months."
    Anne Knight, automotive analyst for Paine Webber and Co,
told Reuters that GM's sales were weak, but added: "I think
sales will get better in the spring."
    "GM may make more production cuts in view of the weak
sales, but this may be a strike year so they might try to build
inventories," she said.
    In a further effort to revive sales, GM said its
Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Buick divisions would offer many of
their new car lines through April 30 with discount loan
packages at rates ranging from 3.9 pct for 24-month contracts
to 9.9 pct for 60-month deals as an alternative to cash
rebates.
    Among the smaller U.S.-based manufacturers, Japanese-owned
American Honda <HMC> said its late February car sales rose 96.2
pct from last year while Japanese-owned Nissan <NSANY> was up
35.9 pct.
    German-owned Volkswagen of America fell 42.5 pct, American
Motors Corp <AMO> plunged 62.5 pct and Japan's Toyota <TOYOY>
sold 1,082 domestic makes compared with none a year ago before
it started domestic production.
    Detroit's late February truck sales were generally positive
with GM up 10.9 pct, Ford up 48 pct, Chrysler gaining 46 pct
and AMC's jeep sales off 4.0 pct.
    Imported cars sales, released monthly, were estimated at
219,300 in February, a 0.4 pct rise from last year and 28.3 pct
of the overall car market. That was lower than January's 31.4
pct share but above the 26.3 pct share a year ago.
 Reuter
