GM U.S. vehicle sales fall 13 percent in January

DETROIT, Feb 1 Reuters reported that General Motors Corp.said on Friday its U.S. light vehicle sales fell 13 percent to 299,634 units in January due to declining sales to car rental agencies and the end to its zero percent financing deals. GM said its car sales fell 34.2 percent to 116,633 units, while total truck sales rose 10 percent to 183,001 units. The figures include sales of its Saab unit, and some medium- and heavy-duty trucks. Despite the drop in sales, GM said it raised its first-quarter North American vehicle production forecast to 1.32 million units from 1.30 million previously. GM produced 1.214 million vehicles in first quarter 2001. Wall Street analysts had expected GM's sales to drop 5 percent to 10 percent. GM sales surged late last year after it introduced zero-percent financing deals on new cars and trucks to spur sales in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, a move that led to record industry results in October. But those record sales pulled forward some sales from the first part of this year. In addition, car rental agencies have cut back on purchases of new cars and trucks with the drop in airline travel since Sept. 11.