GM Sets Lower Production Target

DETROIT September 1, 2004; Reuters reported that General Motors Corp. posted a 7 percent drop in U.S. vehicle sales for August, and set its fourth-quarter North American car and truck production 6.8 percent lower, the automaker said on Wednesday.

GM, the world's largest automaker, said its U.S. sales fell to 406,623 vehicles in August, including results from its Saab brand and some heavy-duty trucks.

To help cut inventories of unsold cars and trucks, GM said it would produce 1.29 million vehicles in North America during the fourth quarter, down from 1.385 million in the same quarter a year ago. Production cuts can hurt earnings because GM and other automakers count profits from vehicles when they are shipped to dealers, not when they are sold to consumers.