June Car and Truck Sales Slowing

07/03/96

Chrysler and General Motors have reported June sales and Ford's sales report is due to be released sometime Wednesday. Based on the info they have, industry analysts expect June sales to ring out at about 15 million vehicles--down from May's high of 15.9 million sales, but up slightly over last year's 14.9 million sales.

June's domestic car sales slowed for Chrysler, increasing only 0.1 percent over last year's figures. The corporation's light truck sales were up only 1.7 percent. Both of those figures pale significantly next to last month's sales figures, which were rose 17.1 percent. Several key Chrysler lines saw declines in numbers sold, including the Grand Cherokee (down 21 percent), its minivans (down 7 percent), and its Neons (down 19.2 percent). Chrysler posted rises for the Dodge Intrepid, however (up 18 percent). One reason Chrysler gave for selected lines declining was low inventory and resultant limited selections on some cars. Chrysler's inventories are down below 50 days on all models: the industry claims that a 61 day supply is average.

GM reported that its car and truck sales were down 1.2 percent as compared to last year's June sales (car sales down 0.1 percent, truck sales down 2.9 percent). Within that decline, full size Chevy C/K pickups were off 6.4 percent, while the Chevy S10 was down 13.9 percent. Sales of the Chevrolet Lumina offset sales declines for passenger cars from other GM divisions. The Lumina was up 12.3 percent, while Pontiac sales dropped 3.3 percent, Oldsmobile dropped 13.5 percent, Buick dropped 11.4 percent, and Cadillac was off 6.3 percent.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel