Analog
Lifer
November appears to be another lackluster month for U.S. car and truck sales after the latest round of discounts and deals did little to revive sagging demand.
"At this point, November looks to be a stronger sales month than October," said George Pipas, manager of sales analysis and reporting for Ford Motor Co. "But then October was about the weakest sales month we've seen in several years, so maybe that's not saying much."
The sentiments were the same across town.
"We didn't expect a blockbuster month," said Paul Ballew, executive director of global market and industry analysis for General Motors Corp. "We're expecting sales to be down a bit."
While GM and Ford have been struggling to stanch market share losses, crosstown rival DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group has increased its share of the domestic vehicle market by about 7 percent since last year.
Even Chrysler's October sales were up over last year, albeit marginally, while the industry as a whole hit a seven-year low.
"We're hoping to duplicate that or improve that for November" said Chrysler spokesman Kevin McCormick. "It looks like the pace is kind of similar."
Most major automakers will report November sales on Thursday. Goldman, Sachs & Co. estimates that GM, Ford and Chrysler will report declines for November, although Chrysler is expected to pick up some market share.
The investment firm projects November light vehicles sales will be 16 million units on an annualized basis. That compares to annualized sales of just 14.8 million vehicles in October, but still represents a decline of about 5 percent over the same period last year
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051130/AUTO01/511300358/1148.
"At this point, November looks to be a stronger sales month than October," said George Pipas, manager of sales analysis and reporting for Ford Motor Co. "But then October was about the weakest sales month we've seen in several years, so maybe that's not saying much."
The sentiments were the same across town.
"We didn't expect a blockbuster month," said Paul Ballew, executive director of global market and industry analysis for General Motors Corp. "We're expecting sales to be down a bit."
While GM and Ford have been struggling to stanch market share losses, crosstown rival DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group has increased its share of the domestic vehicle market by about 7 percent since last year.
Even Chrysler's October sales were up over last year, albeit marginally, while the industry as a whole hit a seven-year low.
"We're hoping to duplicate that or improve that for November" said Chrysler spokesman Kevin McCormick. "It looks like the pace is kind of similar."
Most major automakers will report November sales on Thursday. Goldman, Sachs & Co. estimates that GM, Ford and Chrysler will report declines for November, although Chrysler is expected to pick up some market share.
The investment firm projects November light vehicles sales will be 16 million units on an annualized basis. That compares to annualized sales of just 14.8 million vehicles in October, but still represents a decline of about 5 percent over the same period last year
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051130/AUTO01/511300358/1148.
