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Big Three: mixed sales
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March 4, 1998: 4:23 p.m. ET
GM and Chrysler cars sales stall, trucks move; Ford cars gain, trucks falter
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The Big Three automakers reported mixed February results for sales of U.S. cars and trucks, as many analysts had expected.
For the 28 days of February, General Motors Corp. on Tuesday reported a slightly wider-than-expected drop of 14.3 percent in domestic car sales, which totaled 170,915 units. Truck sales rose 2.3 percent to 153,804 units.
Ford Motor Co., meanwhile, recorded a 3.6-percent gain in cars sales to 131,243 units. Truck sales eased 1.7 percent to 160,329 units. GM and Ford account for roughly half the U.S. auto market.
"When you look at the trends over the last couple of years, the industry cycle, if you want to call it that, has been fairly stable, fairly flat. I think the outlook for 1998 and 1999 is more or less a continuation of that trend," said Michael Ward, auto analyst at PaineWebber.
On Tuesday, Chrysler Corp. reported car sales slid 11 percent to 64,506 units and truck sales rose 6 percent to 135,562 units.
Analysts have attributed the slowing sales to longer life spans. In recent years, the increased durability of vehicles have helped pick up the image of U.S. automakers but also slowed growth.
"Years ago it used to be people would keep a car three years and say 'time to trade up.' Now seven to 10 years is pretty much the norm. Prices are expensive. People are using money on other things," Ward said.
However, Ward estimated more than 100 million vehicles in the U.S. are over seven years old, which will hasten replacement demand.
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Ford
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