GM Joins Ford Posting Sales Drops Blamed on Cold Weather
By Craig Trudell Feb 3, 2014 4:15 PM ET
General Motors Co. (GM) and Ford Motor Co. (F), the largest U.S. automakers, reported deeper declines in deliveries than analysts estimated as the coldest January in two decades kept some shoppers from dealerships.
Sales of cars and light trucks fell 12 percent for GM and 7.5 percent for Ford, according to company statements, and the shares dropped. Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) and Honda Motor Co. also reported deliveries that declined and trailed estimates. Chrysler Group LLC and Nissan Motor Co., which reported results exceeding analysts’ projections, fielded new sport-utility vehicles that drove much of their gains.
The industry trailed analysts’ estimates that had called for the eking out of a sales increase during the coldest January in the contiguous U.S. states since 1994, according to Commodity Weather Group LLC. GM, Ford and Toyota have forecast a fifth straight year of rising deliveries in 2014 after the industry totaled 15.6 million in 2013, its best annual result since 2007, according to researcher Autodata Corp.
“GM and Ford’s concentration of sales are in the areas that were badly hit by bad weather,” Jessica Caldwell, an analyst at auto researcher Edmunds.com, said by telephone. For Chrysler, “products like the Cherokee will continue to do well. They continue to up their product game.”
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-03/chrysler-sales-rise-8-as-cherokee-paces-jeep-brand.html