Automakers Hopeful for Some Sales Rebound in June
June 30, 2009
The industry remains cautiously optimistic June vehicle sales in the U.S. will hit a seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) of 10 million units for the first time in 2009, a milestone analysts think may indicate the deep freeze in auto sales is at least beginning to thaw.
Automakers will report June sales on Wednesday, and Ford Motor Co. chief sales analyst George Pipas told reporters the company believes total industry sales will see less than a 30 percent decline (compared with the same period last year) for the first time since early last fall.
Ford is confident enough in an improving outlook that it will slightly increase its production for the third quarter -- the first time it's hiked scheduled production since 2007.
Ford has been particularly bullish about the beginning of a turnaround, but the Wall Street Journal quoted a source at General Motors Corp. as also agreeing the industry SAAR could hit 10 million units.
Ford's Pipas said last month all this should be taken in context: a 10-million annualized sales rate for the U.S. is less than two-thirds the 16-million-plus rates the industry recorded in the earlier part of the decade and is barely a subsistence volume for most makers.
But, Pipas said, even if June sales do not manage to exceed the 10-million annualized rate, it will be important because industry sales have halted the deep regression that started last year.
He said several indicators may be pointing to broad economic improvement in the second half of this year -- and the industry hopes the recently passed "Cash for Clunkers" legislation will bring a substantial number of new-vehicle buyers into the market.
Analysts at Edmunds.com, parent of AutoObserver, have projected the Cash for Clunkers program could result in as many as 250,000 extra new-vehicle sales before its expected expiration on November 1.
Posted by Bill Visnic at 7:24 AM under Business , Companies , Ford , GM | Comments (0) | digg this | Seed Newsvine
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