American automaker, General Motors Co (GM.N) reported a 3.8 percent drop, while crosstown rival Ford Motor Co (F.N) topped analysts forecasts on strong truck sales.
GM said it is emphasizing more profitable retail sales, or those directly to consumers. Lower fleet sales to businesses and government pressured overall volume in January, said Kurt McNeil, GM’s U.S. sales chief. Analysts looked for GM sales to fall about 2 percent.
GM expects that U.S. January industry sales were about 17.6 million vehicles on a seasonally adjusted annualized rate, near the forecast of 17.55 million vehicles in a poll of 40 economists by Thomson Reuters.
December’s surprisingly good showing pulled sales from January, normally the weakest month of the year in terms of sales volume. Some analysts cautioned against putting too much emphasis on last month’s annualized selling rate.
Still, the overall U.S. auto market remained on a roll, with rising sales the past seven years, and record highs for the past two, they said. Each month, auto sales are an early indicator of U.S. consumer spending.
Last year ended surprisingly strong. December U.S. sales were 18.43 million on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, far outpacing expectations of 17.7 million vehicles.
The industry is optimistic about hitting another record in 2017 on expectations of pro-growth economic and regulatory policies from U.S. President Donald Trump.
