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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: calgal who wrote (502577)	12/2/2003 11:17:25 PM
From: calgal	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

November Auto Sales Show Increasing Momentum Tuesday, December 02, 2003 DETROIT — U.S. new car and truck sales revved higher in November from a weak October, boosted by the strengthening U.S. economy and the annual year-end increase in cash rebates and other incentives. General Motors Corp. (GM), Nissan Motor Co. (search) , Volkswagen AG (search) and several other automakers posted double-digit gains in U.S. sales from weak levels in November last year, and auto officials cited growing consumer confidence for fueling the strong results. "Everything we read indicates that things are firming up for next year, and that's a good sign for everybody," Jed Connelly, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Nissan North America, told Reuters in an interview. GM, which reported weak results in November last year when it trimmed its incentives, said its U.S. sales this November jumped 21.1 percent to 356,374 vehicles, at the high end of expectations. The results excluded GM's Saab brand and some heavy trucks. Nissan sales rose 15.6 percent, while the Volkswagen brand reported a 32.7 percent rise. Industry sales jumped 8.7 percent to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 16.83 million vehicles, at the high end of analysts' estimates and easily topping October's weak rate of 15.6 million and last November's 16.0 million unit rate. Ford (F) and the Chrysler arm of DaimlerChrysler AG (DCX) reported more modest gains, but officials there were also optimistic going into next year following more signs of economic strength. "I don't think anyone expected the economy to rebound as quickly as it has over the last few months," Jarlath Costello, an economist with Ford Motor Co., told reporters and analysts on a conference call. Ford sales rose 0.5 percent to 237,099 vehicles, excluding its overseas brands Jaguar, Volvo and Land Rover. Strong truck sales, including the new F-150 pickup, offset a drop in car sales. A 15 percent jump in sales of its own pickup truck, the Dodge Ram (search), helped Chrysler post a 2.9 percent rise in its November sales. Ford officials said December vehicle sales for the industry could beat November results. A strong finish to the year could make 2003 U.S. vehicle sales nearly as good as 2002's 16.8 million, the fourth best on record. All sales results are adjusted to reflect 25 sales days in November this year versus 26 in the month last year. GM, Ford and Chrysler made only modest changes to their incentives in November. All launched "lease pull-ahead" incentives, offering to waive remaining lease payments on vehicles if customers buy or lease a new car or truck. "Incentives are a bit higher, but I don't think that's the whole story," analyst David Healy of Burnham Securities told Reuters. "I think there is a little bit of economic recovery, better labor market conditions and improved consumer confidence in the November numbers." The auto industry usually boosts incentives in December, as companies push to meet market share and sales goals. However, some officials have said that the strengthening economy could allow the industry to pull back on incentives, and on Tuesday, GM trimmed its offers. GM raised finance rates slightly on its mid-size sport utility vehicles and cut cash rebates on its small cars. "We have long expected that as positive economic growth accelerated we'd get help on the pricing front," Paul Ballew, head of industry analysis at GM, said.