CLASSIFIEDS
Employment
Automotive
Real Estate
• Auto
sales beat forecasts
• Auto
dealers shed Net fears
SPECIAL SECTIONS
• 2001 Dallas Auto Show
• The Global
City
|
 |
|
|
Auto sales beat forecasts04/04/2001 DETROIT – Surprisingly strong sales of new cars and light trucks in March allowed most in the industry to get rid of swollen inventories of unsold vehicles, according to figures released Tuesday.
"The rebound in vehicle sales in the first quarter after a steep drop in the fourth quarter suggests that the consumer remains a viable force in the U.S. economy, despite the equity market turmoil, the overall decline in consumer confidence and the daily parade of job cutback announcements at U.S. firms," said economist John Canally of Stone & McCarthy, a financial markets research firm.
General Motors sales fell 5 percent, compared with the forecast of a 6.4 percent decline.
Ford sales slid 13 percent, while analysts forecast a 17 percent decline.
DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler unit sales fell 10 percent, compared with an anticipated decline of 14 percent.
|
|
|
|
| |
