Rough month for General Motors, Ford

General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. Thursday posted double-digit drops in their U.S. vehicle sales for June, losing market share again to Asian rivals as demand slowed throughout the entire industry.

GM and Ford’s surprisingly weak results sent sales for the industry down an estimated 4.5 percent to the lowest levels since February 2003, Paul Ballew, GM’s head of sales analysis, told reporters and analysts on a conference call.

U.S. vehicle sales, off from the previous year’s levels for the first time since last July, weakened last month because May results were far above expectations and pulled forward some sales, analysts said. Heavy incentives, which boosted May results despite gas prices topping $2 a gallon in most of the country, are also losing their effectiveness, they added.

The Chrysler arm of DaimlerChrysler AG, which reported a 1 percent gain in U.S. sales, was alone among the traditional Detroit automakers in posting a sales gain.

“There’s no question that there’s some payback from the really aggressive incentive program,” said Joe Phillippi, a consultant and former Wall Street automotive analyst. “As the result of ever more aggressive incentives ... sooner or later you reach some levels of saturation.”

With June’s weak results, GM and Ford said that inventories of unsold vehicles climbed last month, but neither cut their car and truck production estimates for the third quarter, which usually indicates that higher incentives are on the way.

GM and Ford both lost market share during the first half of the year, and officials acknowledged it would be difficult for them to recover over the remainder of the year.

“We’ve got a tough road ahead of us with regard to market share,” GM’s Ballew said.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

With results for most automakers reported, sales are expected to show a drop to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 15.6 million, Ballew said. That’s down from a weak rate of 16.3 million that analysts had expected and the 16.5 million rate in June last year.

Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. sales rose 9 percent in June, but the Japanese automaker had routinely recorded double-digit gains in sales in past months. Nissan’s Infiniti luxury brand had its best June ever, due to strong sales of its new QX56 sport utility vehicle.

“Everybody was saying that June was a challenging month,” said Jed Connelly, the head of Nissan North America’s sales and marketing. “One of the things I tell our guys ... take a look at May and June and divide by two. May was bigger than it maybe should have been.”

Honda Motor Co. said its sales rose 1.1 percent, and it posted its strongest June ever, due to strong sales of its Odyssey minivan and its Accord sedan.

Sales rates in June are adjusted for an extra selling day vs. the same month last year.