Other Editorials

Same Results, More Excuses

Thursday, January 4, 2007

Once again, sales decline, market share drops, and GM executives offer more lame excuses and empty promises. Where is any form of accountability? Why is it always the fault of some external factors? When will either the Board or shareholders revolt and demand that someone at GM be held responsible for the continued decline?

Tough end to a tough year

Big Three U.S. market share dives as Toyota rises in '06

Christine Tierney / The Detroit News

Big Three market share falls to all-time low of 53.7 percent.

Detroit's automakers finished 2006 with their lowest share of the U.S. auto market in history, as Toyota Motor Corp. breached the top ranks after outselling DaimlerChrysler AG for a full year.

General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. reported sales declines for December and for the year after volatile gas prices and a sluggish economy cut demand for their big SUVs and pickup trucks.

Of the U.S. automakers, GM posted the biggest annual sales decline despite launching large SUVs early in 2006 and new pickups late in the year.

But Paul Ballew, GM's executive director of market analysis, said the decline masked encouraging trends: higher selling prices, lower sales incentives and lower fleet sales.

In a recent interview, GM's North America sales chief Mark LaNeve said Chrysler was spending "astronomical amounts of money" to move the metal -- and that strategy was unfortunately having an impact on GM's sales.

full article at www.detnews.com