GM Sees Tepid Sales of New Models :: essays research papers

General beat backs Corp., already bracing for a tough 2005 because of flagging truck sales, is now masking signs of trouble selling two of the new cars it had been expecting to pick up the retard this year. The company in the last week or so has change magnitude incentives on the Pontiac G6 and the Buick LaCrosse as a result of sluggish sales, and has prep ard to master back production at the factory that assembles the G6. GM recently told workers at its position in Orion, Mich., that it is reducing the number of cars it wants produced each hour and delaying the slit of a second raise up of production until after the companys annual plant shutdown in July. The company had planned to start the second shift in the spring. Paul B tout ensembleew, GMs executive director of market and industry analysis, utter production is ramping up slowly at the plant because not all versions of the G6 are in the market yet, such as a modeling with a four-cylinder engine. "We dont get the coupes until the summer, and we dont get the convertible until after that," he said. "Weve been retard in bringing some of the the new versions of the G6 out." Mr. Ballew said G6 sales are "pretty good" but acknowledged they are "not impinge on the charts." GM expects to sell intimately 6,000 G6s this month, up from about 4,000 last month, he said. The slow start of the G6 and LaCrosse sales comes at a difficult period for GM, the worlds largest car maker. In 2004, GM lost market share and was compel to cut production as Japanese rivals such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. posted substantially higher sales of mainstream cars. At the resembling time, luxury-car makers such as BMW AG are expanding further into midprice segments that GM erst dominated. In January, GM said 2005 earnings would fall by about a third to between $4 and $5 a share, as a result of a $1 billion increase in health-care costs, a substantial loss in Europe and lower simoleons at its financing arm. It is also suffering from an aging line of bracer trucks and big sports-utility vehicles, such as the Chevy Suburban and GMC Yukon, that normally revert substantial profit. These sales are falling as GM prepares to open new versions in 2006. The LaCrosse and especially the G6 were supposed to help smooth the frustrate in the meantime.