GM US June sales running about same as past months

[CSpec]

GM US June sales running about same as past months

WASHINGTON, June 12 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp's U.S. sales have been trending about the same as the weak results of previous months, the automaker's president of North America said on Thursday.

"We'll make the sales report at the end of the month, but it looks a lot like it did in the previous couple of months," GM North America President Troy Clarke told reporters at an electric car conference in Washington.

Through May, GM sales were down 17 percent in 2008. GM posted a 30 percent adjusted drop in sales for May, which pulled its U.S. market share for the month below 20 percent for the first time.

Clarke and other GM officials have said they believe the company has enough cash to weather the current downturn and are placing a substantial bet on the development of the electric Chevrolet Volt, due in 2010, as a response to a dramatic consumer shift away from its core light-truck products.

"We think the Volt is a very well-targeted vehicle -- right segment, right technology, right time frame," Clarke said. "Full speed ahead."

He echoed comments made on Wednesday by Ford Motor Co President Mark Fields, who said U.S. automakers needed substantial federal help to develop battery and other technology needed to bring electric-powered vehicles to market.

GM has held out hope for a more gradual recovery in U.S. sales in the second half of 2008 but warned earlier in June that it would be forced to close four truck plants in North America because consumer demand has shifted to smaller vehicles.

GM has relied historically on sales of larger trucks and SUVs for profits and the shift in demand has pressured its sales more dramatically this year than non-U.S.-based competitors that rely less on the larger vehicles.

GM shares were off 34 cents, or 2.1 percent to $15.78 in midday New York Stock Exchange trading on Thursday.

[GXT]

If GM is banking on the Volt they are really in serious trouble. Low volume and negative profit will not turn things around.

Funny that GM is asking for federal help for the battery. They have been claiming for quite some time now that the battery is no longer an issue. I guess you never pass up an opportunity to ask tax payers to pay for your mistakes.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

If GM is banking on the Volt they are really in serious trouble. Low volume and negative profit will not turn things around.

Funny that GM is asking for federal help for the battery. They have been claiming for quite some time now that the battery is no longer an issue. I guess you never pass up an opportunity to ask tax payers to pay for your mistakes.

If taxpayers would buy the vehicles made in america as opposed to feeling that they're "too good to be caught in a domestic" we wouldn't be asking for federal money in order to simply COMPETE with the government funded asian brands.

I really don't understand how americans are so stupid as to think that our businesses can exist in this global economic war when they are competing 1) with OTHER GOVERNMENTS and 2) with one arm tied behind their back by american 'regulations' and 'rules'.

[CARBIZ]

If GM is banking on the Volt they are really in serious trouble. Low volume and negative profit will not turn things around.

Funny that GM is asking for federal help for the battery. They have been claiming for quite some time now that the battery is no longer an issue. I guess you never pass up an opportunity to ask tax payers to pay for your mistakes.

Yeah, but it's okay for the Japanese government to pay for Toyota's hybrid system, right?

[regfootball]

of course it is carbiz, we wouldn't want to seem intolerant by not making it easier for those of other nationalities and such, by not putting the fruits of THEIR work on a pedestal.