2002 Car Demand To Fall 5%

General Motors and other automakers may sell five percent fewer vehicles worldwide this year because of falling demand from the US, Japan, and Europe, the three largest car markets, an industry research group has said.

Automakers will sell 2.6 million fewer vehicles this year, with sales forecast to fall a further two and a half percent during 2003, resulting in three years of consecutive decline, said Edinburgh based Autopolis.

?The decline will last at least eighteen months,? until the second half of next year, said Autopolis' Singapore based Director Graeme Maxton in an interview. ?Even if the US economy picks up, the car market will fall back as there were so many mega deals last year that demand has been absorbed.?

General Motors, the Ford Motor Company and four other vehicle makers had credit ratings lowered in the past year because of weak demand, a Standard & Poor's report said last week. US auto sales fell by 1.7 percent in the first four months of the year, even as automakers used discounts and cheaper financing to lure buyers.

Author: Neftegaz.ru