General Motors and Ford today said their U.S. sales declined in February as they continued to back away from sales to daily rental fleets. While GM said its February U.S. sales would likely be off 6 to 7 percent from February 2006, the automaker expects its retail sales to be flat for the month.

Ford said its February U.S. sales would likely decline by 10 to 15 percent, with its planned reduction in fleet sales accounting for the majority of the decline. Ford expects its sales to commercial and government fleets to be down 20 percent in February, including a 30 percent drop to daily rental companies. Ford F-Series look to be continuing their free fall with sales likely to drop by a double-digit percentage, according to George Pipas, Ford’s chief sales analyst.

Both GM and Ford have planned huges reductions in low-margin fleet sales. While the fleet sales allowed the automakers to keep assembly plants running, they reduced resale values, and eroded the value of the brands.

Final sales results will be released on Thursday, March 1.

## Source: Reuters ##

Posted in: Ford, GM, Industry, Car Buying, Sales Results
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