(By Balachander) General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM) posted a 6.4 percent drop in U.S. sales for the month of July due to a sharp fall in rental volume.
The Detroit, Michigan-based auto giant reported sales of 201,237 vehicles in the United States last month. Sales to rental customers fell 41 percent as planned deliveries occurred earlier in the year.
Chevrolet sales were off 6.8 percent. Sales of Buick, GMC also declined 14.7 percent and 9.0 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, Cadillac sales jumped 20.7 percent, spurred by strong across-the-board results for the CTS, Escalade, SRX and the all-new XTS, GM said.
"Signs of a housing recovery and good news on consumer confidence and household income should help keep the light vehicle selling rate in the 14-million range and drive seasonally higher truck sales as we move toward fall," commented Kurt McNeil, vice president, U.S. Sales Operations.
Combined retail sales of mini-, small, and compact cars surged 41 percent.
Meanwhile, Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) also reported a 4 percent fall in monthly U.S. sales, due to a 16 percent decrease in fleet sales. Total vehicles for the month of June were 173,966 units. Sales of cars rose 1.8 percent, while utilities and truck sales declined 3.7 percent and 9.0 percent, respectively.
GM shares gained 1.85 percent to trade at $20.08 on Wednesday, while Ford shares added 0.33 percent to trade at $9.22.