Auto Sales Trail Last Year's Results

DETROIT April 14, 2003; Sholnn Freeman writing for Dow Jones reported that despite higher incentives, early results show April new car and truck sales slightly trailing year-ago levels, said Bob Schnorbus, chief economist at J.D. Power and Associates.

So far, he said auto sales are down about 5% from a year earlier, corresponding to a 16.5 million to 17 million seasonally adjusted annualized sales rate. The early April results are stronger than the 16.3 million sales rate set last month, but the market hasn't yet approached the banner levels that some auto executives predicted two weeks ago.

Mr. Schnorbus said auto makers could still close the gap with last year's results, as more consumers become aware of the industry's sweeping 0% financing offers. He also expects consumer sentiment to brighten as positive developments continue to flow from the Iraq war.

The J.D. Power sales research is based on data from 5,000 dealerships, which account for one-fourth of the U.S. vehicle market.