July 1 (Reuters) – General Motors Co. (GM.N) reported a 15% drop in second-quarter car sales on Friday as global chip shortages and supply chain disruptions supply affected production and left about 100,000 vehicles waiting for more parts.
The U.S. auto industry is struggling to keep up with accumulated consumer demand for new cars as it struggles to increase production due to chip shortages, the labor crisis and related problems with supply chain blockages.
GM, which lost its crown as sales leader last year for the first time since 1931 to Toyota, said it sold 582,401 vehicles during the quarter through June compared to last year’s 688,236 vehicles.
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However, the Detroit automaker is expected to be the top seller of new vehicles during the quarter, according to Cox Automotive, as industry-wide outages reduce inventory for other major automakers. .
GM also said it expected net revenues of between $ 1.6 billion and $ 1.9 billion in the second quarter. According to Refinitiv data, analysts estimate an average profit of $ 2.56 billion. It was not immediately clear whether the figures were comparable.
Automakers have to report new vehicle sales in the U.S. for three months through June on Fridays and Tuesdays.
Toyota has been one of the hardest-hit car manufacturers this year, as chip shortages and the blockade of China’s COVID-19, which have also affected other carmakers, have forced it to reduce its production repeatedly, giving a cloud over their year-round production targets. Read more
Toyota, along with Stellantis NV (STLA.MI), Hyundai Motor Co. (005380.KS), Honda Motor Co. (7267.T) and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. (7201.T) – will point to a quarterly decline in sales , except Ford, according to data from Cox and TrueCar.
Cox officials said Ford, which reports June sales on Tuesday, has managed its inventories better than most others and is also recovering from last year’s struggles.
Tesla Inc. (TSLA.O) will be the only major brand to increase sales during the first half of the year, Cox said.
Observers in the sector are concerned about the potential impact of high inflation over several decades and rising gas prices in the car industry, although they point out that demand remains strong today, an unusual situation.
A bigger impediment to increasing car sales today still seems to be the industry-wide shortage of cars and trucks, which has caused analysts to cut their year-round sales forecasts.
“A recovery in vehicle production in 2022 seems highly unlikely at this time,” said Edmunds automotive industry consulting executive director Jessica Caldwell.
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Report by Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bangalore, additional report by Ben Klayman in Detroit; Assembly of Shinjini Ganguli and Anil D’Silva
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