General Motors Co. will stop reporting monthly vehicle-sales data that investors have relied on for years to check on the health of the world’s second-largest car market. GM will instead issue quarterly reports.
“Thirty days is not enough time to separate real sales trends from short-term fluctuations in a very dynamic, highly competitive market,” Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president of sales operations, said in a statement on GM’s website Tuesday. Quarterly reports are better aligned with GM’s business and the “quality of information” will make it easier to see how the company is performing, he said.
GM’s break from tradition comes as rising interest rates and new-vehicle prices squeeze American shoppers with shaky credit and tight budgets out of the market. Automakers probably will report sales in March slowed to the most sluggish pace since Hurricane Harvey ravaged dealerships across the Texas Gulf Coast in August, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Automakers are due to report March U.S. new vehicle sales Tuesday. GM plans to report second-quarter sales on July 3, third-quarter sales on Oct. 2 and fourth-quarter sales on Jan. 3 next year.
By Anand Krishnamoorthy
