Analysts See Steep Sales Slide for Big 3 in '08

By Jim O'Neill,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 19, 2007 7:49 AM CST
Analysts See Steep Sales Slide for Big 3 in '08
An unidentified shopper looks over unsold 2008 Yukons on the lot of a GMC Truck dealership in the small northwest Colorado community of Meeker on Oct. 26, 2007. An uncertain housing market and high oil prices likely took a toll on auto sales in October, a Goldman Sachs analyst said ahead of the industry's...   (Associated Press)

Automakers are predicting a mildly soft sales year for 2008, but analysts warn a “poverty effect” caused by an imploding housing market could send US light auto sales skidding as much as 9.4% to their worst year since 1993, Reuters reports. “I’m just not sure how bad it could be,” said one. “We all know housing is a debacle.”

The Big Three predict sales of 15.5 to 16 million units for 2008, but analysts at the Reuters Auto Summit were more pessimistic, saying sales could drop to between 14.5 million and 15.5 million units from this year’s 16 million. And, they said, 0% financing and huge discounts are no more; expect production cuts instead as automakers get “smaller and faster.” (More automaker stories.)

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