General Motors Co. found itself stuck with too many trucks in its inventory. The company now offers discounts of as much as $9,000 in order to get rid of its supply of GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado pickup trucks as it gets ready to launch the next models in 2013.
GM’s truck inventory went up to 110 days despite its sales incentives that were made to move the units off dealer lots. Automakers usually target supplies of a model at around 90 days. Analysts said that GM’s truck inventory is more than any car manufacturer would like to have.
GM is now providing as much as $9,000 off its remaining 2012 models and around $4,500 off its 2013 model pickup trucks. The next generation trucks will have the label 2014 and go on sale in the second quarter of 2013.
GMC Sierra and the Chevrolet Silverado composed 34.7 percent of the full-size truck market this year so far. It was down from a 40.3 percent share in 2008, which was before the company’s reorganization due to bankruptcy.
Ford-s F-series got 39.6 percent of the market in 2012, which is up from 32.8 percent in 2008. Chrysler’s Dodge Ram got 18.1 percent of the market from 15.6 percent in 2008.
Truck sales have been vital to GM’s North American strategy. GM makes around $9,000 to $11,000 from each unit of pickup compared to just $5,000 for a passenger car. But recession as well as slow recovery has led to the slow sales of pickups. Even if the housing sector begins to pick up again, it didn’t lead to strength in pickups.
