GM CEO Says July Sales Appear Weaker Than Year Ago

General Motors Co.'s top executive described July auto sales as weak compared with the same month last year, but said it's still early.

General Motors Corp. CEO Fritz Henderson stands in front of a redesigned Buick LaCrosse sedan in Ann...

General Motors Corp. CEO Fritz Henderson stands in front of a redesigned Buick LaCrosse sedan in Ann Arbor, Mich., Tuesday, July 14, 2009. Henderson said July sales for the automaker appear to be weaker than the same month last year. Halfway through this month, July seems like it's below a 10 million annual selling rate, Henderson said, addressing reporters at an event to show off the redesigned sedan.(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

(AP)

CEO Fritz Henderson, speaking to reporters Tuesday at an event to launch the redesigned Buick LaCrosse sedan, said it seems like industrywide U.S. sales will once again fall below an annual rate of 10 million vehicles this month.

The new GM, which just emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday, has said its debt load and other expenses have been reduced so much that it can become profitable at a 10 million to 10.5 million annual sales rate. The struggling automaker has lost more than $80 billion in the past four years and has received $50 billion in loans from the U.S. government.

U.S. industry sales so far this year have been running below a 10 million annual sales rate as the economy has sputtered. GM's sales for the first half of the year are off 40 percent, while the overall U.S. market is down 35 percent.

Henderson said the company has struggled all year with weak sales while trying to significantly reduce its dealer inventory, but the inventory problem has been corrected. He said he's optimistic about a second-half recovery in auto sales because most of the government's economic stimulus measures have not yet kicked in.

"Certainly there's a huge amount to be yet injected into the economy and I think we're pretty optimistic about it," he said.

Also, the government's "cash for clunkers" law has not fully taken effect. The program gives owners of inefficient, older vehicles up to a $4,500 incentive to trade them in on more efficient models.

GM is hoping some will consider the LaCrosse, which the company is counting on to help bring younger buyers back to the Buick brand. The average age of the current LaCrosse buyer is around 70, and GM is hoping to lower that into the 50s with a product that is far more competitive with similar-size models from Japanese luxury brands Lexus and Acura.