General Motors suffered a 49 percent year-to-year slump in US sales in January in a market driven by consumer fear of a deepening recession, sales figures showed Tuesday.
GM said it delivered 129,227 new vehicles in the month, led by an 80 percent reduction in fleet sales.
At the retail level, sales were off 38 percent, with retail market share steady compared with December.
The slump came as consumers held back on major purchases amid a deep economic slump and tight credit.
GM said the slide came even as it ramped up cash incentives and discounted financing.
“We're attacking this unprecedented market as aggressively as possible, while offering more vehicles than ever that provide great value and that Americans enjoy owning,” said Mark LaNeve, vice president, GM North America.
“Our retail market share is a bright spot, holding steady above 21 percent for the second month in a row. That's a full point above the trailing 12-month average,” he said.
“It's important to realize that we accomplished this retail performance as the overall market ran about six million vehicles behind where it was last January (on a seasonally-adjusted annual rate) and every manufacturer was deeply impacted.”
