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GM's U.S. sales are down 11 percent through March this year. (http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080428/AUTO01/804280420/1148)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Cadillac_Escalade_Hybrid.jpgSharon Terlep - The Detroit News - April 28, 2008

2008 Cadillac Escalade - EPA rated 12/18 city/highway and 14 mpg combined.

General Motors Corp. will cut production by nearly 140,000 trucks a year at four North American plants the automaker announced on Monday.

GM is eliminating one shift each at four factories in Pontiac, Flint, Oshawa, Ont., and Janesville, Wis., starting July 14.

Sales of large trucks and SUVs, once a bastion of profit for the struggling automaker, have fallen plummeted amid soaring fuel prices and a decline in new home construction. GM's sales of large SUVs and full-size pickups are down 20 percent each through March.
"With rising fuel prices, a softening economy, and a downward trend on current and future market demand for full-size trucks, a significant adjustment was needed to align our production with market realities," Troy Clarke, president GM North America, said in a statement.. "This is a difficult move, but we remain committed to retaining and growing our leadership position in the full-size truck market."

GM's U.S. sales are down 11 percent through March this year.

Never saw that one coming.

You'd think with the loss they have they would finally come to their senses and produce more fuel efficient small cars. Instead they're building hybrid trucks that most people wouldn't bother with due to the premium price tag of an additional 10K and small gain in MPG to make up for it.

It looks like Toyota is having the same problem with their large trucks & SUVs.

Misjudging the U.S. market and the decline of automotive sales, inventories at Toyota and Scion have increased to record levels. Number of units at dealerships and those on their way to showrooms have swelled up to 376,000, about 100,000 more than last summer and up from 348,000 a year ago.

According to Automotive News, the main problem is that Toyota produced a large amount of pickups and SUVs, misjudging the amount of gas-guzzling vehicles it could sell to the U.S. market.


Higher inventories are usualy due to in part of higher sales, however, sales at Toyota and Scion was down 505,232 units during the first three months of 2008.

“February was the highest dealer stock in the history of our region in terms of gross units,” said a Toyota dealer in the Southeast region. “I don’t think we have hit an objective since July or August.”

Toyota execs decline to comment on the situation.

140,000 fewer FSP's on our roads! Hooray!

Harry

General Motors Corp. will cut production by nearly 140,000 trucks a year at four North American plants the automaker announced on Monday.
I am soooooooooooooo pleased to hear the news. I hope the number gets larger!

wait...so all this time they've still been mass producing the lot ornaments???? wow...don't these people have financial planners???? i mean, common sense should have already kicked in!

I don't think it will have an immediate effect. With gas prices hitting the roof I bet GM already has plentiful inventories of Fsp 's... :(

When is someone like Mike Wallace going to do a prime time segment on Detroit partying in the 90's with guzzlers - knowing it would not last, then fall off a cliff as they are doing right now?

GM does produce good MPG cars - they just don't sell them in the US.

Check out the Buick's sold in China - many models which would be perfect here.

I actually do like the styling of GM's trucks and SUV's - but I don't need one. And some of their cars are really nice too! But they suffer in FE and reliability reputation.