Although the domestic automakers continue to see retail sales decline, the Big Three are sticking to their promise to reduce fleet sales. Fleet sales can bolster overall sales numbers, but the domestic automakers are reducing sales to daily rental companies in order to improve their vehicles’ resale values.
Through the first quarter of 2008, Chrysler has decreased fleet sales by 45,000 units, a decrease of 17 percent, General Motors has cut fleet sales by 40,000 units, a difference of 14 percent, while Ford has reduced its fleet sales by 25,000 units – a 9 percent reduction, according to Automotive News.
“In the past, we would respond to slow sales by building dealer inventory or boosting fleet sales,” Chrysler spokesman Stuart Schorr said. “But we are doing neither.â€
In addition to cutting fleet sales, the domestic automakers are also stocking daily rental companies with vehicles with more desirable option packages in an effort to better market their products.
