GM Cuts Vehicle Sales to Rental Fleets
General Motors will cut sales to U.S. car rental fleets by 80,000 to 90,000 vehicles this year.

Logo courtesy of General Motors.

Logo courtesy of General Motors.
General Motors will cut sales to U.S. car rental fleets by 80,000 to 90,000 vehicles this year, Alan Batey, GM’s North American president, told Reuters.
In 2014, GM sold about 449,000 vehicles to U.S. car rental companies. In 2015, it cut rental fleet sales to about 400,000 vehicles. This year, it expects to sell about 310,000 to 320,000 vehicles to the daily rental market, Batey told Reuters.
Through the end of February, GM’s U.S. market share dropped to 17.3% from 18% in February 2015, according to the report. Batey said the share should stabilize above 17%.
Earlier in March, GM reported U.S. sales fell 1.5% in February, even as the U.S. market rose overall. This is mainly due to a drop in rental fleet sales, says the report.
GM intends to reduce rental fleet sales to between 9% and 12% of total U.S. sales — from more than 20% in the past, Batey told Reuters.
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