AFSCME 3357-HOF'S BLOG

May Sales = Mayday

May sales for the formerly big 3 were stunningly bad. General Motors' sales were down almost 30%. This figure included a 39% drop in truck sales. Even GM's vaunted Lamda crossovers took big sales hits. Fewer than 2000 Hummers of all models left the dealer lots all month. No wonder they're killing the brand.

Chrysler was down 25%. Except for the Jeep Patriot, which was up 82%, all Chrysler models took deep two digit sales hits. Sales of the Durango were down 69% despite cash on the hood and a promise of $2.99 gas. Even the recently restyled minivans were down 25%.

Ford did relatively well with a 16% sales decrease. Fusion sales increased 27%, and the Focus sales went up 53%. On the downside, the F-150 pickup lost its crown as the best selling light vehicle model, a position it has held for 17 years. Second place isn't bad though, right? No it's not, but the F-150 is now in 5th Place, behind the Honda Civic, the Toyota Corolla, Toyota Camry and Honda Accord.

How about some good news? Well, GM's CEO Rick Wagoner got some good news. He took home $14.4 million dollars in a year where GM lost $38.7 billion, and at GM's annual meeting, a shareholder resolution to cut executive pay failed to garner a majority of the votes cast. Apparently the shareholders are as good at pissing away money as the management.

Sources: Autoblog.com, ttac.com, detnews.com, freep.com. Multiple stories