If the U.S. auto market downshifted to a 16 million vehicle annualized pace for more than 45 days, that would be a concern, said GM’s head of North American operations, Alan Batey.
“I don’t think we are going to see it,” he said.
Wall Street will be watching to see how quickly automakers respond to slow sales and rising inventories heading into the summer months. One way to cut stocks of unsold cars is to extend traditional summer assembly plant shutdowns.
Mark Wakefield, head of AlixPartners’ automotive practice in the Americas region, said car production has already has come down, a sign that industry is showing more discipline than in past cycles.
“The real test comes when an (automaker) defects in a large way and starts going for share and volume and dropping prices dramatically,” Wakefield said. “What do the others do and how does the market manage itself?”
(Reporting by Nick Carey; Editing by Tom Brown)
