DETROIT—General Motors Corp. said Thursday its April U.S. sales tumbled on a steep drop in demand for light trucks and sport utility vehicles.
GM sold a total of 257,638 light vehicles in April, down 16.2 percent from 307,554 in the same month last year.
Adjusted for two additional sales days in this month compared with last, GM sales fell 22.7 percent.
Sales of light trucks dropped 26.7 percent to 136,814 units from 186,545 in the same month of 2007, as Silverado sales dropped 24.7 percent to 37,231 and Tahoe sales fell 29.4 percent to 8,139.
Car sales edged down 0.2 percent to 120,824 from 121,009. Sales of the Malibu midsize vehicle jumped 39.5 percent 17,050, while Impala sales dropped 5.1 percent to 26,728.
Also on Thursday, GM cut its second-quarter production forecast by 130,000 vehicles to 950,000, blaming the ongoing strike at key supplier American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc.
GM said that about 230,000 units of production have been lost since the strike began in late February. It added that as a result of the strike, there is "considerable uncertainty" regarding the second-quarter forecast.
So far this year, GM sales are down 12.3 percent to 1.1 million units from 1.2 million at the same time last year. Adjusted for one additional sales day in the first four months of this year compared with last, GM sales are down 13.1 percent.
GM shares rose 22 cents to $23.42 in afternoon trading.
