U.S. CAR OUTPUT SEEN DROPPING IN 3RD QTR
U.S. car production is scheduled to drop
by 10.4 pct to about 1.47 mln in the third quarter from last
year's 1.63 mln as domestic automakers react to a drop in sales
from last year's record levels, trade paper Automotive News
said.
    Automotive News said General Motors Corp <GM> has slashed
its planned car production by 12.6 pct from last year's third
quarter totals while Ford Motor Co <F> is scheduling its plants
to build 5.4 pct fewer cars and Chrysler Corp <C> will be off
18.4 pct.
    But the paper quoted analysts as saying the production
should be cut by at least 200,000 more units to avoid excessive
inventory build-up in view of a relatively soft market for new
cars.
    Through June 20, sales of new domestic-built cars are off
11.9 pct from last year's levels. Only Ford among the Detroit
Big Three is enjoying a sales gain.
    GM and Ford may be working to stockpile cars despite the
market conditions because of the prospect of a strike in
September by the United Automobile Workers union, analysts said.
 Reuter
