Report: Detroit 3 cutbacks curb rental-fleet sales.(News)(Report)

Automotive News, February, 2008

Byline: Arlena Sawyers

True to their word, the Detroit 3 are trimming fleet sales.

General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC accounted for fewer than three out of four new vehicles sold to the U.S. rental industry last year - down from more than four-fifths in 2006 - a new report says.

In 2007, they cut sales to rental fleets to 1.4 million cars and trucks, from 1.7 million units the previous year, according to Manheim's 2008 Used Car Market Report.

Manheim, the largest U.S. vehicle auction company, released the report at the NADA convention.

Largely because of cuts in fleet sales by the Detroit 3, overall sales by automakers to rental fleets declined 8 percent last year to 1.9 million vehicles, the Manheim report...

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