http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...zMgA&refer=news

Q how far can you run into the woods? A.only half way, then youre running out.

just something until the official numbers are released.

The industry's October sales may have reached an annual rate of 16 million vehicles, according to the survey. The rate a year earlier was 14.7 million, the lowest since August 1998.

GM, the world's largest automaker, has been trimming incentive spending to increase revenue per vehicle. GM started the employee-price discounts in June of last year and was followed by Ford and Chrysler.

As a result, dealer inventories in October 2005 were ``abnormally low'' and stifled sales, Citigroup Inc. analyst Jon Rogers in New York said in a note. He forecast a 20 percent increase this October for GM, and a rise in its U.S. market share to 25 percent from 24.7 percent in September.

and some good news for the folks over at the blue oval, perhaps

`There's a lot of interest in those pickups and they should bring more buyers back to GM,'' said Erich Merkle, an analyst at consulting firm IRN Inc. in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

At Ford, the second-largest U.S. automaker, October sales may have risen as much as 18 percent, after a year-earlier decline of 26 percent, said Christopher Ceraso, a Credit Suisse analyst in New York. Sales of Ford pickups, SUVs and minivans may have gained as much as 15 percent, he said, helped by new models.

care to make any bets?

The SAAR average is based on forecasts from 10 analysts and a survey of 22 economists. The analysts' estimates are based on daily selling rates and adjusted for 25 selling days in October, one less than in October 2005. Sales figures not adjusted for the difference in sales days would be about 4 percentage points lower. Bloomberg will report unadjusted figures.

Analyst                GM      Ford    Chrysler  SAAR

Jon Rogers              20%        9%      -7%        15.8

(Citigroup)

Brian Johnson          18%        7%      -2%        15.8

(Lehman Brothers)

Ronald Tadross          19%      13%      -5%        16.0

(Banc of America)

Chris Ceraso            24%*      17%*      2%*      16.1*

(Credit Suisse)

Peter Nesvold          18%      10%      0%        16.6

(Bear Stearns)

John Murphy            10%        7%      -1%        15.7

(Merrill Lynch)

Robert Barry            26%      14%      6%        16.4

(Goldman Sachs)

Jesse Toprak            23%        8%      -3%        N/A

(Edmunds.com)

Rod Lache              N/A      N/A      N/A        15.6

(Deutsche Bank)

Dave Lucas              N/A      N/A      N/A        15.8

(Autodata)

Bloomberg Economists    N/A      N/A      N/A      16.2

(average estimate)

AVERAGE:                20%      11%    -1.3%      16.0

Edited November 1, 200619 yr by Mr.Krinkle

GM sales better be up a lot because last year they were down so much. Anything less than a 20% increase is not good.

baby step towards fiscal solvency... got to stop going in circles or the whole 2 steps forward 1 1/3 back.