General Motors Corp, the biggest US automaker, is poised to build fewer pickups and sport-utility vehicles as rising gasoline prices spur demand for passenger cars, the company's North American sales chief said.

"We probably need to trim back some truck and SUV capacity," Mark LaNeve said in an interview in Los Angeles. "We need to add on the cars and crossovers and we need to continue to fine-tune our overall truck output." An announcement may come within a month, he said.

The carmaker has already lowered its North American production plan this year by 138,000 pickups and SUVs as the US economy slowed and gasoline prices jumped 30 percent. GM's US sales dropped 12 percent through April as demand for light trucks plunged.

The Detroit-based company has been stung by a drop in demand for full-size vehicles as US retail gasoline prices rose to an average of $3.94 a gallon yesterday, according to AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report. US sales of the GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado pickups fell 19 percent through April, according to Autodata Corp in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

"The biggest issue we're dealing with now in profitability is how weak the truck market is," LaNeve said.

"We have better profits in trucks; everybody has better profits in trucks."

Agencies

(China Daily 05/30/2008 page16)