Chrysler, Cadillac Antics
BMW and Nissan aren’t alone. In 2016, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV revised years of sales results after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission began investigating allegations that the company had been inflating its figures. The restatement cost the company some bragging rights -- it turned out that a six-year streak of rising deliveries that Fiat Chrysler boasted about had actually ended after less than 3 1/2 years.
Back in the 1970s, Chrysler parked newly built models in empty lots around Detroit, known then as “sales banks,” and unloaded them at deep discounts to dealers. The practice nearly bankrupted the company before CEO Lee Iacocca brokered a government bailout.
Ford’s Lincoln line was denied a moment of glory in 1998, when GM’s Cadillac claimed to have pulled out the annual luxury sales win with an improbable 38 percent jump in December sales. Five months later, GM admitted it had inflated its numbers in what the New York Times called “the Cadillac of overstatements.” The head of GM’s premium brand apologized to the head of Lincoln, which hasn’t won a luxury sales crown since.
Who’s Next?
Now that GM is going dark on monthly sales, some analysts believe it won’t take long for others to follow. After all, what automaker wants to reveal more than rivals?
“From a competitive standpoint, the other guys certainly don’t want to have to explain things that GM doesn’t,” LMC’s Schuster said. “They don’t want to be putting their strategy out there.”
Read more: Ford mulls following GM in ditching monthly sales
GM still plans to supply monthly results privately with the Federal Reserve, which uses the data to help calculate the U.S. gross domestic product. The automaker also has been negotiating to provide limited monthly data to several research firms, while requiring them to sign non-disclosure agreements.
That sets the stage for media outlets making efforts to unearth less-public monthly numbers, as they have for years with information on costly sales incentives, discounted deliveries to rental-car companies and other details.
Let the games begin.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.