GM to de-emphasize light truck focus

General Motors Corp. (GM) said it will shift more of its $3.5 billion North American product development budget in 2003 to passenger cars after focusing on light trucks since the mid-1990s. GM said will now spend 62-63% of the budget on passenger cars. The company spent about 65% on pickups and SUVs in the past two years. GM said its share of the U.S. midsize car market fell to about 30% in 2002 from

Tim Parry

Feb. 18, 2003

General Motors Corp. (GM) said it will shift more of its $3.5 billion North American product development budget in 2003 to passenger cars after focusing on light trucks since the mid-1990s.

GM said will now spend 62-63% of the budget on passenger cars. The company spent about 65% on pickups and SUVs in the past two years.

GM said its share of the U.S. midsize car market fell to about 30% in 2002 from about 40% in the late 1980s as it focused more on light trucks.

"Now that we've rebuilt our truck portfolio, we're rebuilding the same kind of portfolio with our cars," GM spokesman Tom Kowaleski said.