Strong May sales trim inventories

If mounting stocks of unsold vehicles after winter storms put pressure on automakers to cut production or boost incentives, May's surprise sales rally relieved it.

U.S. inventories fell to 3.58 million units June 1, down 5 percent from the year's peak of 3.76 million on March 1. Expressed as how long stocks would last at the previous month's sales pace, automakers had a near-ideal 60-day supply on June 1, down from 76 days at the start of March.

The March 1 stock bulge was relatively minor -- 76 days is only modestly above the average of 70 days for that time of year. But back-to-back slow months to start the year raised concerns that the long auto sales recovery was ending.

However, after an 11 percent sales surge in May, automakers started June with an average 60-day supply of vehicles. The only area with a higher than usual level of supply is full-sized pickups, which tend to run in the 70- to 80-day range.

The Detroit 3 models that command 93 percent of the segment are plentiful. There is a 100-day supply of both the Ford F series and the Ram pickup, virtually unchanged from May 1. General Motors has a 115-day supply of the new-generation Chevrolet Silverado and a 99-day supply of the GMC Sierra, both about the same as at the start of last month. Toyota and Nissan don't report days supply for individual models so there are no data for the Toyota Tundra or Nissan Titan.

Automakers normally carry larger stocks of pickups to meet buyer demand for the different cab and powertrain variations. And Ford is deliberately building extra units of the F series to carry it though model changeover later this year.