General Motors Corp will cut base U.S. sticker prices for some Chevrolet, Pontiac and Saturn brand models in a drive to boost sales, the Automotive News industry paper reported on Monday.
Citing three dealers who it said had been briefed on the automaker's strategy for 2006 models, the paper said the strategy aimed to let GM lure shoppers by advertising lower prices on the Internet and to trim costly rebates.
Officials at the world's biggest carmaker were not immediately available for comment on the move, which will keep the North American car market one of the world's most competitive.
The company has stated its intention in the past to cut sticker prices while also lowering incentives.
Automotive News quoted Mark LaNeve, GM's vice president of vehicle sales, service and marketing, as confirming on Friday that GM soon would unveil a new pricing strategy but added that he gave no details.
"We'll be communicating quite a few '06 prices very shortly," he was quoted as saying. "We're going to be making adjustments to get to more compelling price points."
GM is battling dwindling market share in North America and had a $1.1 billion first-quarter loss. It reduced sticker prices on 22 mid-sized sport utility vehicles in February as a way to get list prices closer to what customers actually pay after discounts.
