GM Becomes Secretive, But What Do They Have To Hide?

Last month, General Motors said it will stop publicly disclosing monthly North American production numbers and will eliminate regional production reports.

You can't help but wonder what's going on at GM.

GM Vice Chairman Steve Girsky spent decades as an automotive analyst on Wall Street before joining the automaker.

More than anyone, he understands the importance and value of production numbers for companies and governments that measure the automobile industry's economic vitality. Girsky knows that industry analysts and economists, as well as GM's suppliers, rely on the data.

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TheSteve - 7/1/2013 4:24:43 PM

+1 Boost

Blackberry recently announced they will stop reporting subscriber numbers. This happens after years of year-to-year decline, and even recent consistent quarter-to-quarter declines. It just serves as a huge irritant to put the spotlight on bad news. Similarly, in the auto industry, unit sales give an indication of how many people are buying your products, what your market share is, etc. It's more difficult to fudge these numbers than to use "creative accounting" practices to appear profitable, even in the face of trouble.

Shareholders use unit sales figures and financials to ascertain a firm's state of health for investment potential.

I don't know why GM will stop reporting unit sales, but they don't strike me as a company that's doing outstandingly well, and due to their modesty, they don't want to appear to be bragging by bandying flattering figures.