car sales may be slowing, but the profit engines of Detroit’s Big Three auto makers are still in high gear. Industry observers say they don’t expect a collapse in sales, even if demand drifts below record levels hit last year. The shift toward light trucks—a category that includes pickups, SUVs and crossover wagons—is helping auto makers keep prices high overall, even as they dole out bigger discounts on cars. Detroit auto makers’ growing exposure to those more expensive and typically less fuel-efficient cars and trucks could prove disastrous if consumers become more sensitive to gas-pump and sticker prices. Concern about rising spending by auto makers to maintain sales growth may be overblown, Barclays Capital said in a recent research note.

Source: Wall Street Journal April 30, 2017 19:30 UTC