Auto Sales Data Expected to Be Upbeat

U.S. auto sales may slip less than 1% this month, the best performance so far this year, as discounts draw shoppers into showrooms and General Motors Corp.’s fleet sales to companies start to recover.

Car and light-truck sales probably fell 0.8% from April 2001, based on the average forecast of six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

The analysts have underestimated sales every month this year, so the actual figures may go into positive territory for the first time since December when auto makers report results Wednesday.

Auto makers are using discounts, no-interest loans and low-rate leases to stoke demand. GM is forecast to have a 1.7% increase, while sales fell about 1.6% at DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler and 10% at Ford Motor Co.

Meanwhile, GM is expected to sign a final agreement Tuesday to buy assets of South Korea’s bankrupt Daewoo Motor. The $2-billion deal, capping more than a year of talks, would dramatically boost its presence in one of Asia’s fastest-growing car markets, where Daewoo sold more than 170,000 automobiles last year and GM sold fewer than 300.