Dearborn, Michigan, Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors
Corp., the world's biggest carmaker, said its U.S. sales so far
this month have been strong, despite the fact that it's cut
discounts, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Gary Cowger,
the president of the company's North American unit.

Industry-wide U.S. car sales have slowed from December's
annualized rate of 18.7 million units, but are still running at an
annualized 16.5 million, more than he'd expected, Cowger told an
industry conference, the newspaper said.

Tony Brown, the vice president of global purchasing at Ford
Motor Co., the No. 2 manufacturer, told the conference that the
company plans to set up 59 teams of engineers who will target cuts in component costs; Ford spends $70 billion a year on parts in North America, the Journal said.