GM EXTENDS GM EMPLOYEE PRICING UNTIL AUG. 1ST!

General Motors is spreading the word among its dealers that the firm will extend its successful Employee Price promotion to August 1. No wonder. The imaginative incentive program coupled with heavy advertising delivered remarkable results for General Motors in June, with its U.S. sales rising 41 percent over the same month last year, largely at the expense of Ford and Chrysler.

Ford lost the most market share, as it posted its 13th consecutive month of lower U.S. vehicle sales. Toyota and Nissan also posted double-digit gains, and Toyota said its first-half sales were the best-ever in 48 years of doing business in the United States.

The stronger-than-expected increase at GM was driven by steep discounts boosting GM's market. It was the company's strongest sales month since September 1986, and GM said it set an all-time industry record for light truck sales, which were up 68 percent. Chrysler, which said that it would launch a discount program similar to GM's next week, posted a thin 1 percent rise in June sales. And Ford's sales of new cars and trucks fell 2.5 percent.

The result was adjusted for one more selling day in June this year and excludes Ford's foreign brands. Vehicle sales across the industry strengthened 11 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 17.5 million in June. That was far above the 15.4 million rate in June last year and 16.6 million in May.