GM still sees improved 2nd half 2008 US auto sales

NEW YORK, March 19 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp (GM.N) still expects improvement in U.S. industrywide vehicle sales in the second half of 2008 after a challenging first half, Vice Chairman Bob Lutz told reporters on Wednesday.

"The first half of the year will be the real challenge, but we see no indication there won't be improvement in the second half," Lutz, GM's product chief, told reporters on the sidelines of the New York auto show.

Lutz said demand for trucks, especially the large V-8 models, has been under pressure, but the No. 1 U.S. automaker has seen "very good demand" for passenger cars, such as the Cadillac CTS, and the Buick Enclave crossover vehicle.

"The second half of the year should look a lot like last year," Lutz said, adding that there is still demand for the larger vehicles.

GM expects total U.S. industry vehicle sales including heavy trucks dropping to the low 16 million range in 2008 from about 16.5 million in 2007. The U.S. industry had light vehicle sales of about 16.2 million last year.

GM's expectations for a recovery in U.S. industry sales in the second half have stood in contrast to those of Chrysler LLC, which has predicted no such recovery, and to J.D. Power and Associates, which cut its 2008 sales forecast earlier this week.

J.D. Power, an influential industry tracking service, cut its forecast for 2008 U.S. sales of cars and light trucks by 5 percent to 14.95 million units because of the weakening U.S. economy. J.D. Power excludes heavy truck sales. (Reporting by Jui Chakravorty Das, writing by David Bailey, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)