- Jan 7, 2002
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In a first, Toyota car sales whiz by Ford's
By SARAH KARUSH
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DETROIT -- For the first time last month, an American auto buyer was more likely to get behind the wheel of a new Toyota than that of a new Ford.
It's hard to read anything into one month's numbers, and Ford Motor Co.'s year-to-date sales are still ahead of its Japanese competitor's. But the shift seems to symbolize the recent stumbles of U.S. automakers in the face of rising gas prices and changing views on fuel economy.
Ford, along with General Motors Corp. and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group, is heavily dependent on sales of high-margin sport utility vehicles and other trucks -- products that have become less popular lately, as gas prices in most of the country are stuck around $3 a gallon.
All three domestic producers saw double-digit sales declines in July, with the worst decreases in trucks. They blamed the drop on heavy incentives last summer that artificially elevated sales then.
Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. saw substantial increases, which they attributed to their reputations for fuel efficiency.
Overall, 1.49 million vehicles were sold last month, a 17.4 percent decrease from July 2005. The seasonally adjusted sales rate, which shows what sales would be if they remained at the same rate for the entire year, was 17.24 million, according to Autodata Corp. In 2005, automakers sold 17 million vehicles.
GM, the world's largest automaker, said its sales fell 22.2 percent, with trucks falling 31.2 percent and cars inching down 2.7 percent.
At Ford, sales of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles fell 35.2 percent. Sales of F-Series pickup trucks, long the country's best-selling vehicle and the company's most important vehicle, shot down 45.6 percent.
DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Group said its sales fell 37.4 percent, with truck sales off 40 percent and car sales off 23.5 percent.
Toyota's sales, meanwhile, soared 11.7 percent, with cars jumping 19.8 percent and trucks up 1.3 percent
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/279682_autosales02.html
By SARAH KARUSH
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DETROIT -- For the first time last month, an American auto buyer was more likely to get behind the wheel of a new Toyota than that of a new Ford.
It's hard to read anything into one month's numbers, and Ford Motor Co.'s year-to-date sales are still ahead of its Japanese competitor's. But the shift seems to symbolize the recent stumbles of U.S. automakers in the face of rising gas prices and changing views on fuel economy.
Ford, along with General Motors Corp. and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group, is heavily dependent on sales of high-margin sport utility vehicles and other trucks -- products that have become less popular lately, as gas prices in most of the country are stuck around $3 a gallon.
All three domestic producers saw double-digit sales declines in July, with the worst decreases in trucks. They blamed the drop on heavy incentives last summer that artificially elevated sales then.
Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. saw substantial increases, which they attributed to their reputations for fuel efficiency.
Overall, 1.49 million vehicles were sold last month, a 17.4 percent decrease from July 2005. The seasonally adjusted sales rate, which shows what sales would be if they remained at the same rate for the entire year, was 17.24 million, according to Autodata Corp. In 2005, automakers sold 17 million vehicles.
GM, the world's largest automaker, said its sales fell 22.2 percent, with trucks falling 31.2 percent and cars inching down 2.7 percent.
At Ford, sales of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles fell 35.2 percent. Sales of F-Series pickup trucks, long the country's best-selling vehicle and the company's most important vehicle, shot down 45.6 percent.
DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Group said its sales fell 37.4 percent, with truck sales off 40 percent and car sales off 23.5 percent.
Toyota's sales, meanwhile, soared 11.7 percent, with cars jumping 19.8 percent and trucks up 1.3 percent
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/279682_autosales02.html
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