Toyota Soars, Passes Ford to Rank No. 2 in U.S. Sales (Update9)
Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp. passed Ford Motor Co. in July to become the No. 2 auto retailer in the U.S. for the first time, after each of the domestic car companies posted sales declines above 20 percent.

Toyota sold 241,826 vehicles in the month, a 12 percent increase, leading Asian automakers to a record share of the U.S. market. Ford dropped 34 percent to 241,399. Sales of General Motors Corp., the world's No. 1 automaker, fell 23 percent.

``The results finally reflect the reality that Toyota is a superlative auto manufacturer and Ford is struggling,'' said Pete Hastings, a fixed-income analyst at Morgan Keegan & Co. in Memphis, Tennessee.

Toyota's ascendancy comes as GM and Ford are cutting a combined 60,000 U.S. union jobs and closing 26 locations to end North American losses. DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler unit last month revived employee discounts for all buyers in an effort to end four straight months of U.S. sales declines.

Toyota also gained on Detroit-based GM as the world's largest automaker in the first half of this year by cutting GM's lead in half, to 240,000 vehicles. The Toyota City-based automaker passed Ford, whose founder invented the modern assembly line to put America on wheels almost a century ago, to become No. 2 in global sales in 2003.

In April, Toyota overtook DaimlerChrysler AG to rank No. 3 in U.S. sales and leads the German automaker after seven months.

Not Intentional

``It's not Toyota's intention to overtake any particular manufacturer,'' Toyota North American Senior Vice President Dennis Cuneo said in an interview.

Honda, the No. 2 Japanese automaker in the U.S. behind Toyota, gained 6 percent in July. Honda's sales including the Acura brand also surpassed the sales of DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brands for the first time in July. Nissan Motor Co. dropped 20 percent, for its ninth decline in 10 months.

Asian automakers captured a record 41.4 percent of the U.S. market as the U.S.-based companies hit a record-low 52 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The annualized sales rate fell to 17.2 million cars and trucks from 20.7 million for July 2005. Total U.S. auto sales fell 17.4 percent to 1.49 million.

``The U.S. market is really becoming the Big Six, rather than the Big Three,'' Cuneo said. ``The fates of the individual companies are going to move around. It wasn't that long ago, back in the 90s, that analysts were taking Toyota to task for not having enough SUVs.''

Pickup Peril

Ford, of Dearborn, Michigan, and GM have been affected by sales slides in July for pickup trucks, including the top-selling model for each company. GM's Chevrolet Silverado pickup had a 31 percent slide, while Ford's F-Series declined 46 percent.

Both trucks were hurt by comparisons to a year earlier when the companies were offering employee prices to all buyers. For the first seven months, the Silverado had a 20 percent decline compared with the same period in 2005. The F-Series is down by 12 percent.

In July 2005, with the employee-pricing offers, Ford sold 126,905 F-Series pickups, the most for a vehicle in any month since the company's Model T in the 1920s.

Toyota and Honda have benefited in July from models with better fuel mileage as gasoline remained above $3 a gallon through much of the U.S.

Fuel Favorites

Honda's redesigned Civic posted a 2.1 percent gain in July and its Accord had a 5.3 percent increase. Sales of Toyota's Corolla rose 37 percent, and its Prius gasoline-electric hybrid was up 15 percent.

``The fuel issue is having some larger effect on sales,'' said David Hilton, senior manager in the Americas automotive consulting practice of Capgemini SA.

Average U.S. gasoline prices finished July at $3.01 a gallon, marking a 32 percent increase in the past 12 months, according to AAA data.

GM's light vehicle sales, excluding medium-duty trucks, fell 22 percent to 406,298. Light truck sales declined 31 percent, and passenger car sales dropped 4.2 percent. Sales of the Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GM's best-selling sport-utility vehicle, plunged 52 percent.

GM Gains Share

It was the second straight month that GM's U.S. market share exceeded 27 percent. The average is 24.5 percent for the first seven months of the year. GM opted not to repeat offers of employee discounts that led to increased sales in June and July 2005. Instead, it's reducing car and truck prices overall.

Ford's sales dropped to 241,339 for the month, including a 44 percent decline in trucks. Ford's mid-size and large sport- utility vehicles also continued their slide. Sales of the Explorer fell 51 percent and the Expedition 57 was down percent.

In July 2005, Ford had its first monthly market share gain in more than two years when its offer of employee discounts sparked a 29 percent increase in sales.

``What goes around, comes around,'' Ford sales analyst George Pipas said.

DaimlerChrysler sales fell 34 percent to 171,940, Sales of the Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brands dropped to 150,349 from 240,146 a year earlier. Mercedes car and truck sales rose 3.8 percent to 21,591.

Chrysler, of Auburn Hills, Michigan, was the only U.S. automaker to bring back employee pricing in July. It also added rebates and interest-rate promotions. The automaker said today it will continue the program for another month.

August and September sales will be better than July's, but only because discounts will increase, said Paul Taylor, chief economist with the National Automobile Dealers Association.

Some automakers adjust percent changes in vehicle sales on a ``sales day'' basis and assume no sales occur on Sundays. Bloomberg News and some other automakers report unadjusted percentage changes. There were 25 selling days last month, one less than in July 2005. Unadjusted sales comparisons are about 4 percentage points lower than the adjusted.

Asian automakers captured a record 41.4 percent of the U.S. market as the U.S.-based companies hit a record-low 52 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

GM Delivers 410,332 Vehicles; Best Retail Month Of 2006
Market Share Trend Continues Positive Momentum - July Anticipated at 27 Percent
Chevrolet Has Best Retail Car Sales Month Since October 2001
Pontiac G6 up 80.5 Percent; Launch Vehicles Continue Momentum
Small Utilities Up 33.2 Percent Compared to July 2005

DETROIT - DETROIT - General Motors' dealers in the United States sold 410,332 new cars and trucks in July, the company's best retail and second-best monthly sales performance year-to-date.


"July was our best retail month of 2006, with our strong performance led by launch vehicles such as the Pontiac Torrent and G6, Saturn Sky, Chevrolet Cobalt and Impala and Buick Lucerne," said Mark LaNeve, General Motors North America vice president, Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing. "Importantly, our performance in June and July shows we're gaining substantial sales momentum and stabilizing market share. We remain optimistic moving into the launches of the Saturn Aura, fuel-efficient Vue Green Line hybrid and Outlook crossover, GMC Acadia crossover, the all-new Chevrolet Silverado pickup and Aveo economy car, and the exciting new GMC Sierra full-size pickup."

Average monthly sales of all GM launch vehicles in June and July were up 67 percent compared with the average monthly sales in the January through May 2006 period.

Chevrolet continues its sales supremacy with 244,080 vehicles sold, propelled by an 18.2 percent increase in Chevrolet car sales compared to last year. Chevrolet sold 81,430 cars in July 2006, compared with 71,634 in July 2005, and had its best selling month since "Keep America Rolling" in October 2001.

Chevrolet had its best retail performance of the year and Cobalt had its best retail sales month since launch. Of note, retail passenger car sales are up versus a strong July last year, demonstrating GM can compete in all product categories.

Pontiac retail sales for the month showed a 15.9 percent increase compared with July 2005, with total sales of 40,933. Solstice continues to be one of the hottest cars in the country with a 14 day average turn time. G6 had its best selling month since introduction and the G6 convertible is red-hot with an 11 day average turn time. The GTO saw a 65.1 percent increase in sales compared with a year ago and set a July sales record. The Torrent crossover also achieved an all-time sales record, with 4,830 vehicles sold in July.

Buick Lucerne, Pontiac G6, Chevy Malibu and Impala drove the mid-car category to its highest July sales level since 2004. Buick Lucerne set an all-time retail sales record with 9,145 vehicles delivered in July and Pontiac G6 also set an all-time sales record, up 80.5 percent. Chevrolet Malibu is up 25.2 percent, while Impala had its best retail sales month since August 2003 with sales up 59.6 percent.

Other GM divisions posted solid results as HUMMER H3 showed a 24.1 percent increase compared with July 2005 and was up 36.6 percent compared to June 2006. HUMMER had its best sales month of the year with 6,991 deliveries. CYTD HUMMER sales of 39,786 vehicles are up 60.1 percent compared with the same seven months one year ago. Saturn car sales are up compared with July 2005, with 64,691 vehicles delivered, and the Sky had a strong start with 860 vehicles sold in July. Buick delivered 23,609 vehicles in the month, with Lucerne achieving its best retail sales month since launch and LaCrosse having its best retail sales month since December 2005.

Chevrolet HHR, Equinox, Saturn Vue and Pontiac Torrent pushed total small utility sales up 33.2 percent compared with a year ago, and up more than 49 percent in the first seven months of the year compared to the same period a year ago. HHR had its best retail sales month since launch, and set an all-time total sales record with 14,838 vehicles delivered, up 249.6 percent compared with July 2005, and CYTD deliveries of 66,828 vehicles. Chevrolet Equinox had its best retail sales month of the year.

On the truck side of the market, full-size pickup trucks had their strongest sales month of the year with 66,583 Chevy Silverado and 22,947 GMC Sierra trucks sold. GMC had its best retail sales month of the year, with 48,085 vehicles delivered, and the GMC Canyon had its best retail month of the year, delivering 2,717 trucks. GM sold 4,455 all-new 2007 Chevy Avalanche, 12,950 Tahoe, 6,269 Suburban, 6,022 GMC Yukon, and 3,385 Yukon XL vehicles in July. GM's luxury utilities posted solid sales results in July, with the all-new 2007 Cadillac Escalade selling 2,105 vehicles; 2007 Escalade ESV selling 1,120 vehicles; and Cadillac SRX delivering 1,822 vehicles. July was the best sales month of the year for large utilities (including large luxury) with 37,455 vehicles sold.

GM sports cars also posted solid July sales results, with a 100.1 percent improvement compared with year-ago levels. Corvette sales were up 55.2 percent, with 2,794 vehicles delivered. Pontiac Solstice (1,342 vehicles) and Saturn Sky (860 vehicles) are continuing their brisk sales pace.
Despite total sales being down 19.5 percent compared with July 2005, LaNeve was very encouraged by strong June and July sales results, led by GM's launch vehicle and passenger car performance. "Our 'Go To Market' strategy of offering industry-leading products and value, and doing the right thing for the customer, is showing positive results."