It looks like the domestic automakers still can't stop the bleeding. Maybe I am being too much of a pessimist but things are looking worse for GM, Ford and, to a lesser extent, Chrysler. One thing I noticed in this article is how Toyota's Tundra sales are increasing and Chevy's full size truck sales were down 25% compared to June 2006. IMO, Toyota is looking to rip the heart out of the Big Three by putting substantial resources behind their full size truck sales. Here's the article:
Japan car makers lift US market share
By Bernard Simon in Toronto
Published: July 3 2007 20:07 | Last updated: July 3 2007 20:07
Japanese car makers took another sizable bite out of the US market share of their Detroit-based rivals last month, thanks to their strength in small and mid-sized cars and their relatively low dependence on the car-hire industry.
Toyota, Honda and Nissan reported sales increases of 10.2 per cent, 11.5 per cent and 22.7 per cent respectively compared with June 2006.
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By contrast, General Motors? light-vehicle sales tumbled by 21.3 per cent. ?It was a pretty tough month for us?, said Paul Ballew, GM?s normally upbeat sales analyst.
Ford reported an 8.1 per cent decline, and Chrysler a drop of 1.4 per cent. There was one more selling day last month than in June 2006.
Both GM and Ford ascribed their declines partly to intentional cutbacks in low-margin sales to the car-rental industry. The two companies reduced daily-rental sales by a combined 181,000 units between January and June from a year earlier.
Mr Ballew described overall market conditions as ?challenging?, owing to the spike in fuel prices and the housing slump, especially in California and Florida. Mr Ballew estimated that industry sales were about 6.5 per cent lower in the first half of 2007 than a year earlier.
Buyers are continuing to migrate from big sport-utility vehicles and trucks to smaller crossover vehicles and passenger cars. Crossovers look like SUVs but are built on car platforms.
Nissan?s performance underlined the sharp shift in buying patterns. While its car sales surged by 55 per cent, SUVs and pick-up trucks contracted by more than 10 per cent.
Ford?s crossover sales were 83 per cent higher last month than a year earlier. Another consolation for Ford is a steady revival of its luxury Lincoln brand, with retail sales rising for the ninth month in a row. Total Lincoln sales were 14.5 per cent higher in the first six months compared with January-June 2006.
Industry sales last month were buoyed by discounts and other incentives. According to Edmunds.com, an online car pricing service, the six biggest carmakers all lifted incentives last month.
While Toyota?s average incentives of $1,308 per vehicle are still far below those of its Detroit-based rivals, they have jumped by more than a third in the past year.
Demand for the Tundra pick-up truck more than doubled last month, helped by perks totaling as much as $3,500 per vehicle. Toyota has described the Tundra, which arrived in dealerships last winter, as its most important vehicle launch in half a century.
Mr Ballew said that GM had been surprised by the extent of its rivals? incentives for full-size trucks. Sales of the Chevrolet Silverado, one of the Tundra?s main rivals, slid by more than a quarter last month."