Toyota sales up, GM, Ford sales down....

Go Toyota! w00t!

Of course Ford sales are down, why wouldn't they be? LOL

There was a similar article, which included most of the facts in the original post, in the on-line New York Times yesterday. The headline was:

Ford's Sales Fell in April While Rivals Soared

GM's sales, as noted, fell further but I guess that was expected rather than "news," so GM didn't make the headline. GM must already be considered a sick operation by financial writers, where Ford apparently had some hope.

Chrysler sales are up including minivan's, Jeep and their 300 so GM and Ford claim that gas prices hurting their sales is BS since Chrysler sales are up for their mediocre mileage vehicles.

What has changed? GM is still number one in sales in the US, Ford number two, Chrysler number three and Toyota is still stuck in fourth place. GM and Ford overall sales are down compared to the same period last year because light truck sales are down and they account for more of the sales in the US. GM, Ford and Chrysler all sell far more light trucks than Toyota. GM car sales are steady. Ford and Chryslers new cars are way up over the same time period last year and none of their new cars have rebates. Toyota cars have rebates, curious.

mike hunt

DH wrote:

Toyota is gaining market share, while GM and Ford are losing. Thats the point. If this keeps up for 5 more years, Toyota will beat out GM and Ford. The market is efficient and it's saying that American car manufacturers need to get their act together or perish. Ford already has junk bond rating. They are lucky they still have some cash in the reserves.

But Toyota is still number four, the same spot they have been in for years. You apparently would like to see those American tax paying corporation go out of business, I would not. Do you think Toyota will still be assembling their vehicle in the US, of mostly imported parts, if their is no American competitors? They will assemble the cars in those some low cost countries like China that now make their parts and take all of their money out of the US. Brand loyalty is fine but why would anybody be happy about an American corporation being in decline is beyond my thinking. It is not a ball game.

mike hunt

"Dan J.S." wrote:

Unfortunately, nothing has changed. I'm pointing out that GM's loss didn't make the headline, it's not NEWS. GM is losing money on auto manufacturing. That's where the high-wage jobs are. Shrinking sales => loss of jobs. Maybe you don't make cars but your income relies on the strenght of the US economy. Shrinking sectors of it should concern you.

Perhaps Toyota is offering rebates on its cars but checking Edmunds.com suggests they're small. $400 to recent college grads seem to be the only rebates for the Camry and the Prius.

GM may be number one in sales in the US but I went to 4 different places in the Caribbean last fall and saw NO US autos that had been manufactured since

1980 or so. GM can't even sell Chevys in our own back yard.

Here's a treat. Google "domestic auto sales." I did that to get the latest US sales figures. Most of the top hits were for Indian (which seems to be approaching 10 million cars, that excludes motorcyles, trucks and commercial vehicles) and Chines markets (hard to figure the total market there, domestic production for domestic consumption was supposed to be about 3 million cars in 2002, this may exclude trucks/commercial vehicles). I skimmed those articles. Any mention of GM, Ford or Chrysler? Nope.

US, the big three still have a lead (although Fords car sales are about 2/3 of Toyota's car sales - car not truck, Ford still has the vehicle lead). Worldwide, we're getting to be an also-ran.

Oh, here's something I overlooked on the first pass, Toyota sold more vehicles in the US than Chrysler in April. Toyota no longer appears "stuck in fourth place."

What makes you think Dan JS or anyone else here would want to see the Big Three go out of business?

If Dan JS is not from the US - or Canada - then maybe he won't mind if the Big Three collapse entirely or move operations off-shore. However, I'm a US citizen (and Dan JS probably is, too) and I'm in favor of a strong, healthy US economy.

My point is that GM is in chronic and serious trouble but our overpaid CEOs are letting business opportunities slip through our fingers while they collect fat checks and the Bush Administration isn't doing anything about it, except to introduce tax cuts year over year to make sure our overpaid CEOs get to keep more of their fat checks. Our children and grandchildren will get the bill for short-sighted policies and bad strategic planning.

First of all, this is a world economy. American companies that can't compete, should not. Look at the boat business. A lot of American boats are extremely poor in terms or reliability. This is because there is no competition. Also, I believe that GM and Ford could reverse their trend if they focused on their product.

1. Make cars more reliable. I know you will argue this to death, but I will still tell you that Toyota makes a better car than Ford or GM. This is because they use better parts. GM and Ford squeezed their suppliers to the point where cheaper substitutes are being used. Look at all the recalls. Even the latest 2 million GM recall. You do not see that with Toyota.
2. Market the e-85 fuel. Currently, GM and Ford are the only two manufacturers that make e-85 fuel vehicles. Get in bed with Archer-Daniels-Midland and market e-85. You will lose 5-10% in MPG, but the

25% savings over regular fuel still makes you ahead. Toyota is doing the dumbest thing by concentrating on hybrids. The best estimates say that 3% of all cars will be hybrids by 2012. This is still nothing, and Ethanol has finally become an energy positive fuel (Brazil is almost 100% ethanol in all their cars).

1. Kill Pontiac and Buick. These two brands are the anchors that are keeping GM from moving anywhere. I don't care how cool the GTO may be, it still looks like any other Pontiac.

Believe me, I want to see U.S. manufacturers succeed. I hope that the Detroit ignorance is finally getting the picture.

While this may be part of the story, it's not all of it.

From what I've read in technical magazines, Toyota in particular takes a systems approach to car design, rather than having islands of expertise among their engineers.

Two examples that I remember.

1 - They had a problem (on disassembling some test cars) of wires rubbing and looking like they might short eventually. Rather than the obvious "use a better quality insulation", they changed the routing so that it wouldn't rub. Do that thousands of times and it adds up.

2 - They work with suppliers, sharing design expertise, and actually doing R&D for the suppliers. They recoup the investment by committing to long term relationships, so it pays the supplier to apply the results.

I also remember an article when the NUMMI factory opened in California, that the workers remarked how the cars practically assembled themselves, that the design made it impossible to assemble it incorrectly or imperfectly.

Me thinks you are missing the point. You are looking only at market share, forgetting it is a much LARGER market with many more manufactures sell more vehicles in the US. There is no question Toyota is selling more vehicles in the US than ever, but most ever manufacture is selling more than ever as well. The total market is up by 50% from what it was about ten years ago and nearly double what it was around twenty years ago.

You may think Toyota vehicles are better than those of GM and Ford but obviously many more buyers think GM and Ford make BETTER vehicles than Toyota, since they buy MORE of their vehicles year after year than buyers buy Toyota vehicles. GM and Ford still continue to sell millions more of their vehicle to more buyers in the US than does Toyota, period. So does Chrysler

mike hunt.

"Dan J.S." wrote:

The problems all domestic manufactures have is they must compete with foreign manufactures, who can take advantage of the lower energy, production, labor cost and fewer environmental and safety regulations available in other countries, that they can not.

The same Americans that buy cheap to make imports and imports assemble product like cars will scream, if any domestic manufacture go off shore for production or parts, about out sourcing jobs, when it is the consumer that buys all that imported stuff in the first place that are exporting their own jobs..

Consumers that buy the foreign stuff are a bunch of hypocrites

mike hunt

Percentage wise, every year, GM and Ford is losing more and more market share to Toyota and Honda. If you look at the trend, and just look at the pie, you will see that Toyota is increasing year over year for the last 10 years. Chrysler is now a German company and yes, their sales are up, which is good for them.

That does not change the fact that GM is number one, Ford is number two, Chrysler is number three and Toyota is still number four. You will have to live with that reality until that changes. If it ever does, then you can say mine is bigger than yours, but not now. ;)

mike hunt

"Dan J.S." wrote:

No. Toyota is now 3rd. Chrysler has fallen to 4th. Total vehicle sales, US.

I have been told that American brands (GM, Ford, Chrysler) have a built-in $3,500 extra cost because of high labor costs, pensions and health insurance. The unions may have to make concessions. UAW benefits are high, and out of line with many other jobs. There will be big pressure to temper union wages and benefits when contracts come due. These days, not many jobs offer true pension benefits or low cost health insurance for retirees. The sad thing is ... if UAW employees strike, they play right into the hands of the competition, driving buyers to cheaper vehicles made more efficiently. Management also is to blame because the overpaid head guys at GM and Ford haven't been as good as Toyota, Nissan & Honda at giving buyers what they want.

Let's hope that GM & Ford revitalize! TK

I am saying GM and Ford can correct their actions before its too late. Nothing about who is number one, two or three now. Its about getting an American company to pull its head out of its ass to stay afloat. I would like to see GM and Ford be a good company making great cars.

Try looking out the window. That is exactly what they are doing. More buyer still buy more of their vehicle than any other brand. ;)

mike hunt

"Dan J.S." wrote: