Ford, Nissan Sales Rise; DaimlerChrysler’s Fall
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Ford Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. said American sales of cars and trucks rose in October, while DaimlerChrysler AG reported a decline.
Ford sales rose 8.1% and Nissan’s were up 3.9%. It was Nissan’s first gain since February and Ford’s second consecutive monthly advance after seven declines. DaimlerChrysler sales fell 1.6%, dragged down by its Chrysler group. Today’s figures for Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors Corp. will be aided by comparisons to October 2005, the weakest month for American sales in eight years.
Last year’s October sales decline came after Detroit’s automakers stopped giving employee discounts to all buyers early in the month. Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp., which didn’t offer the bargains, may also report a sales increase. “These results are about what you would expect because the year-ago numbers were so low,” an auto analyst with market-research firm Iceology in Los Angeles, Wes Brown, said. “For Ford, the mid-size sedans do seem to be gaining some traction, but trucks for them and Chrysler are just dead.”
Cars and trucks sold at a 16 million annual rate last month, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts. The rate was 14.7 million in October 2005, the weakest month since August 1998, according to Bloomberg data.
American automakers this year have been struggling to stave off market share gains from Toyota and other Asian manufacturers as rising gasoline prices helped drive buyers to smaller, more-fuel efficient cars such as Honda Motor Co.’s Civic.
The average price of gasoline in America fell to $2.21 a gallon last week from a record $3.07 in September 2005 and remains 24% higher than at the beginning of 2005.
DaimlerChrysler sales totaled 180,184. Sales of Chrysler group products declined 3.2% to 159,586 from year-earlier levels. Mercedes-Benz sales rose 12% to 20,598.
Nissan, sixth in American sales, sold 75,095 cars and light trucks in October. The new Versa compact and the revamped Sentra led the increase, Brad Bradshaw, American sales chief for the Tokyo-based automaker, said in an interview today.
