Sales Drop for GM and Ford, Rise for Asian Autos
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General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. said March American sales fell as they cut deliveries to rental-car companies and as demand declined for pickups and sport-utility vehicles. Asian automakers posted an 11% gain.
GM’s sales declined 4.2% from a year earlier, and the company widened its production cut for this quarter. Ford yesterday reported a 9% drop, while DaimlerChrysler AG’s slid 4.1%, led by Chrysler, which may be losing customers because it’s for sale. Deliveries rose 12% at Toyota Motor Corp., 11% at Honda Motor Co., and 7.8% at Nissan Motor Co.
GM and Ford, the two largest American automakers, are trying to boost profit by paring sales to fleet customers including rental-car companies that get discounts for buying in bulk. The strategy is helping Asia-based rivals led by Toyota gain American market share. Fleet sales accounted for 27% of Detroit-based GM’s total and 32% of Ford’s in 2006.
“There is a balancing act, but certainly Toyota is continuing to put the full-court press on all competitors in the market,” an analyst at CSM Worldwide Inc. in Farmington Hills, Michigan, Michael Robinet, said in an interview.
The industry’s annualized sales rate fell to 16.3 million cars and light trucks from 16.6 million in March 2006, according to Autodata Corp. The number of vehicles sold rose 0.8% to 1.54 million, including a 4% increase for cars, and a 1.9% decline for pickup trucks, SUVs, and minivans.
The American market share of GM, Ford, and Chrysler fell to 51.6% from 55.2% a year earlier, Autodata said. Asian automakers’ share rose to 41.9% from 38.1%.
Sales were expected to drop 14% last month for Ford, 3.2% for GM, and 5.5% for Chrysler, based on the average estimates of nine analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
There were 28 selling days in March, one more than a year earlier. The analysts’ estimates for GM, Ford, and Chrysler are adjusted for sales days. Bloomberg reports unadjusted sales figures, which would be about 4 percentage points higher.
GM shares rose 64 cents to $31.47 at 4:21 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Ford’s fell 1 cent to $8.08 and American shares of Daimler-Chrysler dropped $1.07 to $82.95. Toyota’s American depositary receipts rose 6 cents to $126.98.
