Post by ScottR@KTP on Mar 2, 2010 19:07:00 GMT -5
Ford outsells GM in U.S. as Toyota breaks down
U.S. car companies post double-digit gains in monthly tallies
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By Shawn Langlois, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Pull over, General Motors; Ford Motor Co. has taken the lead in monthly U.S. vehicle sales for the first time in a dozen years, leaving its crosstown rival and a broken-down Toyota in the dust.
'GM is on the right path, but Ford has a distinct advantage right now and will likely remain the leader for the foreseeable future.'
TrueCar.com analyst Jesse Toprak
Ford /quotes/comstock/13*!f/quotes/nls/f (F 12.35, +0.13, +1.06%) said it sold 142,285 cars and trucks in its home market in February, a 43.1% surge that puts the company back atop the mass automotive market it built more than century ago.
"A month in which Ford outsells General Motors is a very rare month indeed, at least in the last 80 years," Kelley Blue Book analyst Jack Nerad said. "And a month in which it occurs when GM is not in the throes of a strike is even more rare."
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales for the industry came in at 10.38 million vehicles, according to Autodata. That's up from a paltry 9.17 million in February 2009.
Ford car sales surged 54% and truck sales rose 36% from a year earlier. The company, which continues to thrive in the wake of competitor bankruptcies and mounting quality woes, reached a total U.S. market share of perhaps 17%. That's an increase of about three percentage points from a year earlier.
"This might be Ford's best lineup of vehicles ever," TrueCar.com analyst Jesse Toprak said. "GM is on the right path, but Ford has a distinct advantage right now and will likely remain the leader for the foreseeable future."
On the production front, Ford said it plans to build 595,000 vehicles in the second quarter, up 144,000 vehicles, or 32%, from the same period a year ago. Ford left its first-quarter production plan at 570,000 vehicles, unchanged from the prior forecast.
GM takes a back seat
GM handed in an 11.5% rise to 141,951 cars and trucks that was driven by strong demand for cars not burdened with Pontiac, Hummer, Saab or Saturn nameplates. Excluding the brands that GM is shedding, the company's domestic sales jumped 32%.
"The progress that we've made since coming out of bankruptcy and seeing five solid months in a row where we're reporting year-over-year increases really is giving us a lot of confidence that the plan ... is working in the marketplace," Susan Docherty, head of GM's sales and marketing, said during a conference call.
Buick came in with a 47% surge to 9,121 vehicles, while sales of Chevy, GM's top brand, rose to 99,999 cars and trucks, a 32.4% jump.
Conversely, Pontiac sales all but disappeared, down to 84 vehicles from 14,200 a year ago. Hummer, which saw its sale to a Chinese company fall through last week, posted a 71.9% drop to 296 vehicles. Saab and Saturn also saw huge declines.
"It doesn't matter who you are in the new General Motors," Docherty said. "Everybody here is moving with the sense of urgency. We're all very impatient for positive business results."
The mostly upbeat report follows closely on the heels of GM's announced recall of 1.3 million compact cars sold in North America over the past five years due to problems with power-steering functions. See full story on the GM recall.
Honda, Nissan benefit from Toyota dip
/quotes/comstock/13*!tm/quotes/nls/tm TM 74.95, +0.53, +0.71%
/quotes/comstock/13*!f/quotes/nls/f F 12.35, +0.13, +1.06%
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Toyota's /quotes/comstock/13*!tm/quotes/nls/tm (TM 74.95, +0.53, +0.71%) month was not as bad as analysts had expected, as sales fell 8.7% to 100,027 units from 109,583 a year ago. The Prius hybrid was one bright spot, with sales jumping 10.2% to 7,968 vehicles from a year ago.
Toyota is in the midst of recalling more than 8 million vehicles around the world, and some of its top executives have been busy explaining themselves to Congress.
Honda Motor Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!hmc/quotes/nls/hmc (HMC 34.90, -0.07, -0.20%) , seen as a prime beneficiary of Toyota's problems, reported a 12.7% improvement to 80,671 vehicles from 71,575 a year ago. Honda said that total car sales rose to 46,111 units from 40,960 last year, and total truck sales increased to 34,560 vehicles from 30,615.
For Nissan Motors /quotes/comstock/11i!nsan.y (NSAN.Y 15.87, +0.09, +0.57%) , sales rose 29.4% to 70,189 vehicles from 54,249 a year ago. Car sales increased 39.2% to 49,234 units, and trucks rose 11.1% to 20,955 units.
Elsewhere in Asia, Korea's Hyundai continued its torrid sales pace, posting an 11% uptick to 34,004 vehicles. Its Sonata sales rose to 7,506 vehicles from 4,743 a year ago, and Santa Fe sales increased to 7,964 units from 5,223.
And back in the U.S., Chrysler, which is undergoing a massive overhaul with Italy's Fiat /quotes/comstock/23g!f (IT:F 8.25, +0.31, +3.90%) at the helm, said it sold 84,449 vehicles, up slightly from 84,050 a year ago, on the back of strong car sales. Truck sales slumped 10% to 58,565.
Shawn Langlois is a reporter for MarketWatch in San Francisco.
U.S. car companies post double-digit gains in monthly tallies
Explore related topics
Automobiles Ford Motor Co Toyota Motor Corp Honda Motor Co Ltd
Story Quotes Comments Screener (456)
Alert Email Print Share
By Shawn Langlois, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Pull over, General Motors; Ford Motor Co. has taken the lead in monthly U.S. vehicle sales for the first time in a dozen years, leaving its crosstown rival and a broken-down Toyota in the dust.
'GM is on the right path, but Ford has a distinct advantage right now and will likely remain the leader for the foreseeable future.'
TrueCar.com analyst Jesse Toprak
Ford /quotes/comstock/13*!f/quotes/nls/f (F 12.35, +0.13, +1.06%) said it sold 142,285 cars and trucks in its home market in February, a 43.1% surge that puts the company back atop the mass automotive market it built more than century ago.
"A month in which Ford outsells General Motors is a very rare month indeed, at least in the last 80 years," Kelley Blue Book analyst Jack Nerad said. "And a month in which it occurs when GM is not in the throes of a strike is even more rare."
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales for the industry came in at 10.38 million vehicles, according to Autodata. That's up from a paltry 9.17 million in February 2009.
Ford car sales surged 54% and truck sales rose 36% from a year earlier. The company, which continues to thrive in the wake of competitor bankruptcies and mounting quality woes, reached a total U.S. market share of perhaps 17%. That's an increase of about three percentage points from a year earlier.
"This might be Ford's best lineup of vehicles ever," TrueCar.com analyst Jesse Toprak said. "GM is on the right path, but Ford has a distinct advantage right now and will likely remain the leader for the foreseeable future."
On the production front, Ford said it plans to build 595,000 vehicles in the second quarter, up 144,000 vehicles, or 32%, from the same period a year ago. Ford left its first-quarter production plan at 570,000 vehicles, unchanged from the prior forecast.
GM takes a back seat
GM handed in an 11.5% rise to 141,951 cars and trucks that was driven by strong demand for cars not burdened with Pontiac, Hummer, Saab or Saturn nameplates. Excluding the brands that GM is shedding, the company's domestic sales jumped 32%.
"The progress that we've made since coming out of bankruptcy and seeing five solid months in a row where we're reporting year-over-year increases really is giving us a lot of confidence that the plan ... is working in the marketplace," Susan Docherty, head of GM's sales and marketing, said during a conference call.
Buick came in with a 47% surge to 9,121 vehicles, while sales of Chevy, GM's top brand, rose to 99,999 cars and trucks, a 32.4% jump.
Conversely, Pontiac sales all but disappeared, down to 84 vehicles from 14,200 a year ago. Hummer, which saw its sale to a Chinese company fall through last week, posted a 71.9% drop to 296 vehicles. Saab and Saturn also saw huge declines.
"It doesn't matter who you are in the new General Motors," Docherty said. "Everybody here is moving with the sense of urgency. We're all very impatient for positive business results."
The mostly upbeat report follows closely on the heels of GM's announced recall of 1.3 million compact cars sold in North America over the past five years due to problems with power-steering functions. See full story on the GM recall.
Honda, Nissan benefit from Toyota dip
/quotes/comstock/13*!tm/quotes/nls/tm TM 74.95, +0.53, +0.71%
/quotes/comstock/13*!f/quotes/nls/f F 12.35, +0.13, +1.06%
600%
400%
200%
0%
-200%
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
10
F
Toyota's /quotes/comstock/13*!tm/quotes/nls/tm (TM 74.95, +0.53, +0.71%) month was not as bad as analysts had expected, as sales fell 8.7% to 100,027 units from 109,583 a year ago. The Prius hybrid was one bright spot, with sales jumping 10.2% to 7,968 vehicles from a year ago.
Toyota is in the midst of recalling more than 8 million vehicles around the world, and some of its top executives have been busy explaining themselves to Congress.
Honda Motor Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!hmc/quotes/nls/hmc (HMC 34.90, -0.07, -0.20%) , seen as a prime beneficiary of Toyota's problems, reported a 12.7% improvement to 80,671 vehicles from 71,575 a year ago. Honda said that total car sales rose to 46,111 units from 40,960 last year, and total truck sales increased to 34,560 vehicles from 30,615.
For Nissan Motors /quotes/comstock/11i!nsan.y (NSAN.Y 15.87, +0.09, +0.57%) , sales rose 29.4% to 70,189 vehicles from 54,249 a year ago. Car sales increased 39.2% to 49,234 units, and trucks rose 11.1% to 20,955 units.
Elsewhere in Asia, Korea's Hyundai continued its torrid sales pace, posting an 11% uptick to 34,004 vehicles. Its Sonata sales rose to 7,506 vehicles from 4,743 a year ago, and Santa Fe sales increased to 7,964 units from 5,223.
And back in the U.S., Chrysler, which is undergoing a massive overhaul with Italy's Fiat /quotes/comstock/23g!f (IT:F 8.25, +0.31, +3.90%) at the helm, said it sold 84,449 vehicles, up slightly from 84,050 a year ago, on the back of strong car sales. Truck sales slumped 10% to 58,565.
Shawn Langlois is a reporter for MarketWatch in San Francisco.