Toyota races past Ford in US

[Plex]

Toyota overtook Ford in US vehicle sales for only the second month ever in November as the auto market remained stuck in low gear, industry figures showed.

Toyota said its US sales surged 15.9 percent to 196 695, ahead of Ford's November total of 182 259 vehicles. The Japanese automaker had outsold Ford in July this year as well.

"(Toyota) have the right product and the right product image in the marketplace," said Jesse Toprak, analyst at Edmunds.com.

"They have a very loyal brand following in the areas that matter the most, and their product mix is well balanced."

General Motors and DaimlerChrysler's domestic nameplates meanwhile posted modest year-over-year gains in US sales, but analysts said the market remained generally sluggish amid a sputtering US economy.

Total light vehicle sales were 1.2 million in the month, which translated to a seasonally adjusted pace of 16.01 million, according to the research firm Autodata Corp.

The November sales figure was down from 1.35 million in October. And total year-to-date sales of 15.1 million are off 2.5 percent from 2005 levels.

"Vehicle sales remain stagnant," noted Robert Brusca, economist at FAO Economics.

The figures are "extremely disappointing no matter how you slice it," said George Magliano, director of automotive research for Americas at Global Insight.

Magliano said that even though some automakers showed year-to-year improvement, this compared with a weak period at the end of 2005.

"The economy has downshifted, the market has downshifted. It seems the market is losing more momentum than expected," he said.

GM, which could be overtaken this year as the world's biggest automaker by Toyota, said its US sales increased 5.8 percent in November from a year ago to 297 556 vehicles, helped by new model introductions.

GM said that excluding sales to rental fleets, its deliveries to US retail customers were up 11 percent for the month.

Ford sales fell 9.6 percent from a year ago amid lower sales to fleets, and a sharp 13 percent drop in the truck category, which includes SUVs and minivans increasingly shunned by US consumers because of poor fuel economy.

Analysts said Ford sales were well below forecasts and GM figures were close to forecasts as the two faltering giants make varying degrees of progress in their turnaround efforts.

"The biggest surprise is Ford," said Toprak at Edmunds.com.

"We thought Ford would be up or at least flat. It appears that production cuts and lower sales to fleet and rental companies had a more dramatic impact on Ford's November sales."

Dana Johnson, chief economist at Comerica Bank in Detroit, said GM "is making some progress selling more cars to individuals and fewer cars to the daily rental companies", resulting in a more profitable mix.

Johnson noted that as GM and Ford make massive workforce cuts in response to huge losses, they are becoming more competitive.

"The broader picture is that Ford and GM, by offering buyouts and emptying out their job banks, are not under the same pressure to keep production at high levels, and they can adjust to demand in the marketplace by cutting production as well as prices," he said.

DaimlerChrysler sales rose five percent in November from a year ago to 186 635. The Chrysler Group, which includes the US brands Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler, saw sales grow three percent year-over-year to 164 556 vehicles in November, while Mercedes-Benz sales vaulted 21 percent.

Among other automakers, Japan's Honda saw a 0.6 percent increase, while Nissan sales fell 1.6 percent and Hyundai of South Korea decreased 14.9 percent.

The US domestic brands captured 51.9 percent of the market while Asian brands accounted for 40.2 percent.

Nonetheless, analysts said there are a few rays of hope for Detroit.

"It's a bit early for Ford but I think GM's turnaround has begun in the past few months," said Toprak.

"Their market share has stabilized at around 24 to 25 percent and they are spending the least among the domestic automakers in (sales) incentives."

Source: http://motoring.iafrica.com/newsbriefs/506200.htm

[vfp16]

#1 and #2.

[Plex]

Agreed..