Toyota Passes Ford for #2 in Vehicle Sales in July
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Toyota Soars, Passes Ford to Rank No. 2 in U.S. Sales (Update9)
Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp. passed Ford Motor Co. in July to become the No. 2 auto retailer in the U.S. for the first time, after each of the domestic car companies posted sales declines above 20 percent.
Toyota sold 241,826 vehicles in the month, a 12 percent increase, leading Asian automakers to a record share of the U.S. market. Ford dropped 34 percent to 241,399. Sales of General Motors Corp., the world's No. 1 automaker, fell 23 percent.
``The results finally reflect the reality that Toyota is a superlative auto manufacturer and Ford is struggling,'' said Pete Hastings, a fixed-income analyst at Morgan Keegan & Co. in Memphis, Tennessee.
Toyota's ascendancy comes as GM and Ford are cutting a combined 60,000 U.S. union jobs and closing 26 locations to end North American losses. DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler unit last month revived employee discounts for all buyers in an effort to end four straight months of U.S. sales declines.
Toyota also gained on Detroit-based GM as the world's largest automaker in the first half of this year by cutting GM's lead in half, to 240,000 vehicles. The Toyota City-based automaker passed Ford, whose founder invented the modern assembly line to put America on wheels almost a century ago, to become No. 2 in global sales in 2003.
In April, Toyota overtook DaimlerChrysler AG to rank No. 3 in U.S. sales and leads the German automaker after seven months.
Not Intentional
``It's not Toyota's intention to overtake any particular manufacturer,'' Toyota North American Senior Vice President Dennis Cuneo said in an interview.
Honda, the No. 2 Japanese automaker in the U.S. behind Toyota, gained 6 percent in July. Honda's sales including the Acura brand also surpassed the sales of DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brands for the first time in July. Nissan Motor Co. dropped 20 percent, for its ninth decline in 10 months.
Asian automakers captured a record 41.4 percent of the U.S. market as the U.S.-based companies hit a record-low 52 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The annualized sales rate fell to 17.2 million cars and trucks from 20.7 million for July 2005. Total U.S. auto sales fell 17.4 percent to 1.49 million.
``The U.S. market is really becoming the Big Six, rather than the Big Three,'' Cuneo said. ``The fates of the individual companies are going to move around. It wasn't that long ago, back in the 90s, that analysts were taking Toyota to task for not having enough SUVs.''
Pickup Peril
Ford, of Dearborn, Michigan, and GM have been affected by sales slides in July for pickup trucks, including the top-selling model for each company. GM's Chevrolet Silverado pickup had a 31 percent slide, while Ford's F-Series declined 46 percent.
Both trucks were hurt by comparisons to a year earlier when the companies were offering employee prices to all buyers. For the first seven months, the Silverado had a 20 percent decline compared with the same period in 2005. The F-Series is down by 12 percent.
In July 2005, with the employee-pricing offers, Ford sold 126,905 F-Series pickups, the most for a vehicle in any month since the company's Model T in the 1920s.
Toyota and Honda have benefited in July from models with better fuel mileage as gasoline remained above $3 a gallon through much of the U.S.
Fuel Favorites
Honda's redesigned Civic posted a 2.1 percent gain in July and its Accord had a 5.3 percent increase. Sales of Toyota's Corolla rose 37 percent, and its Prius gasoline-electric hybrid was up 15 percent.
``The fuel issue is having some larger effect on sales,'' said David Hilton, senior manager in the Americas automotive consulting practice of Capgemini SA.
Average U.S. gasoline prices finished July at $3.01 a gallon, marking a 32 percent increase in the past 12 months, according to AAA data.
GM's light vehicle sales, excluding medium-duty trucks, fell 22 percent to 406,298. Light truck sales declined 31 percent, and passenger car sales dropped 4.2 percent. Sales of the Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GM's best-selling sport-utility vehicle, plunged 52 percent.
GM Gains Share
It was the second straight month that GM's U.S. market share exceeded 27 percent. The average is 24.5 percent for the first seven months of the year. GM opted not to repeat offers of employee discounts that led to increased sales in June and July 2005. Instead, it's reducing car and truck prices overall.
Ford's sales dropped to 241,339 for the month, including a 44 percent decline in trucks. Ford's mid-size and large sport- utility vehicles also continued their slide. Sales of the Explorer fell 51 percent and the Expedition 57 was down percent.
In July 2005, Ford had its first monthly market share gain in more than two years when its offer of employee discounts sparked a 29 percent increase in sales.
``What goes around, comes around,'' Ford sales analyst George Pipas said.
DaimlerChrysler sales fell 34 percent to 171,940, Sales of the Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brands dropped to 150,349 from 240,146 a year earlier. Mercedes car and truck sales rose 3.8 percent to 21,591.
Chrysler, of Auburn Hills, Michigan, was the only U.S. automaker to bring back employee pricing in July. It also added rebates and interest-rate promotions. The automaker said today it will continue the program for another month.
August and September sales will be better than July's, but only because discounts will increase, said Paul Taylor, chief economist with the National Automobile Dealers Association.
Some automakers adjust percent changes in vehicle sales on a ``sales day'' basis and assume no sales occur on Sundays. Bloomberg News and some other automakers report unadjusted percentage changes. There were 25 selling days last month, one less than in July 2005. Unadjusted sales comparisons are about 4 percentage points lower than the adjusted.
Ford desperately needs something besides Fusion and Mustang. It's also interesting that GM has gained market share the past 2 months.
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2001 Camaro SS
310 RWHP, 330 RWTQ stock @ 12,000 miles
28 mpg highway
Ford's sales continue to be pretty lackluster, and it's going to be that way for the rest of the year at least. What's interesting is that retail sales continue to rise each month, and Fusion/Milan/Zephyr production has actually hit max capacity to the point where they will need to build a new plant or add onto an existing one in order to produce more. The Edge and MKX should add more sales this fall. But in the meantime, it's going to be a rough ride.
GM, OTOH, is doing much better. Chevy is one fire...the Impala is up over last July, even including Employee Discounting. It'll be interesting to see how this momentum continues when the Silverado and Sierra debut this fall.
Yeah this comes to no surprise...I read on other auto sites that Ford had a huge drop...I don't get it, they invested most of the money into the redesign Expedition and Explorer for 2007 and their extended versions when Ford offers some really decent compacts in Europe, I've heard some nice ones, Ford short changes its own countrymen on a great Ford Focus, the one in Europe is pretty nice, I know it will be different anyway cause its a different market but Ford waters the Focus down the the N/A market (okay now I got myself into a position where you can argue a lot of manufacturers "water" down their cars but i just talking about Ford right now)...yes I realize that SUVs are the cash cow for the Big3 but times are changing...this is another countless example when they are too slow to adapt to market changes and then they scratch their (Domestics) heads wondering why their SUV sales and overall sales for that matter are down. I know it goes beyond just gas prices today, obviously the domestics market share has be steadly falling before the higher gas prices in fact for decade at least? Enough of my rant.
Thanks for the link!
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Live faster than the speed of fear
It should be noted that Ford is still ahead by approx. 300,000 vehicles year-to-date, so they will probably still be #2 in the U.S. at the end of '06....
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2001 Camaro SS
310 RWHP, 330 RWTQ stock @ 12,000 miles
28 mpg highway
Wow, will Toyota ever pass GM to become the #1 automaker? The problem is that Big 3 US Auto makers are obsessed with making SUV's & trucks that are more fuel efficent or hybrid versions, instead of coming out with small or mid-sized fuel efficent /hybrid cars. They've never made good small cars.
It should be noted that Ford is still ahead by approx. 300,000 vehicles year-to-date, so they will probably still be #2 in the U.S. at the end of '06....
Only if sales of the F-Series trucks and Mustang remain strong. Right now, thats pretty much all thats keeping Ford from going bankrupt.
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Originally Posted by Vmax2007
Toyota is not any more "special" than every other company the media has targeted in the past.
'07 Toyota Camry LE
Toyota: Like other cars, only better.
...Ford offers some really decent compacts in Europe, I've heard some nice ones, Ford short changes its own countrymen on a great Ford Focus, the one in Europe is pretty nice, I know it will be different anyway cause its a different market but Ford waters the Focus down the the N/A market...
Today, Ford sells a different version of the Focus to the rest of the world. The European-made Focus is a superior vehicle that features much more dynamic styling, better performance and superior quality. Many industry analysts have wondered why Ford cannot sell the European Focus -- widely regarded as one of the best small cars in the world -- in North America.
The answer is price. While the Focus fits snugly in the compact economy segment in the United States, it is considered a midsize car in most of the rest of the world. In fact, it is considered an upmarket vehicle in many countries and is priced accordingly.
For example, the sporty Focus Zetec starts at $25,491 in Britain, which is more than the price of a Ford Fusion, the next car up in Ford's domestic lineup. In the United States, prices for the Focus start at less than $14,000 -- and that is before rebates.
Ford would love to sell the Euro Focus over here, but the sad truth is that most Americans wouldn't buy it at that price. America's thinking still continues to be "bigger is better"...and if someone saw a small Focus at the same price as a Fusion--despite the excellent handling and great fuel economy--they probably wouldn't cough up 25K for a car that size. It would be great for Ford's image to sell the Euro Focus over here, but it would be a net-loser in profits.
Ford would love to sell the Euro Focus over here, but the sad truth is that most Americans wouldn't buy it at that price. America's thinking still continues to be "bigger is better"...and if someone saw a small Focus at the same price as a Fusion--despite the excellent handling and great fuel economy--they probably wouldn't cough up 25K for a car that size. It would be great for Ford's image to sell the Euro Focus over here, but it would be a net-loser in profits.
I totally agree with you and I can see your points on how the Focus is positioned differently for different markets and yeah gas (for now) in the U.S. is not high enough for Americans to even consider to pay 25k for a Ford Focus. But Ford does have some other hot hatches, Ford Ka? Right? They can send an econ car over and water it down a little to be under the Focus to be a true econo car. Oh well!
__________________
Live faster than the speed of fear
The scoop in the automotive industry is that Ford is on a death march and there's no one interested in bailing it out (ie: takeover). Ailing plants and vehicle lines that are performing so badly that the entire company is bleeding out $$ like an Ebola patient. Volvo hasn't performed. Jaguar is a big ugly dog. Core Ford models can't support. Even the Lincoln line is a tough sell to any prospective buyer (saviour).
Expect Ford to sell Jaguar to someone for the firesale price of $1 to slow the death march. Mark my words.
But Ford does have some other hot hatches, Ford Ka? Right? They can send an econ car over and water it down a little to be under the Focus to be a true econo car.
The problem is that importing them over here is probably too expensive, and I don't know how the Ka would sell in this market. Ford had discussed importing the Fiesta over here for '08, but Mark Fields scrapped that and essentially said we're going to do this the right way and build them from the ground up with fresh styling (rumored along the lines of the Reflex and Bronco concepts). So, that's why the B-cars won't be coming out until 2009, but it should be a much better entry than if Ford were to just import one over here from Europe/Asia. Ford has never really had success in the past when doing that (original Fiesta/Festiva/Aspire).
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The scoop in the automotive industry is that Ford is on a death march and there's no one interested in bailing it out (ie: takeover). Ailing plants and vehicle lines that are performing so badly that the entire company is bleeding out $$ like an Ebola patient. Volvo hasn't performed. Jaguar is a big ugly dog. Core Ford models can't support. Even the Lincoln line is a tough sell to any prospective buyer (saviour).
Expect Ford to sell Jaguar to someone for the firesale price of $1 to slow the death march. Mark my words.
That's not "insider scoop"...that's Wall Street speculation, and Wall Street loves to pick on Ford ever since they told them to go to hell by not releasing quarterly and annual earnings reports. I wish the media and Wall Street would stop breathing down Ford's back and let them go about their turnaround in peace.
Ford still has a decent buffer of cash, and Hyundai is reviewing the possibility of purchasing Jag. As much as I love Jaguar, they haven't done much for Ford over the last 17 years except use resources. However, Bill Ford stated recently that there are no plans to sell Jaguar...so once again, it's all Wall Street speculation.
Ford is in bad shape, but they're not on a death spiral.
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Originally Posted by trxr
God created shit, and Ford made it move.
How original. Is that all you have to add to this thread?
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Chevy is doing better, but they are far from being "on fire".
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