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Ford general motors see sales slump Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/11/01/051101214945.t2l4fd5a.htmlhttp://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/11/01/051101214945.t2l4fd5a.html
Big Three carmakers see sales slump in US
Nov 01 4:49 PM US/Eastern
The Big Three US carmakers, General Motors, Ford Motor and DaimlerChrysler, announced huge falls in domestic sales in October after a year of giving heavy subsidies to keep buyers in showrooms.
While Japanese rivals nearly all produced sales rises in the US market, General Motors posted a 23 percent decline from a year ago to 257,623 vehicles. Ford said its October sales were down 26 percent to 199,847. DaimlerChrysler sales were not as bad, but still fell three percent to 183,163 cars and trucks.
"Although a slowdown after the record sales of the last several months was expected, October was a difficult month for us and the industry," said Mark LaNeve, head of GM North America sales.
Ford attributed the fall to customers having already taken advantage of discount pricing that bolstered sales during the summer months.
Dealers for the Big Three were offering discounts of about 3,000 dollars a car over many months to keep up sales figures.
Some analysts say the decline was inevitable and will be good for the Detroit carmakers.
"Manufacturers are finally beginning to see returns on their efforts to lower incentives," said Jane Liu, vice president of data analysis for the Edmunds.com auto website.
"There will be some sales sacrificed in the short run, but this trend is good for the entire industry in the long term."
Others were worried however that US carmakers could return to price-cutting to tempt buyers.
Steve Stanley, chief economist at RBS Greenwich Capital, said October sales were below expectations. "My guess is that sales will return to modestly below trend in November and then spike in December, on the back of the next big wave of incentives," he said.
General Motors, the world's biggest automaker, said car sales fell 12 percent and truck sales 30 percent.
Big sports utility vehicles felt a particular backlash from rising gasoline prices, analysts said.
Ford said its car sales fell 11 percent to 67,958 units, while the truck side fell 31 percent to 131,889.
For October, British-based Land Rover was the only Ford brand showing year-over-year increases, up 40.2 percent to 3,753 vehicles.
Land Rover sales have increased 32.7 percent this year while another British subsidiary, Jaguar, has seen sales fall 33.5 percent.
DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes-Benz group helped buck the trend. The first full month of sales for its R-Class vehicles brought a slight gain to 18,349 vehicles sold, up from 18,323 a year ago.
Japan's Toyota Motor handed in a 5.2 percent increase in October to 173,086 cars and trucks.
"Market conditions show promise," said Toyota Motor Sales USA President Jim Press. "Inventories are being replenished, the incentive-induced daze is lifting and the hurricane season is coming to a close."
Toyota brand sales gained 5.7 percent to 149,755 vehicles and the luxury Lexus brand added 2.2 percent to 23,331. Truck sales were down though.
Honda Motor posted a 4.2 percent rise to 110,895 vehicles.
But Nissan North America posted a 13.3 percent decline from a year ago to 72,279 vehicles.
The Nissan brand turned in a 14.2 percent retreat to 62,317 cars and trucks, while the luxury Infiniti brand fell 7.3 percent to 9,962 vehicles.
Porsche saw a 14 percent decline in sales from a year ago to 2,588 vehicles. The company said Hurricane Wilma closed several dealers in Florida, causing delivery delays and lost sales.
BMW said it sold 25,585 cars and trucks in October, down from 25,807 last year.
Car sales improved 13 percent to 18,889, but truck sales plunged 40 percent to 3,543. Mini sales jumped 22 percent to 35,213 cars.
Copyright AFP 2005
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