US auto sales slip; GM bucks trend
Thursday, September 6, 2007
GENERAL Motors Corp posted a five-per cent gain in US sales for August, bucking a downtrend for the embattled industry linked to a weaker housing market and a shakeout in sub-prime lending.
Overall, US auto sales slipped by just under one per cent in August, a smaller decline than some analysts forecast as discount programs at GM and other major automakers helped spur sales in the face of slack demand.
GM took nearly 26 per cent of the US vehicle market in August, its highest market share of the year, as it stepped up discounting on its full-size pickup trucks, a key product segment for the No 1 automaker.
Rivals Ford Motor Co, Toyota Motor Corp and Chrysler LLC all posted sales declines, as industrywide sales extended a slump that took hold in the second quarter.
Among the top six manufacturers, Honda Motor Co and Nissan Motor Co Ltd posted sales gains that were accompanied by higher incentives.
Toyota, which remains on track to overtake Ford as the No 2 automaker in the United States this year, saw its US August sales fall almost three per cent.
That marked the second consecutive monthly sales drop for Toyota, the first such decline since early 2003 for the fast-growing Japanese automaker.
"Reduced credit tied to the sub-prime squeeze challenged consumer confidence this month," Jim Lentz, Toyota's US sales chief, said in a statement yesterday.
Toyota still expects US sales growth of between five per cent and seven per cent this year.
Reuters
Overall, US auto sales slipped by just under one per cent in August, a smaller decline than some analysts forecast as discount programs at GM and other major automakers helped spur sales in the face of slack demand.
GM took nearly 26 per cent of the US vehicle market in August, its highest market share of the year, as it stepped up discounting on its full-size pickup trucks, a key product segment for the No 1 automaker.
Rivals Ford Motor Co, Toyota Motor Corp and Chrysler LLC all posted sales declines, as industrywide sales extended a slump that took hold in the second quarter.
Among the top six manufacturers, Honda Motor Co and Nissan Motor Co Ltd posted sales gains that were accompanied by higher incentives.
Toyota, which remains on track to overtake Ford as the No 2 automaker in the United States this year, saw its US August sales fall almost three per cent.
That marked the second consecutive monthly sales drop for Toyota, the first such decline since early 2003 for the fast-growing Japanese automaker.
"Reduced credit tied to the sub-prime squeeze challenged consumer confidence this month," Jim Lentz, Toyota's US sales chief, said in a statement yesterday.
Toyota still expects US sales growth of between five per cent and seven per cent this year.
Reuters
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