|
Originally Posted by JOE GUY COLLIER
Ford Motor Co. for the first time fell to the No. 4 seller of cars and trucks in a calendar month in the United States as automakers reported their November sales Friday.
Ford's U.S. sales in November fell 9.7% compared with the same month last year for a total of 180,939, according to figures from Autodata Corp.
General Motors Corp., Toyota Motor Corp. and DaimlerChrysler AG all improved from a year ago to claim the top three spots for the month. Toyota was the biggest gainer among them with a 15.9% increase.
Ford's cloudy month did have a silver lining. The Fusion midsize sedan, launched in fall 2005, showed promise for Ford's car lineup with a 66% increase in U.S. sales from last November. But sales of the mainstay F-Series pickups were down 16% and Explorer SUV sales fell 10%.
Ford knew it would take a hit in fleet sales with the discontinuation of the Taurus, but the company was disappointed in the overall sales drop, said George Pipas, Ford's sales analysis manager.
"This is an area, frankly, of disappointment," Pipas said. "We had our sights set higher."
Ford expects a better December, but the Dearborn automaker will not chase sales simply to pump up volume, Pipas said. Ford announced Friday it had cut its fourth-quarter production forecast by 15,000 vehicles from projections released in October.
Although he would not give a specific sales forecast, Pipas said market share next year could decline again. "Our focus is on returning our business to profitability in North America," he said.
The measures being taken by Ford could be good in the long run, industry experts say. The company is taking a hit in sales as it tries to field a more appealing lineup of vehicles, they said.
"You look at Ford's sales," said Todd Turner, president of Car Concepts Inc., an auto consulting firm in Thousand Oaks, Calif. "Yes, they're bad, they're awful, they're scary. But at the same time, I think they're making some strategic moves that are necessary."
GM's sales, meanwhile, increased 6.1% to 293,558. The Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade, all redesigned earlier this year, showed growth of 70% or more from November of last year.
Sales of the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra were up 18% and 31%, respectively. Redesigned versions of these trucks were starting to hit the market in November. The Saturn brand, thanks largely to an all-new Aura midsize sedan, was up 24%.
GM also reported encouraging news in its effort to reduce its reliance on fleet sales. Fleet sales, which include sales to rental-car companies, often prop up volumes but hurt profitability because they're made at cut-rate prices and can damage the long-term value of a brand.
GM's retail sales -- those to individual auto buyers -- were up 11%, and the company should meet a goal set in January to have retail sales for the year of 3 million vehicles, said Paul Ballew, executive director of global market and industry analysis.
"We're hitting our marks in terms of the targets we set for the turnaround plan," Ballew said.
GM's sales were solid, analysts said. But they also cautioned that the comparison between this year and last year is somewhat misleading. After relying on big incentives through the summer, GM's sales had fallen dramatically by last November, lowering the bar for what it needed to post this year to show an increase.
GM, though, does appear to have winners with a new set of trucks and a family of large crossovers hitting the market later this year and early next year, said Alex Rosten, an industry analyst for Edmunds-.com.
"They have an incredible amount of product in the pipeline that's about to come out," Rosten said.
DaimlerChrysler's U.S. sales for November were up 4.7% to 186,665. The Mercedes-Benz unit saw its sales improve 21%.
The Chrysler Group's sales were up 3%. The Auburn Hills unit is in the midst of launching a host of new vehicles, including a redesigned Chrysler Sebring, Jeep Wrangler two-door and new Jeep Wrangler four-door.
"Our aggressive retail sales plan continues to make progress in the marketplace," said Steven Landry, the Chrysler Group vice president of sales and field operations.
Among the foreign automakers, Toyota posted its best-ever November with a 16% increase to 196,695. The Corolla and Camry both had double-digit sales increases. Sales of the RAV4 were up 157%, showing strong demand for the redesigned compact SUV.
"Just look at Toyota's numbers," said Erich Merkle, director of forecasting for Grand Rapids-based IRN Inc. "It's almost as though they're not even marketing their cars on the same planet."
Honda Motor Co.'s U.S. sales for November were up 0.6% to 106,446. Sales of both its bread and butter cars -- the Civic and Accord -- were down.
Nissan's U.S. sales for November slipped 1.6% to 76,015. Sales are expected to rebound with the recent introduction of a redesigned Altima, Nissan's best-selling car, said Brad Bradshaw, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Nissan North America.
"As we get the volume of our launches going, we expect our car side to be able to overcome difficulties on the truck side," Bradshaw said
|
Tennis Challenge Champion!
Linear Mode
