Toyota Leads Asian Automakers' U.S. Gains in March

April 1, 2005; Alan Ohnsman writing for Bloomberg reported that Toyota Motor Corp., the world's second-largest automaker, set a monthly record for U.S. sales in March, leading Asian automakers to another gain in market share as rising gasoline prices stoked demand for cars.

Vehicles such as Toyota's Corolla small cars and Prius gasoline-electric hatchbacks, as well as Honda Motor Co.'s Accord and Civic hybrids, helped the 10 Japanese and South Korean companies lift sales 10.8 percent from a year earlier to 570,454. Their market share for the first quarter was a record 36.2 percent, according to Autodata Corp.

``Toyota and Honda sell a lot of fuel-efficient models, and that's a big help right now,'' said Wendy Trevisani, who helps manage $4.6 billion including Toyota shares at Thornburg Investment Management. ``Prius continues to be a big hit for Toyota, and now they're adding hybrid SUVs.''

Record U.S. gasoline prices prompted consumers to shift away from big sport-utility vehicles such as General Motors Corp.'s Cadillac Escalade and Ford Motor Co.'s Excursion and Expedition that cost more than $50 to refuel. Asian automakers, which still rely more on cars than light trucks, are better able to maintain sales when gas prices surge, said Trevisani, whose firm is based in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The 10 Asian companies' market share for March rose 2.1 percentage points to 36.2 percent, according to Autodata.

Rising crude-oil prices pushed gasoline to $2.153 a gallon in the week that ended March 28, according to the U.S. Energy Department. Adjusted for inflation, current gasoline prices still trail the $3.085, based on 2005 dollars, reached in March 1981, according to the Energy Department.

Toyota, Honda

Toyota's sales of its Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands rose 17 percent to 203,223 from 174,210 a year earlier. Prius sales more than doubled to 10,236, the most the Toyota City, Japan-based company has sold in any month.

The March total adjusted for an additional day of sales compared with a year earlier rose 12.3 percent, Toyota said. The automaker, which ranks fourth in U.S. sales behind General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler AG, increased its U.S. market share 1.3 points to 12.9 percent.

Honda, fifth in the U.S., increased sales 11 percent to 128,548. The Tokyo-based company benefited from a 6.4 percent rise for midsize Accord cars, which had fallen in the year's first two months, and by the new Ridgeline pickup truck. Honda sold 3,875 of the pickups, its first such model in the U.S.

Honda estimated that sales of its hybrid models, including the Insight two-seater and versions of the Accord and Civic cars, rose 71 percent from a year earlier to a record 4,814. The company's market share rose 0.5 point to 8.2 percent.

``Honda has one of the most fuel-efficient product lines, so they seem to have benefited from the run-up in gas prices,'' said Mark McCready, director of pricing strategy for CarsDirect.com, an auto sales and research company in El Segundo, California.

Nissan

Nissan Motor Co., sixth in the U.S., matched Toyota's 17 percent increase in March. Nissan's growth came from light-truck sales, which surged 39 percent, and raised the total to a record 105,804 vehicles.

New versions of the Pathfinder and Xterra SUVs and the Frontier pickup, as well as demand for Titan pickups and Armada SUVs, led gains for the month and helped the Tokyo-based company sell more than 1 million autos in the U.S. in a 12-month period for the first time, Jed Connelly, senior vice president for North American sales, said today in an interview.

Nissan raised its market share 0.7 point to 6.7 percent, according to Autodata.

Total U.S. auto sales rose 4.5 percent for the month to 1.58 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Sales at GM, the world's largest automaker, rose 2.5 percent. Ford's fell 1.4 percent and DaimlerChrysler's rose 7.6 percent.

Hyundai, Kia

Hyundai, seventh in the U.S., raised sales 11 percent to 40,063, gaining from demand for the Tucson, a small SUV the Seoul- based company added late last year. Sales of midsize Sonata sedans also rose 30 percent to 11,373.

Hyundai's market share rose to 2.5 percent from 2.4 percent a year ago.

``Their reputation has gone from, frankly, pretty crappy on quality, to a very solid, well-priced brand,'' Thornburg's Trevisani said.

Kia Motors Corp., a Hyundai affiliate, reported an 8.2 percent increase to 25,722. The gain was led by a 95 percent jump for Amanti sedans and a 39 percent gain for Optima cars.

Among other Asian brands, Mazda Motor Corp., a Ford affiliate, raised sales 3.3 percent to 26,153. Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.'s Subaru, a GM affiliate, said its sales fell 1.7 percent to 17,301.

Suzuki Motor Corp., also a GM affiliate, raised sales 7.6 percent to 7,446, and Isuzu Motors Ltd., 8.5 percent owned by GM, declined 65 percent to 1,418. Mitsubishi Motors Corp., Japan's fifth-largest automaker, sold 14,776 vehicles, a drop of 28 percent.

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