Edmunds.com Forecasts August Auto Sales: Employee Discounts Lose Effect, Allowing Some Japanese Automakers to Achieve Record Market Share

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Aug. 25, 2005 -- This month's car sales will top 1.63 million units, a 14.8 percent increase over August 2004 (with the same number of selling days), according to Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive information.

The combined monthly U.S. market share for General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler is estimated to drop to 55.5 percent in August, down from 61.0 percent in July.

Edmunds.com predicts that Chrysler will sell 214,000 units in August, up 20 percent compared with August 2004 but down 11 percent compared with July 2005. This would result in a new car market share of 13.1 percent for Chrysler in August, up from 12.5 percent in August 2004 but down from 13.3 percent in July.

Edmunds.com predicts Ford will sell 315,000 units in August, up 28 percent compared with August 2004 but down 7.4 percent compared with July 2005. This would push Ford's market share to 19.3 percent of new car sales in August, up from 17.3 percent in August 2004 and 18.9 percent in July.

According to Edmunds.com, GM will sell 378,000 units in August, down 5 percent compared with August 2004 and down 27 percent compared with July 2005. GM's market share is expected to shrink to 23.1 percent of new car sales in August, down from 27.9 percent in August 2004 and 28.7 percent in July.

Noticing that its employee discount promotion was no longer as effective as it was when it was originally introduced, GM has extended the program to include some 2006 full-size trucks and SUV models.

"This is a clever way for GM to draw consumers' attention back to its brand, and particularly to its less fuel-efficient vehicles," stated Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Jesse Toprak. "It is likely that Chrysler and Ford will follow suit once again."

This month, Honda is predicted to sell 162,000 units, up 28 percent compared with August 2004 and up 13 percent compared with July 2005. Its market share is expected to increase from 8.0 percent in July to 9.9 percent in August -- a record high.

Nissan is predicted to sell more than 107,000 units in August, up 33 percent compared to August 2004 and unchanged from July 2005. Nissan's market share is expected to reach 6.6 percent, up from 6.0 percent in July 2005.

Toyota is expected to sell 240,000 units, up 33 percent compared with August 2004 and up 11 percent compared with July 2005, resulting in a change in market share from 12.0 percent in July to 14.7 percent in August -- also a record high.

About Edmunds.com, Inc.

Edmunds.com is the premier online resource for automotive information. Its comprehensive set of data, tools and services, including Edmunds.com True Market Value(R) pricing, is generated by Edmunds.com Information Solutions and is licensed to third parties. For example, the company supplies content for the auto sections of NYTimes.com, AOL, About.com and IGN.com, provides weekly data to Automotive News and delivers monthly data reports to Wall Street analysts. Edmunds.com also publishes a high-speed, on-screen car magazine called Inside Line available free at www.insideline.com. Edmunds.com was named "best car research" site by Forbes ASAP, has been selected by consumers as the "most useful Web site" according to every J.D. Power and Associates New Autoshopper.com Study(SM) and was ranked first in the Survey of Car-Shopping Web Sites as reported by The Wall Street Journal. The company is headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif. and maintains a satellite office outside Detroit.