2001 Is Second-Best Auto Sales Year

DETROIT AP reported this analysis of 2001.

"A strong finish for almost every automaker, foreign and domestic, was enough to make 2001 the second best vehicle sales year in history.

Sales figures released Thursday also revealed that for the first time, trucks -- including sport utility vehicles -- outsold passenger cars. The margin was about 300,000 units.

The Honda Accord reclaimed the distinction of best-selling car in the U.S., deposing past sales champ Toyota Camry. The Ford Taurus came in third.

The Accord last held the top sales spot from 1989 to 1991.

The industry sold a total of 17.18 million vehicles last year, just above the 16.96 million sold in 1999 and below the record 17.4 million in 2000.

But profits are likely to suffer for automakers who ``bought'' some of the sales with costly incentive programs.

``Unquestionably profits will suffer from the incentives, but the zero percent financing move was brilliant'' said Efraim Levy, senior automotive analyst for Standard and Poor's.

``Regardless of the effect on profits, the move stimulated sales and may have prevented the economy from rolling over and dying in the wake of Sept. 11,'' he said.

General Motors Corp. kicked off the wave of zero and low interest financing offers in the days following the Sept. 11 terror attacks as a way to reignite sales that were already floundering.

Ford Motor Co. and the Chrysler Group of DaimlerChrysler AG [NYSE:DAJ - news] followed suit as well as Toyota Motor Corp. [NYSE:TM - news], although on a more limited basis.

The last of the offers is due to expire later this month.

GM said Thursday it is replacing its program with a combination of low interest financing and $2,002 cash rebates on most of its vehicles until the end of February.

The Chrysler Group of DaimlerChrysler AG said Wednesday it is extending its 100,000 mile, seven-year powertrain protection plan through the end of March and hadn't yet decided whether to match GM's new offer.

Ford Motor Co. executives are also undecided on following GM's latest move.

``We had a plan that was going to run out on Jan. 14. We'll evaulate the remainder of the quarter and make a decision,'' said Jim O'Connor, president Ford Division.

While each of the U.S. automakers credited offers of zero-percent interest financing and other incentives as sparking the sales surge from late September through December, American Honda Motor Co. set nine all-time records without almost no incentives.

Toyota reported its best-ever year, selling 1.74 million cars and trucks, a 7.5 percent increase over 2000.

The Chrysler Group of DaimlerChrysler AG said its December sales were 6-percent higher than those during December 2000, and sales for the year were off less than 10 percent from 2000.

GM reported its vehicle sales in 2001 were down about 1 percent, but up 7 percent in December as compared with a year ago.

The late year sales momentum was powered by a 32-percent rise in GM light truck sales in December, offsetting a 19-percent decline in its passenger car sales last month.

Capping off a troubled year that included the Firestone tire controversy, the departure of CEO Jacques Nasser and declining earnings, Ford Motor Co. [NYSE:F - news] reported Thursday its sales dropped 6 percent in 2001 from a year earlier.

Sales during December for the nation's second biggest automaker were only three-tenths of a percent better than in December 2000, hurt by a 25 percent drop in passenger car sales.

But its F-series pickup trucks remained the best-selling vehicle in the United States for the 20th straight year, Ford said.

``We faced intensified competition and would expect that again in 2002,'' Jim O'Connor, president, Ford Division, said in a conference call with financial analysts and reporters.

BMW of North America LLC reported an 11 percent decline in vehicle sales last month compared with December 2000. For the year, the German automaker posted a 12.5 percent increase, making 2001 its best sales year to date in the United States.

Strong sales of its new A4 model powered Audi of America to its best-ever U.S. sales during 2001. For the year, sales of Audi vehicles were up 3.6 percent over 2000, despite a 3-percent decline during December.

Volkswagen of America Inc. reported a half-percent increase in sales over 2000, and a 9.3 percent increase in December compared with a year earlier.

Volvo Cars of North America recorded its best year in the United States, selling 125,710 vehicles, 2,532 vehicles or 2 percent more than it sold during 2000.

Reflecting the resurgence of South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor America, the company reported record December sales, up 39 percent from a year earlier. For the year, Hyundai's sales rose 42 percent over 2000."