January 2005: Asian Carmakers Boost U.S. Share on Nissan, Hyundai Gains

Feb. 1, 2005; Bloomberg reported that Nissan Motor Co. and Hyundai Motor Co. sold more cars and trucks in the U.S. in January, giving Asian automakers a record share of the world's largest vehicle market. Sales of Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. fell as the overall market shrank.

Sales rose 6.1 percent at Nissan, Japan's second-largest automaker, and 9.6 percent at Hyundai, South Korea's biggest. The 10 Japanese and Korean carmakers that compete in the U.S. raised their combined market share by 0.7 percentage point to a record 36.3 percent, according to Bloomberg data.

Asian automakers have chalked up market share gains over U.S. rivals including General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. for four of the past six months, benefiting from higher quality rankings and new models. Nissan's Pathfinder sport-utility vehicles and Titan pick-up trucks are helping the company close the gap on Honda and Toyota.

``Nissan continues to do well,'' said AutoTrends Consulting analyst Joe Phillippi, based in Short Hills, New Jersey. ``Light trucks continue to be where it's at, for them and pretty much everybody else.''

Asian carmakers sold 385,381 vehicles in the U.S. last month, 3.9 percent fewer than last year, following the market's 5.3 percent drop. Honda led the decline among major Asian carmakers with a 9.6 percent slump and Toyota's sales fell 1.9 percent. Asian carmakers' share of the U.S. market rose as General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. sold fewer vehicles. Demand for light trucks helped Nissan and Hyundai, said AutoTrends Consulting analyst Joe Phillippi.

Total U.S. sales fell to 1.06 million units, according to revised data by New Jersey-based Autodata Corp. Autodata earlier released data that showed sales at 1.07 million units. That included declines of 6.5 percent for General Motors Corp., 12 percent for Ford Motor Co. and 1.2 percent for DaimlerChrysler AG.

Toyota, Honda

Toyota, Asia's largest automaker, sold 140,954 cars and trucks last month, down from 143,729, on lower sales of Camry sedans and luxury Lexus cars. Sales of Toyota and Scion vehicles totaled 122,706, a 1 percent drop, as Camry's total fell by 2,363 cars, said the carmaker, based in central Japan's Toyota City. Lexus declined 8 percent to 18,248, on lower sales of sedans and coupes.

Monthly sales rose 6.2 percent in January, after adjusting for two fewer sales days compared with last year, said Toyota's U.S. unit, based in Torrance, California.

Toyota's market share rose to 13.2 percent last month from 12.8 percent a year earlier, according to Bloomberg data.

Sales at Honda, Japan's third-largest automaker declined to 81,504 from 90,173. The Tokyo-based company sold 8,418 fewer Accord and Civic cars, its highest-selling models. The Acura luxury brand increased sales 4.1 percent to 13,664 vehicles.

The decline adjusted for sales days was 2.1 percent, said Honda's U.S. unit, based in Torrance, California. The company's U.S. market share declined 0.3 point to 7.7 percent.

``Honda is in a transition period this year,'' said Paul Lloyd, an analyst with Schneider Capital Management, in Wayne, Pennsylvania, which oversees $3.6 billion, including Honda shares. ``They've got new products coming, like the Ridgeline (pickup) and they've improved Acura, which is higher margin.''

Nissan, Hyundai

Nissan sold 76,584 Nissan-brand and Infiniti luxury cars in January, a gain from 72,164 units last year. Sales of the Pathfinder, revamped in late 2004, tripled to 6,359 from 2,150, said the company's North American unit, based in Gardena, California.

Adjusted for sales days, the total rise was 15 percent, Tokyo-based Nissan said. Poor weather, including floods in California, snow in the Midwest and Northeast and last weekend's ice storm in the Southeast, kept the company from a larger increase, said Jed Connelly, Nissan's U.S. senior vice president, in an e-mailed message.

``Weather probably cost us 3,000 to 5,000 units this month, but sales did start picking back up toward the end of the month, so we feel like we'll recapture the units we lost in February and March,'' Connelly said.

Nissan's market share was 7.2 percent in January, rising from 6.4 percent last year.

Hyundai, Kia

Hyundai sold 26,009 vehicles last month, an increase from 23,738 a year earlier, helped by the new Tucson SUV and higher sales of Sonata and Elantra cars. Sales of the Tucson, added in November 2004, totaled 3,420 units, according to Hyundai's U.S. unit in Fountain Valley, California.

The sales gain raised the Seoul-based company's market share to 2.4 percent, from 2.1 percent.

``Hyundai should continue to perform well this year, given their increased U.S. capacity and better J.D. Power quality scores,'' said Sasha Kamper, who helps manage $65 billion, including Hyundai bonds, at Principal Global Investors in Des Moines, Iowa.

Kia Motors Corp., a Hyundai affiliate sold 17,154 vehicles, up 0.7 percent. The Seoul-based company's share rose 0.1 point to 1.6 percent.

Mazda, Subaru, Mitsubishi

Mazda Motor Corp., a Ford affiliate, said sales fell 8.5 percent last month to 17,060 units. Higher sales of Mazda3 and Mazda6 cars didn't offset declines for RX8 sports cars, Tribute SUVs and Mazda Truck pickups. The Hiroshima, Japan-based company's market share fell 0.1 point to 1.6 percent.

Subaru, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.'s auto unit, said sales fell 5 percent to 17,060. Market share for the General Motors affiliate, based in Tokyo, was unchanged at 1.2 percent.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. extended its U.S. sales slump that began in 2002, posting a 54 percent drop to 7,269 units last month. The Tokyo-based company, which last week arranged a second financial bailout package worth $5.2 billion, saw its U.S. market share halved to 0.7 percent last month.

Suzuki Motor Corp., aided by new models supplied by South Korea's GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co., raised sales 6.2 percent to 5,414 cars and SUVs. Market share for Suzuki, a General Motors affiliate, was unchanged at 0.5 percent.

Isuzu Motors Ltd., Japan's largest truckmaker, sold 1,093 SUVs, down 32 percent. The Tokyo-based company, partially owned by General Motors, had 0.1 percent market share, unchanged from a year ago.