April 2005 U.S. Auto Sales - Scorecard Report

May 3 Bill Koenig writing for Bloomberg reported that Ford Motor Co., the second-largest U.S. automaker, said U.S. sales of cars and trucks fell 1.5 percent in April. Sales at DaimlerChrysler AG and Nissan Motor Co. rose.

Ford sold 281,292 vehicles in April, the company said in a statement. DaimlerChrysler's sales gained 8.7 percent to 225,351 vehicles, including a 9.3 percent increase at its Chrysler unit and a 2.3 percent rise at Mercedes-Benz. Nissan sold 91,621 cars and trucks, up 32 percent from a year ago.

Gains by Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan were projected to lift U.S. April auto sales to an annual rate of 17 million cars and trucks from 16.6 million a year earlier, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts and economists. General Motors Corp., the world's biggest automaker, was expected to report a sales decline and a deeper drop in market share.

April was ``another struggling month from GM and Ford,'' Rebecca Lindland, an analyst with Global Insight in Boston, said in an interview before auto sales were released. ``They're just having a really hard time gaining any kind of momentum in 2005.''

Ford said sales of the midsize Explorer sport-utility vehicle fell 15 percent, and its large Expedition declined 20 percent. Sales of the small Escape SUV, which is more fuel efficient, fell 15 percent.

The decline in SUV sales offset gains of full-size pickup trucks and some car models. Ford recorded a 1.7 gain in F-Series pickups, the highest-selling line of vehicles in the U.S. The automaker sold 71,367 F-Series trucks last month.

Mustang Gains

The company also had a 26 percent gain in Mustang sports cars to 19,559, the highest April sales of the model since 1980, Ford said in the statement.

Chrysler sales rose 3.7 percent last year as nine new models, including its 300 sedan and the Grand Cherokee sport- utility vehicle, contributed to the first annual market share gain in five years.

Chrysler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche said in March that U.S. sales and market share will gain again this year. Sales in the first four months of this year have risen 7 percent.

Nissan's sales were lifted by its new Infiniti M luxury sedan, introduced two months ago, and higher sales of light trucks including the Murano and Pathfinder SUVs, Jed Connelly, Nissan's North American senior president, said in an interview.

Pressure

Further sales declines for Ford and GM would put more pressure on the automakers to reduce costs, cut production and take other steps to avoid losses. Falling U.S. sales led to a first-quarter loss at GM and a 38 percent decline in profit at Ford. Shares of each company have fallen more than 33 percent this year.

Industrywide U.S. auto sales fell 0.4 percent in the first quarter, paced by 5.2 percent declines at both Detroit-based GM, the world's largest automaker, and Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford.

GM cited falling U.S. sales, mainly SUVs, for a $1.1 billion first-quarter loss, its biggest quarterly loss since 1992. The company withdrew its earnings forecast for the balance of the year. GM shares have fallen 32 percent this year through yesterday and are trading at 12-year lows.

Ford's falling sales contributed to a 38 percent decline in first-quarter profit, to $1.21 billion. The company is now forecasting a likely second-quarter loss and doesn't expect to make money on its car business this year.

New Ford Cars

Chief Executive William Clay Ford Jr. said at an April 20 news conference that the company's ``biggest opportunity for share'' will be when three new mid-size car models, Fusion, Milan and Zephyr, ``hit the road.'' Those cars won't be in dealer showrooms until October.

Both GM and Ford are being hurt by declining SUV sales. Sales of the Chevrolet TrailBlazer, a competitor to Ford's Explorer, fell 23 percent during the first quarter. The GMC Envoy twin dropped 30 percent, and the similar Buick Rainier fell 39 percent.

Toyota, the world's second-biggest automaker, is benefiting from demand for Prius hybrids, Scion small cars and redesigned Avalon sedans and Tacoma pickups. The company also got a boost from Lexus, the best-selling luxury brand in the U.S. A new GS sedan went on sale in February, and deliveries of the Lexus RX 400h, a hybrid sport-utility vehicle, began April 18.

``They've gone into this year with a tremendous amount of momentum, and that continues,'' said Jim Sanfilippo, executive vice president of Automotive Marketing Consultants Inc. in Warren, Michigan.