Toyota, Nissan US Sales Rise as Automakers Shake Off Clunkers Hangover
Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. October auto sales were littlechanged as General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. had their firstcombined gain in three years, helping the industry rebound froma drop in demand after the so-called cash for clunkers program.
Sales climbed 4.1 percent from a year earlier at GM, itsfirst monthly gain since January 2008, and 3.1 percent at Ford,the companies said today. Toyota Motor Corp.’s increased lessthan 1 percent, Nissan Motor Co.’s rose 5.6 percent and HyundaiMotor Co.’s were up 49 percent. Sales fell 0.4 percent at HondaMotor Co. and 30 percent at Chrysler Group LLC.
“The economy is beginning to recover,” Dana Johnson,chief economist at Dallas-based Comerica Bank, said in aninterview. “We probably lost some car sales in Septemberbecause inventory was so low they couldn’t make deliveries. Autosales are now probably trending up and they should be upnoticeably in the first quarter.”
The seasonally adjusted annual rate was 10.46 million forOctober, the first month to exceed a 10 million pace without thebenefit of the federal rebates, Autodata Corp. said. Total salesof cars and light trucks fell by 104 vehicles from a yearearlier, to 838,052, according to the Woodcliff Lake, NewJersey-based research firm.
October’s showing improved from a 23 percent slide theprevious month after the end of the federal rebates of as muchas $4,500 for buyers who traded in older, less fuel-efficientvehicles. The program ran from July 27 through Aug. 24,contributing to an August increase that was the industry’s firstmonthly gain since 2007.
‘Positive Spin’
“It does look like there will be positive spin fromOctober and that’s a breath of fresh air after the rollercoaster of a year we’ve had,” said Stephanie Brinley, ananalyst at AutoPacific Inc. in Troy, Michigan. “There may stillbe some monthly declines going forward, but probably not thesustained drops we saw over the last two years.”
The sales pace in October 2008 was 10.82 million vehicles,Autodata said. Sales for all of last year were 13.2 million.
Before a 5.1 percent drop in September, Ford posted U.S.sales gains in July and August, powered by consumer demand forthe clunkers cash. That was the first time that Ford, GM orChrysler increased deliveries for two or more months since GM’sAugust-October streak in 2007.
Ford yesterday also reported surprise third-quarter netincome of $997 million and the Dearborn, Michigan-basedcompany’s first operating profit since early 2008 on smallerdiscounts and higher sales.
“Ford surprised us again,” Michelle Krebs, a senioranalyst at Edmunds.com, which predicted a 6.9 percent declinefor the automaker, told Bloomberg Television. “They surprisedus with their profit yesterday, too. They have some reallystrong products that are doing well.”
GM, Ford
GM, the largest U.S. automaker, sold 177,603 cars andtrucks in October, compared with 170,585 a year earlier,according to a statement from the Detroit-based company.
“Clearly, we’re seeing improvement in the economy and inthe industry,” said Michael DiGiovanni, GM’s sales analyst.
Ford, second biggest among U.S. automakers, reported salesof 136,920 cars and trucks, rising from 132,838. It was thecompany’s third gain in the past four months.
Toyota, the world’s biggest automaker, said its salesincreased to 152,165, from 152,101. Honda reported that it sold85,502 new vehicles, dropping from 85,864. Nissan, based inYokohama, Japan, posted sales of 60,115 Nissan and Infinitivehicles, up from 56,945.
Chrysler sales totaled 65,803, a drop from 94,530, theAuburn Hills, Michigan-based company said in a statement.
Analysts’ Estimates
GM, which had a 45 percent decline in October 2008 onreduced access to financing, was expected to report an adjustedgain of 4.6 percent, the average of seven analyst estimates. Onthat basis, GM’s sales rose 0.4 percent.
The estimates are based on daily selling rates. October had28 selling days, one more than 2008. Ford, GM, Chrysler and someautomakers don’t adjust for the difference in sales days. Toyotaand Tokyo-based Honda are among those that use adjusted figures.
Ford was predicted to fall 4.4 percent, adjusted for salesdays. On that basis, its sales fell 0.6 percent. Chrysler’sadjusted decline was 33 percent, wider that the average 29percent drop estimated by seven analysts.
Toyota’s adjusted drop of 3.5 percent was smaller than the6.9 percent average estimate of three analysts for the ToyotaCity, Japan-based company. Honda’s decline of 4 percent on thatbasis was narrower than the 5.6 percent that analysts expected.
Hyundai, which has gained market share this year, had anadjusted increase of 44 percent, beating the 33 percent estimateof market-research firm Edmunds.com. The Seoul-based companysaid it sold 31,005 vehicles, rising from 20,820 a year earlier.
To contact the reporters on this story:Jeff Green in Southfield, Michigan, at jgreen16@bloomberg.net;Alex Ortolani in Southfield, Michigan, at aortolani1@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: November 3, 2009 17:43 ESTSource: Bloomberg
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