blackSRi
2nd March 2006, 05:41 PM
http://finance.news.com.au/story/0,10166,18322459-462,00.html
Carmakers lose traction
From: Agence France-Presse
From correspondents in Washington
March 02, 2006
US carmakers were stuck in low gear in February, with Asian manufacturers grabbing more market share, but sales reports released today had a glimmer of hope for ailing General Motors, analysts said.
US customers bought 1261,396 new cars and trucks last month, according to figures from research firm Autodata Corp, a 0.6 per cent rise from the same month a year ago.
Detroit's Big Three saw their market share slip to 56.6 per cent, down 1.6 points from a year earlier, while Asian brands gained most of that to grab 37 percent of the market, Autodata said.
General Motors said its US sales fell 2.5 per cent in February compared with a year ago despite a jump in purchases of its newly designed sport utility vehicles.
GM said it sold 301,545 vehicles, with car sales down 13 percent while truck sales, a category that includes its redesigned large SUVs, increased five per cent.
GM's market share fell to 23.4 percent from 24.2 per cent a year ago.
The world's biggest automaker, which has been wallowing in losses, pointed out that sales were up one per cent on a month-over-month basis.
"Consumer response to our new vehicles and segment-leading value resulted in solid sales results in February," said Mark LaNeve, General Motors North America vice president.
"Our retail sales improvement in February was driven by our industry-leading value, not by fleet sales or high incentives. This resulted in better retail sales performance by six of our divisions."
Ford Motor Co. reported a four per cent drop in February US sales compared with a year ago, a total of 244,021 vehicles. Its market share fell to 18.2 per cent.
DaimlerChrysler however said its sales were up four per cent from the same month a year ago to 207,723 vehicles. Chrysler Group, which consists of the Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brands, posted sales of 190,367 vehicles in the US, an increase of three per cent.
The German-US auto group increased its market share by 0.3 percentage points to 15.1 per cent.
David Healy at Burnham Securities said the figures were a bit better than they appeared for domestic automakers, especially GM. He noted GM's unprofitable fleet sales fell, while sales to individuals gained.
"Their overall market share is down, but for GM that reflects their own lower fleet sales in February," Mr Healy said.
"For the market share that counts, sales to individuals, they did better."
Additionally, said Mr Healy, GM's "product mix is improving (and) the real selling price is up four percent from a year ago, which is quite good".
Rebecca Lindland, auto analyst at Global Insight, said the figures for Chrysler were slightly stronger than anticipated and GM's "a little bit weaker".
But she said "the good point is their (GM) average transaction price is higher, which means they get higher margins on their products".
Ms Lindland said GM had a hit with the new Hummer H3, the smallest of the line, which she called "an appealing SUV with a strong effort on design" and a "must have" for many customers.
Ford meanwhile "has a lot of pressure from GM, and they have production issues", she said.
Among the Asian automakers, Toyota saw a 2.4 per cent sales gain for its "best-ever February sales" of 166,940 vehicles, giving it a 13.2 per cent market share.
But Mr Healy said this was "a bit disappointing" for Toyota, which has been seeing double-digit growth in recent months.
American Honda reported February vehicle sales of 106,644, up 8.7 per cent. That resulted in a market share of 8.5 per cent.
Nissan reported 84,241 total sales in February, a 2.2 per cent increase over last year, giving it a 6.7 per cent market share. South Korea's Hyundai and its Kia subsidiary posted modest sales gains, keeping market share steady at 2.7 and 1.6 per cent, respectively.
Carmakers lose traction
From: Agence France-Presse
From correspondents in Washington
March 02, 2006
US carmakers were stuck in low gear in February, with Asian manufacturers grabbing more market share, but sales reports released today had a glimmer of hope for ailing General Motors, analysts said.
US customers bought 1261,396 new cars and trucks last month, according to figures from research firm Autodata Corp, a 0.6 per cent rise from the same month a year ago.
Detroit's Big Three saw their market share slip to 56.6 per cent, down 1.6 points from a year earlier, while Asian brands gained most of that to grab 37 percent of the market, Autodata said.
General Motors said its US sales fell 2.5 per cent in February compared with a year ago despite a jump in purchases of its newly designed sport utility vehicles.
GM said it sold 301,545 vehicles, with car sales down 13 percent while truck sales, a category that includes its redesigned large SUVs, increased five per cent.
GM's market share fell to 23.4 percent from 24.2 per cent a year ago.
The world's biggest automaker, which has been wallowing in losses, pointed out that sales were up one per cent on a month-over-month basis.
"Consumer response to our new vehicles and segment-leading value resulted in solid sales results in February," said Mark LaNeve, General Motors North America vice president.
"Our retail sales improvement in February was driven by our industry-leading value, not by fleet sales or high incentives. This resulted in better retail sales performance by six of our divisions."
Ford Motor Co. reported a four per cent drop in February US sales compared with a year ago, a total of 244,021 vehicles. Its market share fell to 18.2 per cent.
DaimlerChrysler however said its sales were up four per cent from the same month a year ago to 207,723 vehicles. Chrysler Group, which consists of the Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brands, posted sales of 190,367 vehicles in the US, an increase of three per cent.
The German-US auto group increased its market share by 0.3 percentage points to 15.1 per cent.
David Healy at Burnham Securities said the figures were a bit better than they appeared for domestic automakers, especially GM. He noted GM's unprofitable fleet sales fell, while sales to individuals gained.
"Their overall market share is down, but for GM that reflects their own lower fleet sales in February," Mr Healy said.
"For the market share that counts, sales to individuals, they did better."
Additionally, said Mr Healy, GM's "product mix is improving (and) the real selling price is up four percent from a year ago, which is quite good".
Rebecca Lindland, auto analyst at Global Insight, said the figures for Chrysler were slightly stronger than anticipated and GM's "a little bit weaker".
But she said "the good point is their (GM) average transaction price is higher, which means they get higher margins on their products".
Ms Lindland said GM had a hit with the new Hummer H3, the smallest of the line, which she called "an appealing SUV with a strong effort on design" and a "must have" for many customers.
Ford meanwhile "has a lot of pressure from GM, and they have production issues", she said.
Among the Asian automakers, Toyota saw a 2.4 per cent sales gain for its "best-ever February sales" of 166,940 vehicles, giving it a 13.2 per cent market share.
But Mr Healy said this was "a bit disappointing" for Toyota, which has been seeing double-digit growth in recent months.
American Honda reported February vehicle sales of 106,644, up 8.7 per cent. That resulted in a market share of 8.5 per cent.
Nissan reported 84,241 total sales in February, a 2.2 per cent increase over last year, giving it a 6.7 per cent market share. South Korea's Hyundai and its Kia subsidiary posted modest sales gains, keeping market share steady at 2.7 and 1.6 per cent, respectively.