GM's sales soar as Ford's slump

DETROIT - Toyota, Ford and Chrysler each reported sales declines last month, but General Motors Corp. surprised industry analysts yesterday with an increase. Nissan and Honda also reported higher sales.

Ford's 14.4 percent sales decline, Toyota's 2.8 percent drop and Chrysler's 6.1 percent decrease were symptoms of what analysts had said would be a slumping U.S. auto market because of high gasoline prices, rising mortgage payments, and turmoil in the financial markets.

Ford's drop allowed Toyota to take the No. 2 slot in U.S. auto sales from the American manufacturer for August and for the first eight months of the year.

GM, led by greater pickup-truck sales, showed an increase of 6.1 percent, while Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. reported its sales increased 6.3 percent for August and Honda Motor Co. Ltd. reported a 4.7 percent increase.

Ford Motor Co. has attributed declining sales through the year to efforts to wean itself from low-profit sales to rental-car companies and other fleet buyers. It also said it had offered heavy incentives that boosted sales last August.

Sales analysts for the automakers said the companies were being hurt by a declining U.S. economy.

"Overall, the industry experienced softer sales in August than a year ago," Darryl Jackson, vice president of U.S. sales for Chrysler L.L.C., said in a statement.

Toyota Motor Corp., with 233,471 vehicles sold in August, beat Ford's 217,436 for the month. The Japanese automaker sold 1.788 million vehicles during the first eight months of the year, edging Ford, which sold 1.784 million.

Ford's car sales of 64,864 were off 33.7 percent when compared with the same month last year, while light-truck sales, at 152,572, dropped 2.3 percent, the company reported.

Ford, which is in the middle of a restructuring plan that will close 16 factories by 2012 and usher thousands of hourly workers out the door with early-retirement or buyout plans, saw its sales decline slightly more than 12 percent for the first eight months of the year.

The drop could give the company a stronger argument in contract talks with the United Auto Workers union to cut what Ford says is about a $25-per-hour labor-cost difference with its main Japanese competitors. Contracts between the UAW and Ford, GM and Chrysler expire Sept. 14.

Overall, GM sold 385,529 light vehicles in August, compared with 363,521 in the same month last year.

GM's car sales dropped 7.8 percent, but its truck sales soared 16.6 percent for the month because of, in part, increased incentives on new pickup-truck models.

Toyota's car sales were down 6 percent, but its trucks were up 2 percent compared with last August.

Nissan truck sales, led by the full-size Titan pickup, rose 4.1 percent compared with last August, while its car sales were up 7.9 percent, the company reported. Nissan sold 95,527 vehicles in August, compared with 89,848 in the same month last year.

Chrysler sold 168,203 vehicles in August, compared with 179,165 during the same month in 2006.

Honda said it had sold 158,342 Honda and Acura models, with car sales up 11.7 percent and truck sales down 3.6 percent.

Paul Ballew, GM's executive director of global market and industry analysis, said that despite his company's increase, all automakers were being hit by economic uncertainty. High gasoline prices and declining home values have caused people to delay auto purchases or exit the market altogether, he said.

"The industry is certainly feeling the effect of macroeconomic events," he said.

Ford said sales of its new crossover vehicles, the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX, continued to rise in August, with 10,165 Edges and 3,421 MKXs sold. But sales of F-Series pickup trucks, generally the top-selling vehicle in the United States, were down 9.9 percent.

Ford's two top-selling cars, the mid-size Fusion and the small Focus, both saw big drops in August, with the Focus down 14.7 percent and the Fusion off 19.1 percent.

The company's sales include the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands as well as Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover.

Ford also said it planned to make 640,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter, up 6 percent from the same quarter of 2006. Third-quarter production plans also are 640,000 vehicles, the same as previously forecast, Ford said.

To boost sales this month, Ford announced that it would offer up to $1,000 cash incentives on most 2007 and 2008 models on top of all existing sales and lease offers. The offer runs through Oct. 1.