Vehicle Sales

General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday posted surprisingly weak U.S. vehicle sales in January, hurt by an aging lineup, while Japanese competitors Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. both scored impressive gains. Sales were hurt by the cold weather, which kept consumers away from dealerships in many parts of the country. Industry sales fell 0.7% to 1.13 million cars and trucks in January, for an annualized rate of 16.1 million vehicles, unchanged from January of last year.

The major auto makers shook off some of the inventory problems that produced a flat July and finished August with sales of cars and light trucks 10.3% ahead of a year ago. Much of the industry's strength continued to be in light trucks. Dealers can't keep enough pickups, vans and sport utility vehicles on hand to meet customer demand. Ford Motor Co.'s passenger car sales were down 9.4% from August, 1993, and Chrysler Corp.'

Sales of vehicles made in North America rose 6.7% in mid-February, industry figures showed Tuesday, but a rising tide of pessimism about the economy appeared to be jeopardizing a budding auto industry recovery. The mid-February sales figures showed a disappointingly small increase over results in the same period last year, which were particularly dismal because consumers stayed away from car dealerships during the Persian Gulf War. That exaggerated the strength of the sales gains.

Sales of domestically made cars and trucks soared 24.5% in late January, but total sales, including imports, finished flat for the month, according to figures released Wednesday by the auto makers. U.S.-built vehicles sold in late January at a daily rate of 40,302, against 32,232 for the same month last year. There were nine selling days in the latest period and 10 last year. But for the entire month, vehicle sales were off 0.

Domestic auto makers reported a 22.9% rise in vehicle sales in late November. Vehicle sales for the month, including imports, were up 11%. Domestic makers' truck sales were up 37.4% from Nov. 21-30, compared to last year, while car sales showed a 14.5% increase. The industry, including imports, chalked up a 26.7% increase in truck sales in all of November and a 3% increase in car sales.

Car and truck sales were better this October than last, but that isn't saying much, industry executives, dealers and analysts noted Monday. With some exceptions, they reported a steadily worsening sales outlook. The 10 companies building cars and trucks in America posted a modest 5.7% daily sales increase over the previous October (904,754 total units sold this year versus 824,148 last year). That increase, however, masked a falloff in dealer orders that is blamed for upcoming production cuts.

U.S. auto sales slowed dramatically in August as diminishing inventories and rising fuel prices trumped the popular employee discount pricing that led the industry to two previous months of record sales. Automakers sold 1.48 million passenger cars and light trucks in August, up 3.8% from a year earlier but down almost 18% from July, according to figures released Thursday. Hurricane Katrina had only a small effect on August sales because it hit so late in the month.

Although auto sales rose a slim 2% for all of February, analysts said a 9.9% sales decrease the last 10 days of the month indicates that the hoped-for industry rally has yet to materialize. "We're in nearly as bad a situation as we were when we were in a war," said Thomas O'Grady, president of Integrated Automotive Resources, a consulting firm in Wayne, Pa. "That's nothing to write home and celebrate about."

Dragged down by big declines at General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., U.S. auto sales dropped 2.8% in November despite a fresh round of price cutting aimed at wooing customers who didn't buy new cars or trucks during the summer's incentive wars. In contrast to the sales declines among American automakers, many importers posted gains for the month. Asian automakers continued their assault on the Michigan-based Big Three and captured a 39% share of the U.S.

Sales of new cars and trucks in the United States rebounded in July from anemic sales the month before, even as the nation's two largest automakers, General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., both reported weaker year-over-year results. GM and Ford continued to lose market share to Asian rivals. GM, coming off a bigger-than-expected, double-digit sales drop in June, posted its best sales month of the year, helped by aggressive but costly consumer incentives.