Re: Toyota, Nissan sales up 25% while GM and Ford are down

Yikes!!! The sad saga continues (or should I say, escalates)!

"Dan J.S." <me@hyperx.com> wrote in message
news:117fo488iu4d110@news.supernews.com...
> http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news...oDU&refer=home
>
>
> May 3 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp., the world's largest automaker,
> said its U.S. sales of cars and trucks fell 3.9 percent in April from the
> same month last year.
>
> Earlier, Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co., Asia's two biggest
> automakers, said U.S. sales of cars and trucks increased more than 25
> percent last month, while Ford Motor Co.'s sales declined.
>
> Toyota sold 210,466 vehicles last month, up 26 percent from a year ago.
> Nissan sold 91,621 cars and trucks, a 32 percent gain, while Ford, the
> second-biggest U.S. automaker, said sales fell 1.5 percent to 281,292.
> DaimlerChrysler AG's sales gained 8.7 percent to 225,351 vehicles
>
> Gains by Toyota 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. GM reports later
> today.
>
> ``Ford and GM haven't been able to gain momentum this year and Chrysler is
> doing well with new products,'' Rebecca Lindland, an analyst with Global
> Insight in Boston, said in an interview. ``We expect the Asian automakers
> to continue to gain market share overall, taking advantage of Ford and
> GM's decline.''
>
> Hybrid Gains
>
> Toyota's gains were led by higher sales of hybrid Prius cars, which almost
> tripled to a record 11,345. The cars combine an electric motor with a
> gasoline engine.
>
> Nissan's sales were lifted by its new Infiniti M luxury sedan, introduced
> two months ago, and higher sales of light trucks, Jed Connelly, Nissan's
> North American senior president, said in an interview.
>
> ``Strong'' sales of Nissan's Altima and Sentra cars and Murano
> sport-utility vehicles helped sales gains, Connelly said.
>
> 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.
>
> 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
>
> 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.
>
> 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 Declines
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> Toyota, the world's second-biggest automaker, is benefiting from demand
> for 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.
>
>

"James C. Reeves" <jcnospam@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:WPSdnX_5zKKIn-XfRVn-rA@comcast.com...
> Yikes!!! The sad saga continues (or should I say, escalates)!

Meanwhile as gas prices soar, suddenly people are feeling that it is their
patriotic/environmental duty to pay premium prices for high technology high
fuel economy vehicles and are finding that Toyota and Honda are the leaders
there.

Is this another Hollywood remake of an old movie? Didn't I already see
this film in the late 1970s?

John

John Horner wrote:
>
> "James C. Reeves" <jcnospam@nospam.com> wrote in message
> news:WPSdnX_5zKKIn-XfRVn-rA@comcast.com...
> > Yikes!!! The sad saga continues (or should I say, escalates)!
>
> Meanwhile as gas prices soar, suddenly people are feeling that it is their
> patriotic/environmental duty to pay premium prices for high technology high
> fuel economy vehicles and are finding that Toyota and Honda are the leaders
> there.
>
> Is this another Hollywood remake of an old movie? Didn't I already see
> this film in the late 1970s?
>
> John

The ones I have been looking at all get pretty bad mileage.
G-35 SC, SLK, XK8/R. No Camry or Civic for me!