Sales of U.S.-Made Autos Decline 3.3% in Late May

Late-May sales of domestically made cars and trucks continued a slide begun last October, falling 3.3% from a year ago, auto makers said Tuesday.

Sales of cars and trucks by the 10 major companies making vehicles in the United States dropped to a daily rate of 51,002 during the May 21-31 period, compared to 52,767 last year.

A 5.9% drop in car sales nullified a 1.6% rise in truck sales, spurred mainly by sales of General Motors Corp. minivans and Ford Motor Co.’s Explorer sport-utility vehicles.

The drop would have been steeper if the Japanese companies that are making cars in the United States--known as transplants--hadn’t reported more than half their May monthly figures in the final 10-day period, said analyst Dave Healy of Barclays Bank of New York. He called it a reporting quirk.

For instance, Toyota Motor Corp. said it sold 17,938 North American-made cars during the first two reporting periods of the month and 19,951 in the last period.

Late-May sales of cars made in North America by GM, Ford and Chrysler Corp. fell 10.3%, while sales of cars made by Japanese companies in the United States rose 23%. For all of May, U.S. companies reported a 7.8% decline in car and truck sales. With imported vehicles included, car and truck sales last month were running 7% behind last year’s level.

The Big Three’s share of the U.S. car market stood at 61% last month, down from 66% in 1989.

VEHICLE SALES

May 21-31, 1990 % change year to year GM* 198,836 - 5.5 Ford* 126,521 -7.7 Chrysler* 72,256 -8.3 Honda U.S. 24,523 -9.3 Mitsubishi U.S. 2,042 +72.0 Nissan U.S.* 10,465 +14.6 Toyota U.S. 19,951 +128.3 Mazda U.S. 2,879 +12.0 Subaru U.S. 265 Isuzu U.S.* 1,281 TOTAL 459,019 -3.3

* Includes light truck sales.

** No comparison possible.

There were 9 selling days in the selling period this year and 8 last year.