GM, Ford Post Increase in U.S. Sales for April
General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday reported higher U.S. sales during April, as demand for trucks and a new round of discounts lifted the entire industry above estimates.
GM’s 8.2% improvement in sales of domestic cars and light trucks beat expectations of a 4% increase. Sales of its sport-utility vehicles, minivans and pickup trucks rose 18% to 211,419, making April GM’s best-ever truck sales month. Car sales rose 0.2% to 178,563.
The improvement was fueled by discounts GM started and its rivals quickly matched in March and April.
Ford’s sales rose 1.1%, in contrast with analyst predictions of a decline of as much as 2%. Ford’s domestic car sales rose 2.7%, and truck sales rose 0.1%.
German auto maker Volkswagen weighed in with a 59% jump in U.S. sales for the month, amid growing demand for its new Beetle, Passat and Cabrio models. The gains are in contrast to a weak year-ago period for VW. Beetle sales amounted to 4,870 units in the first full month of availability, slightly ahead of the auto maker’s projections.
Volkswagen and other European auto makers, including BMW, have posted steady gains in U.S. sales for the last two years, with the help of new models.
European auto makers captured their highest share of the U.S. vehicle market in 10 years in April, helped by a steady stream of all-new car and truck models.
The combined market share of European brands rose to 5.1% last month, the highest since July 1987, according to AutoData Corp., a consulting company in Woodcliff Lake, N.J. The market share was 3.9% in April 1997.
Chrysler Corp. said Friday that its April sales rose 8.2%, and most Japanese auto makers reported gains in U.S. sales as well.
With all auto makers reporting, the industry recorded a 6.1% increase in sales for the month, to 1.36 million units. The seasonally adjusted annual sales rate for April came to 15.6 million units, the strongest rate so far this year.
Auto makers are paying for their price discounts by cutting costs. At GM, for example, incentive spending has risen more than 50% this quarter to an estimated $1,600 per vehicle, from $1,060 a year ago. The auto maker plans to cut costs this year by $4 billion, up from $3.5 billion last year, to help profit.
Industry sales for the full year are expected to be unchanged from 1997’s 15.2 million units.
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The Hot Wheels of April
Honda’s Accord was the top-selling passenger car for April, beating Toyota’s Camry and Ford’s Taurus.
Ford’s F-Series pickup truck continued its position as the top U.S. vehicle overall with 71,343 sold. The gap between it and the No. 2 vehicle, Chevrolet’s C/K Series pickup, narrowed to about 14,900 from 18,000 in April 1997.
Sales of the Camry slipped 4.6% for April, the only vehicle in the top 10 that declined from last year. The drop is partially because of limited availability and competition from the redesigned Accord.
Pickups accounted for three of the month’s top 10 sellers, which also included a sport- utility vehicle and a minivan, giving light trucks five of the 10 top spots.
Rank: 1
Vehicle: Ford F-Series (pickup)
April sales: 71,343
% chg.*: 10.2%
Year-to-date sales: 248,548
% chg.: 0.3%
*
Rank: 2
Vehicle: Chevrolet C/K (pickup)
April sales: 56,479
% chg.*: 20.9%
Year-to-date sales: 191,405
% chg.: 7.3%
*
Rank: 3
Vehicle: Dodge Ram (pickup)
April sales: 35,277
% chg.*: 14.8%
Year-to-date sales: 122,302
% chg.: 3.9%
*
Rank: 4
Vehicle: Honda Accord (car)
April sales: 34,541
% chg.*: 25.9%
Year-to-date sales: 125,863
% chg.: 20.6%
*
Rank: 5
Vehicle: Toyota Camry (car)
April sales: 31,832
% chg.*: -4.6%
Year-to-date sales: 106,227
% chg.: -23.4%
*
Rank: 6
Vehicle: Ford Explorer (sport-utility)
April sales: 31,182
% chg.*: 10.0%
Year-to-date sales: 120,904
% chg.: 2.5%
*
Rank: 7
Vehicle: Ford Taurus (car)
April sales: 30,812
% chg.*: 3.5%
Year-to-date sales: 119,056
% chg.: 1.0%
*
Rank: 8
Vehicle: Honda Civic (car)
April sales: 30,465
% chg.*: 13.3%
Year-to-date sales: 105,909
% chg.: 5.0%
*
Rank: 9
Vehicle: Chevrolet Cavalier (car)
April sales: 28,544
% chg.*: 19.7%
Year-to-date sales: 94,060
% chg.: 18.2%
*
Rank: 10
Vehicle: Dodge Caravan (minivan)
April sales: 28,007
% chg.*: 9.4%
Year-to-date sales: 98,166
% chg.: 3.3%
* Percentage changes based on daily selling rate.
Source: Autodata, Bloomberg News
