Ford Roars Past GM in April Car Sales

General Motors Corp. said its U.S. sales rose less than forecast in April, as its mid-size cars lost ground to Ford Motor Co. and overseas rivals such as Toyota Motor Corp. Ford’s sales rose 11% and DaimlerChrysler’s gained 5.8%, both beating estimates.

Even with the higher sales, the three biggest U.S. auto makers lost market share to overseas rivals, dropping 3.1 percentage points to 67%.

Toyota, Honda Motor Co. and Germany’s Volkswagen all had sales gains of about 15%, while Nissan Motor Co.’s sales climbed 35%. VW’s Audi luxury unit sales were up 38%.

Asian and European makers were helped by demand for vehicles such as Honda’s Odyssey van, Toyota’s Tundra pickup and the VW Passat.

Industrywide sales climbed 11% to more than 1.4 million, based on 19 of 23 auto makers reporting, fueled in part by rebates and other incentives from GM and DaimlerChrysler. Cars and light trucks sold at an estimated 17.4-million annual rate, following a record 16.96 million total for 1999.

General Motors, the world’s biggest auto maker, said sales grew 1.9% in April, less than the 4.5% gain forecast. Car sales fell 2.5%, while total truck sales rose 7.4%.

Ford’s sales growth for the month far exceeded the 4.7% increase analysts forecast, helped by new car models and derivatives of the Explorer sport utility vehicle. Auto sales grew 15%, while truck sales were up 9.9%.

Ford also benefited from high demand for its higher-profit luxury cars. Sales of Jaguars doubled, Volvo sales grew 26%, and sales of all Lincoln models rose 44%.

DaimlerChrysler’s 5.8% sales increase, which excluded Mercedes-Benz, beat the average forecast of a 1% gain. Including Mercedes-Benz and the Freightliner and Sterling truck brands, sales were up 5.3%.

In April, Asian-based makers’ market share rose 2.6 percentage points to 26.8%, while Europeans’ rose a half-point to 6.2%, according to Autodata Corp.

For the first four months of this year, the three biggest U.S. auto makers lost 2.9 points of share to 67.7%.

Among the biggest gainers this year are Toyota, which is up 0.7 points to 9%, and South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co., whose share almost doubled to 1.3%.

Toyota’s sales were up 16%, with a boost from several new or redesigned models, including the Avalon sedan, Celica sports car, and Tundra truck.