Big Three Post Drop in U.S. Auto Sales

General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler on Wednesday reported declines in U.S. sales for July as rivals such as Toyota Motor Corp. gained market share.

General Motors’ sales of North American-built light vehicles fell 8.8%, while Ford’s slid 14%, both bigger declines than the average analyst forecast. Sales at DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler unit fell 3.1%.

July sales were slowed in part by incentives in June that analysts said pushed the industry to its first sales increase since September.

“The whole industry borrowed sales from July back in June,” said David Healy, an auto analyst with Burnham Securities Inc.

U.S. auto sales declined about 4.4% from July 2000 to an annual rate of about 16.5 million vehicles, based on the average analyst estimate before the reports were released.

That rate is still strong by historic standards and higher than some analysts and economists predicted at the beginning of the year, as the U.S. economy slows after record vehicle sales of 17.4 million last year.

Overseas-based makers including Toyota took market share from GM, Ford and Chrysler in the first six months this year. Market share for U.S. auto makers fell 3.3 percentage points to 64% from the first six months of 2000.

Toyota’s July sales, including its Lexus luxury division, rose 5.8% to 143,283.

GM’s North American light-vehicle sales fell 8.8% to 354,023, a bigger drop than the average 4.9% decline analysts expected. Car sales declined 19%, while light truck sales rose 2.2%. Total sales fell 9.1% to 360,881.

Ford’s sales of North American-built light vehicles fell 14% to 286,205, a greater decline than the 8.8% drop analysts had forecast. Total sales including imports and heavy trucks declined 13% to 303,043. Sales fell 17% for cars and 10% for trucks.

Every Ford brand had lower sales in July except for luxury line Volvo, whose sales rose 31%.

Ford sales have been hurt by competition with truck products from GM and Toyota. They also have been affected by publicity about a federal investigation into 203 highway deaths linked to Firestone tires, many of them mounted on Ford’s Explorer sport-utility vehicle, analysts said.

Ford sold 36,028 Explorers, down 8.9% from the year-earlier month and its ninth decline in the past 10 months. Explorer sales had risen 2.5% in June, after Ford and its dealers pushed sales to counteract the tire publicity. The auto maker also offered incentives for employees and retirees at the end of June. Sales of the F-Series pickup fell 5.8%.

Chrysler’s car sales fell 11%, while trucks slipped 1%.

Truck sales got a boost from a 21% jump in sales of the Dodge Ram pickup truck to 37,133.

Among other auto makers reporting U.S. sales, Japan’s Honda Motor Co. said sales including the Acura luxury division fell 6.1% from the year-earlier month, which was its best July ever, to 100,921 vehicles.

Nissan Motor Co. said its U.S. sales fell 18% to 56,725 vehicles.

Volkswagen’s sales rose 6.2% to 32,011 vehicles, led by increased demand for its Golf and Passat models.

On the New York Stock Exchange, Ford fell 14 cents to $25.03; GM fell 93 cents to $62.67; DaimlerChrysler rose 10 cents to $49.40.