Vehicle Sales in U.S. Jump-Started in July

Sales of new cars and trucks in the United States rebounded in July from anemic sales the month before, even as the nation’s two largest automakers, General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., both reported weaker year-over-year results. GM and Ford continued to lose market share to Asian rivals.

GM, coming off a bigger-than-expected, double-digit sales drop in June, posted its best sales month of the year, helped by aggressive but costly consumer incentives. Ford also had a solid month for retail sales, but its overall results came in below year-earlier results for the fifth month this year.

Among July’s big winners were DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler Group, Nissan Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. Toyota brands outsold those from Chrysler by more than 10,587, according to Autodata Corp.

Still, Chrysler’s business was up 2.35% last month on a 22% surge in car sales. Chrysler has posted a year-over-year sales increase in nine of the last 10 months.

Chrysler’s sales have been buoyed by the new Chrysler 300, a uniquely styled sedan that’s become a favorite among baby boomers and rap stars alike. The automaker sold 12,915 300s in July, up from 11,300 the previous month.

Nissan’s U.S. arm recorded its best month ever, and Toyota’s American division had its best-ever July. Asian automakers have grown their U.S. business by 7.3% in the first seven months of the year, while Detroit’s Big Three were down 1.4%.

GM, the world’s largest automaker, said its car sales fell 4% last month and truck sales declined 3%. The result was a sales total down 3.4% from an exceptionally strong month a year ago. The company’s GMC brand posted record sales for July.

GM sold 451,505 vehicles in the month, the most for any month this year.

Nissan’s July results rose 31%, helped by steadily increasing sales of its full-size Titan pickup.

Nissan sold 8,726 Titans in July, 1,120 more than June, giving it an annualized sales rate of more than 100,000 units.

Overall, Nissan’s truck sales were up 69% while car sales climbed 10%.

Toyota said total sales were up 13.6% from a year earlier, led by strong car demand. Sales of the Camry, the top-selling car in the United States, were up 9.4%. Toyota also sold 5,230 Prius gas-electric hybrid sedans, compared with 657 last July. The automaker also said it would increase production of the Prius model by 50% to cut half-year waits for buyers taking delivery in the United States.

Toyota also reported that profit for the second quarter rose nearly 29% to $2.6 billion on strong sales in North America and Europe, prompting Japan’s top automaker to lift its vehicle sales forecast for the full fiscal year. Total sales jumped 10% to $41 billion in the quarter.

Ford said sales of its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands were off 7.5% last month, dragged down by car business that was off 20.6%. Truck sales, despite strong demand for the popular F-150 pickup, were off 1.5%.

Ford, the nation’s second-biggest automaker, is experiencing a lull in car sales as it prepares for the launch of new models such as the Ford Five Hundred sedan and retro Mustang later this year.

Ford has dubbed 2004 the “year of the car,” but its trucks and sport utility vehicles have carried the load so far this year. In July, sales of F-Series trucks, the nation’s best-selling vehicles, rose for the 11th month in a row.