January Vehicle Sales Weak for GM, Ford

General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday posted surprisingly weak U.S. vehicle sales in January, hurt by an aging lineup, while Japanese competitors Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. both scored impressive gains.

Sales were hurt by the cold weather, which kept consumers away from dealerships in many parts of the country. Industry sales fell 0.7% to 1.13 million cars and trucks in January, for an annualized rate of 16.1 million vehicles, unchanged from January of last year.

Wall Street analysts had expected that the strengthening U.S. economy and high incentives would push U.S. vehicle sales up from last year, when the run-up to the Iraq war kept consumers on edge.

Ford has labeled 2004 the “Year of the Car,” but pickup trucks, minivans and sport utility vehicles were its only big sellers in January, with results up 10.7% from last year. Car sales fell 12% in January to account for only about 44% of total sales.

The mantra inside GM is “Fast Start in ‘04,” company executives said last month. But the automaker’s passenger vehicle sales dropped 1.8% to 294,745 cars and trucks in January, excluding its Saab brand. Analysts had expected GM sales to be up as much as 5%.

Ford sales for its U.S. brands fell 9.7% in January to 212,449 cars and trucks.

In contrast, DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler division scored its fourth straight month of year-over-year gains as its sales rose 9.4% in January. Chrysler, which plans to roll out nine new vehicles this year, said its sales were boosted by strong results for its new Dodge Durango SUV and its minivans, which will be replaced with new models later this month.

GM kicked off 2004 with its $50-million “Hot Button” giveaway of 1,000 cars and trucks through the end of February. But some dealers said consumers visited dealerships only to participate in the contest.

GM’s U.S. market share in January fell to 26.2%, down from 28% for all of 2003.

Some automakers talked hopefully of cutting sales incentives this year as the economy recovered, but recent moves show no signs that the price competition will let up. GM said Tuesday that it would offer a five-year warranty on the powertrain of its Chevrolet Aveo compact car, up from three years previously. And DaimlerChrysler said it would cut the price on its new Chrysler and Dodge minivans.

Some major foreign automakers, including Honda Motor Co., Volkswagen, BMW and the Mercedes arm of DaimlerChrysler, also reported weaker sales.

Nissan and Toyota were among the few car companies that posted stronger results.

Nissan’s sales rose 25.7% in January, boosted by its new Titan full-size pickup and Armada full-size SUV. Toyota sales, also boosted by strong results for its pickups and SUVs, climbed 15.8% to 143,729 vehicles, less than 4,000 vehicles short of topping Chrysler group sales for the second time.