Ford’s U.S. Sales Decline in April

Ford Motor Co., the second-largest U.S. automaker, said U.S. sales fell 4.1% in April from a year earlier, while DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler and Toyota Motor Corp. gained from newer models and a rebounding economy.

Ford’s sales declined for the fifth month in seven to 285,675 vehicles. Chrysler, the third-largest U.S. carmaker, said sales rose 1% to 189,011.

Among Japanese automakers, Toyota rose 10%, Nissan Motor Co. increased 14% and Honda Motor Co. dropped 2.4%, its second straight monthly decline.

U.S. auto sales probably rose in April as tax refunds, an expanding economy and new models helped General Motors Corp., which spends the most on incentives, Toyota and Nissan gain market share, analysts said. A computer failure forced GM to delay its report until today.

“When people feel their jobs are more secure, they’re more confident buying big-ticket items like cars and homes,” said Dan Genter, chief investment officer at Los Angeles-based Genter Capital Management, which holds $1.6 billion of debt securities, including Ford bonds.

Toyota, Asia’s biggest automaker, said its U.S. sales rose to 167,129 vehicles helped by gains for Camry sedans and Prius gasoline-electric cars. The Toyota and Scion brands posted a 10% gain. Lexus division sales climbed 11%.

Nissan, Japan’s second-largest automaker, said U.S. sales rose to 69,470 vehicles on increased demand for Titan pickup trucks and Altima sedans. Sales increased 14% to 59,491 for the Nissan brand and 13% to 9,979 for the Infiniti brand, the company said.

Honda, Japan’s third-biggest automaker, said U.S. sales of cars and light trucks fell to 114,929 vehicles in April from the same month last year, led by lower sales of Accord sedans and Odyssey minivans. Sales fell 4.1% for Honda-brand vehicles and rose 9.2% for Acura sports cars and light trucks.

Sales at General Motors probably rose 4.5% in April, based on a survey of analysts by Thomson Financial.

U.S. vehicles probably sold at a pace that would yield sales of 16.6 million in a year, according to Bloomberg calculations based on reported sales and the estimated GM increase. That’s up from a yearly rate of 16.4 million in April 2003 and slightly lower than 16.7 million in March.

Sales of the Ford Focus small car fell 1.1% to 18,253. Sales of the Explorer, the top selling sport utility vehicle, declined 7.7% to 27,858 and the Expedition SUV fell 34% to 11,831.

“Ford doesn’t have the bevy of new models that GM has,” said Dan Poole, vice president of equity research at National City Corp. in Cleveland, which manages $23 billion, including automaker shares. “Even Chrysler has a lot of new sheet metal.”

Incentive spending on rebates and no-interest loans at Ford in April dropped $40 from March to $4,119 per vehicle, according to CNW Marketing Research Inc. in Bandon, Ore. GM’s spending slipped $4 to $4,288, the smallest decline among major automakers, and Chrysler, the No. 3 U.S. carmaker, spent $4,201, down $115.

U.S.-based automakers spend about $1,500 more per vehicle on incentives than Toyota and about $2,500 more than Honda, CNW said.