Automakers report disappointing sales

DETROIT — General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. reported disappointing U.S. sales Wednesday, prompting the nation’s two largest automakers to cut planned vehicle production in the fourth quarter, which could hurt profits.

Meanwhile, the top two Japanese automakers had uncharacteristically underwhelming months. Toyota Motor Corp. saw sales slip nearly 3 percent, while Honda Motor Co.’s business was off 7.1 percent.

The sluggishness, however, wasn’t felt among all major carmakers reporting August results. The Chrysler Group, the smallest of Detroit’s Big Three, said sales rose slightly. Nissan Motor Co., Suzuki Motor Corp., BMW Group, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo Cars of North America were among the foreign brands posting sizable sales increases.

GM, the world’s No. 1 automaker, said overall business was down 7 percent from a record-setting August 2003. Car sales were off 2 percent, while truck sales fell 10 percent.

Percentages are adjusted and based on the daily sales rate. There were 25 selling days last month and 27 in August 2003.

“Comparisons to our record sales of last year are tough,” said John Smith, GM’s group vice president for North American sales, service and marketing. “Still, our sales last month fell somewhat short of our expectations.”

No. 2 Ford also had a sub-par month, saying overall sales of its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands fell 5.9 percent, again pulled down on the car side. Car sales were off 22 percent. Truck sales grew 1 percent.

The losses occurred despite heavy spending on consumer incentives by both GM and Ford.

But Nissan’s U.S. arm, which continues to grab more domestic market share, said sales so far this year are up nearly 23 percent from a year ago.

“Nissan and Infiniti are both performing very strongly in a difficult industry with a lot of competitive and incentive pressures,” said Jed Connelly, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Nissan North America.

Analysts and industry executives cautioned not to read too much into August’s tallies, which were diminished somewhat by Hurricane Charley in Florida and the fact that last year’s results included a bit of a boost from the start of Labor Day sales promotions.

High energy prices and declining consumer confidence also likely affected business.

Chrysler rode the popularity of its new Chrysler 300 sedan to a 25 percent increase in car sales. A 4 percent falloff in truck sales gave the American-based division of DaimlerChrysler AG a year-over-year gain of 1 percent.