GM gets the better of Toyota during August

DETROIT — Toyota, Ford and Chrysler each reported sales declines last month, but General Motors Corp. surprised industry analysts on Tuesday by showing an increase in a declining U.S. auto market.

Toyota’s 2.8 percent sales drop, Ford’s 14.4 percent decline and Chrysler’s 6.1 percent decrease were symptoms of what analysts said would be slumping U.S. auto market due to high gasoline prices, rising mortgage payments and turmoil in the financial markets.

But GM, led by increased pickup truck sales, showed an increase of 6.1 percent, while Nissan Motor Co. reported its sales increased 6.3 percent for August compared with the same month last year.

Ford Motor Co. has blamed declining sales through the year on efforts to wean itself off of low-profit sales to rental car companies and other fleet buyers. It also said it had heavy incentives that boosted sales last August.

But the automakers’ sales analysts said they were being hit by a declining U.S. economy that has rattled consumers.

“Overall, the industry experienced softer sales in August than a year ago,” Darryl Jackson, vice president of U.S. sales for Chrysler LLC, said in a statement, adding that Chrysler’s fleet sales are down more than 20 percent from the same month last year.

Toyota Motor Corp., with 233,471 vehicles sold in August, beat Ford’s 217,436 for the month. The Japanese automaker sold 1.788 million vehicles during the first eight months of the year, edging Ford, which sold 1.784 million. Many analysts have predicted that Toyota will overtake Ford for the No. 2 slot for the full year in 2007.

Ford’s car sales of 64,864 were off 33.7 percent when compared with the same month last year, while light truck sales slipped 2.3 percent to 152,572, the company reported.

In August, sales to individual retail customers were down 13 percent, but daily rental sales dropped 44 percent, the company said.

Overall, GM sold 385,529 light vehicles in August, compared with 363,521 in the same month last year.

GM’s car sales dropped 7.8 percent, but its truck sales soared 16.6 percent for the month due in part to increased incentives on new pickup truck models. GM sales include Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Hummer, GMC, Pontiac and Saturn, as well as the European Saab brand.

Toyota’s car sales were down 6 percent, but its trucks were up 2 percent compared with August of last year. Its figures include the Lexus and Infiniti brands.

Nissan truck sales, led by the full-sized Titan pickup, rose 7.9 percent compared with August of last year, while its car sales were up 4.1 percent, the company reported. Its figures include the Nissan and Infiniti brands. Nissan sold 95,527 vehicles in August, compared with 89,848 in the same month last year.

Chrysler sold 168,203 vehicles in August, compared with 179,165 during the same month in 2006.

Paul Ballew, GM’s executive director of global market and industry analysis, said that despite his company’s increase, all automakers are being hit by economic uncertainty. High gasoline prices and declining home values have caused people to delay auto purchases or exit the market altogether, he said.

“The industry is certainly feeling the effect of macroeconomic events,” he said.

Ford said sales of its new crossover vehicles, the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX, continued to rise in August, with 10,165 Edges and 3,421 MKXs sold. But sales of F-Series pickup trucks, generally the top-selling vehicle in the U.S., were down 9.9 percent.

Ford’s two top-selling cars, the mid-sized Fusion and the small Focus, both saw big drops in August.