Ford falls to fourth place
DETROIT — With a slump in U.S. vehicle sales by Ford Motor Co. last month, the No. 2 domestic automaker was beaten out not only by Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp. for the second time ever but by DaimlerChrysler AG as well.
Ford, which also detailed planned production cuts, said Friday that sales dropped 9.7 percent in November compared with the same period a year ago. The drop to No. 4 in monthly sales — a first, according to Autodata Corp. — came as industry sales rose a modest 2.9 percent to nearly 1.2 million vehicles.
Toyota sold 196,695 vehicles in November, a 15.9 percent increase over November 2005, and DaimlerChrysler’s were up 4.7 percent to 186,635, compared with Ford’s 181,111. Sales by GM, the world’s largest automaker, rose 6.1 percent to 293,558 vehicles in the U.S. last month, the most of any manufacturer.
“I think it’s more the product,” Global Insight analyst George Magliano said of Ford’s unexpected stumble.
Ford’s light truck sales dropped 13 percent to 119,259, including a 16.1 percent drop in sales of the dominant F-Series pickup, while car sales fell 2.6 percent to 61,852, reflecting lower deliveries to fleet customers.
Ford sales analyst George Pipas said Ford’s focus remains on its North American turnaround effort dubbed the “Way Forward,” which includes job and manufacturing cuts. Ford lost $7 billion during the first nine months of the year and has said it won’t return to profitability until 2009.
“It’s not that important right now in the scheme of things,” he said of sales rankings.
Ford sold fewer vehicles in the U.S. than Toyota for the first time in July, but Ford’s U.S. sales surpassed the Japanese company’s in August through October. This year Ford’s U.S. sales are about 2.7 million, down 7.5 percent from the first 11 months of 2005, while Toyota’s sales are about 2.3 million, up 12.5 percent.
Jesse Toprak, chief economist for Edmunds.com, a research site for car buyers, said Ford should regain the No. 2 sales spot for December. And he said fewer low-profit bulk sales to rental companies has its upside.
“They probably cut down their fleet and rental sales more than anyone guessed, which is good and bad,” Toprak said. “Obviously, it makes their numbers look bad, but if they can cut down their fleet and rental numbers that is good in the long term.”
Toyota’s November sales, including its Lexus luxury brand, were boosted by a 17.8 percent increase in light truck sales. Sales of the RAV4 compact sport utility vehicle had their best November ever, up 156.9 percent to 11,425. Toyota’s car sales were up 14.5 percent, to 109,126.
Ford’s share of the domestic market has declined from around 26 percent in the early 1990s to 15.1 percent in November, when Toyota’s share was 16.4 percent, according to figures from Autodata, which said it was the first month that Ford came in No. 4, behind GM, Toyota and DaimlerChrysler.
Detroit-based GM’s market share was 24.5 percent in November. It sold 109,985 cars, a 7.9 percent decline from November 2005, but truck sales rose 16.6 percent to 183,573. The numbers include the European Saab brand.
GM said its fourth-quarter production forecast remains unchanged at 1.11 million vehicles. The company’s forecast for the first quarter of 2007 is 1.28 million vehicles, down 9 percent from actual production in the first quarter of 2006.
Sales at DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler Group rose 2.9 percent from November 2005 to 164,556. Chrysler sold 33,760 cars, a decline of 14.3 percent, but truck sales were up 8.5 percent to 130,796.
Nissan Motor Co.’s sales were down 1.6 percent to 76,015. Car sales rose 11.5 percent to 42,361, including the best November on record for the Altima sedan. But truck sales fell 14.2 percent to 33,654.