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Minority report

A long row of unsold 2007 PT Cruisers sits outside a Chrysler-Jeep agency in the east Denver suburb of Aurora, Colo. Associated Press (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press The Spokesman-Review
A long row of unsold 2007 PT Cruisers sits outside a Chrysler-Jeep agency in the east Denver suburb of Aurora, Colo. Associated Press (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

DETROIT — The Detroit automakers’ share of the U.S. market dropped below 50 percent in July for the first time in history, according to an analyst who tracks industry numbers.

Jesse Toprak, senior analyst for the Edmunds.com automotive Web site, said that with 95 percent of the manufacturers reporting data, the market share controlled by Chrysler Group, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. fell to 49.7 percent for the month.

The automakers who have yet to report data are small and would not push the three back over 50 percent, Toprak said Wednesday.

The Detroit automakers’ share was as high as 77.4 percent in 1984, according to Autodata Corp., which has tracked auto sales since 1980.

Toprak said his figures include foreign nameplates owned by the Detroit Three such as Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover and Saab. Excluding the foreign nameplates, Detroit’s market share drops to 48.1 percent, according to Autodata Corp.

The market share drop came during a month in which all major automakers but Nissan Motor Co. saw sales declines.

GM sales dropped 22.3 percent when compared to a strong July of 2006, while Ford declined 19.1 percent and Chrysler fell 8.4 percent. Even Toyota Motor Corp., which had been posting strong gains most of the year, reported a decline of 7.4 percent after a record-setting July of last year.

The fact that foreign nameplates now control more than half the U.S. market will mean little to the average consumer, but it likely will damage the psyche of Detroit’s automakers, Toprak said.

“It’s probably a turning point for people who look at the record books. Domestics on their home turf are being beaten by the foreign automakers in terms of their market share,” he said.

But George Pipas, Ford’s top sales analyst, said the drop doesn’t mean much to anyone since the Detroit Three have been below a 50 percent share of retail sales before. Retail sales do not include sales to rental car companies and fleet buyers.

“I don’t think it is particularly significant,” Pipas said during a conference call with reporters and industry analysts. “The reason is because there is relatively little fleet content in July, and obviously the Big Three do more fleet business than do the foreign manufacturers.”

market dip in July to high gasoline prices, declining home values and higher payments on adjustable rate mortgages.