Posted on Wed, Apr. 2, 2008
General Motors Corp. and other big automakers posted March sales declines yesterday as consumers pulled back in the face of tightening credit and record high gasoline prices.
GM's sales plunged a surprising 19 percent. Ford Motor Co. and Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. fell more than 10 percent for their biggest drops this year. Honda Motor Co. Ltd. and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. also slipped, while Germany's Volkswagen AG and South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. advanced.
The falloff among most automakers dragged U.S. sales to a 12 percent decline, for the 10th monthly drop in the last year, according to Bloomberg data. The market is "gripped by recession fears," said German automaker Porsche AG, down 25 percent.
"I'd like to be able to tell you the worst is behind us, but I can't really say that," Ford marketing chief Jim Farley said in a conference call yesterday. "The second quarter may be the worst sales period of the year."
Ford's 14 percent decline was paced by a 24 percent slide in F-Series pickups, the nation's top-selling line of vehicles. The company was helped by a gain in sales of its more fuel-efficient crossover sport-utility vehicles, such as the Ford Edge, which advanced 24 percent.
The automaker boosted sales at only one of six divisions, Jaguar. Its sales rose 5.1 percent while Land Rover was down 17 percent. Ford agreed last month to sell the two British units to India's Tata Motors Ltd.
Honda slid 3.2 percent in March. Higher sales of Fit subcompacts and Civic small cars failed to offset an across-the-board drop for the Tokyo company's premium Acura brand.
Toyota said it sold 217,730 vehicles, down 10.3 percent, for its fourth straight monthly drop. The Japanese automaker said its namesake division lost 9.8 percent and its luxury Lexus marque fell 14 percent. The Yaris small car boosted sales 70 percent, and RAV4 SUV sales fell 27 percent.
GM recorded shortfalls in seven of its eight divisions, with Saab lifting sales 4.4 percent. The Chevrolet Silverado pickup, the Detroit automaker's best-selling vehicle, fell 24 percent.
Chrysler L.L.C., the U.S. automaker most dependent on pickup, minivan and SUV sales, had a 19 percent deficit, roughly in line with analysts' projections of a 12 percent drop.
