Sales at Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. fell in April as record U.S. gasoline prices drove consumers to Toyota Motor Corp.’s fuel-efficient cars and away from big trucks and sport-utility vehicles.Ford’s 12 percent decline was led by the F-Series pickup, while falling demand for the Chevrolet Silverado led to a 16 percent reduction at GM. Japan’s Toyota reported gains on increased demand for small cars such as the Yaris and Prius. Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. also rose.
Gasoline costs and a slowing U.S. economy dragged April sales to their lowest rate in 13 years. Industrywide demand dropped 6.9 percent, the sixth straight monthly decline, and Asian automakers scored record market share.
“Gas prices where they are and these declining home values are pushing consumers into smaller vehicles and away from big trucks,” said Efraim Levy, a Standard Poor’s equity analyst. He cut his 2008 forecast for industry sales today by 150,000 vehicles to 15.15 million cars and light trucks.
U.S. vehicle sales totaled 1.25 million last month, according to Autodata Corp. of Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. The figures were estimates because Honda hadn’t reported final data. The preliminary annual sales rate for April slid to 14.4 million units, compared with an annual average industry sales of 16.8 million this decade.
GM, Ford and Chrysler’s U.S. brands held 47.5 percent of the market, a record low. Asian automakers won 44.7 percent of the market, more than five points above the year-earlier level.
Critical
A U.S. sales recovery is critical to Ford’s hope of restoring profit in 2009. The Dearborn, Michigan-based company said last week it expects a loss this year after first-quarter net income of $100 million, in part because of waning U.S. demand for autos.
“It’s going to be a tough year on profits,” said Jeff Schuster, an analyst at J.D. Power & Associates, in an interview on Bloomberg Television. `You’re going to see a bit of a recovery towards the second half.”
Ford and U.S. competitors GM and Chrysler LLC are most dependent on light trucks, which generally consume more fuel than small cars and “crossover” wagons. Total passenger car sales rose 5.2 percent last month, while light truck plummeted 17 percent.
The low point for the U.S. industry over the past two decades was 1991, when sales fell to 12.3 million cars and trucks. Totals haven’t been below 15 million since 1995.
Rising gasoline costs may change that this year, according to industry analysts and executives. The average price for regular gasoline rose to a record $3.62 per gallon this week, according to AAA, the biggest U.S. motorists’ club. In parts of California and New York, pump prices topped $4.
