Posted on 01/05/2005 6:21:13 AM PST by wmichgrad
DETROIT (AP) — The auto industry's traditional Big Three remained intact in 2004, but record demand for vehicles from Japan's top carmakers helped reduce the Detroit automakers' share of the American market to its lowest level ever.
Due largely to a robust December, sales for the year rose about 1 percent from 2003 to roughly 17 million units.
But the U.S. market share for GM, Ford and Chrysler dwindled to an unprecedented 58.7 percent in 2004, down from 60.2 percent in 2003 and 61.7 percent in 2002, according to the automotive research firm Autodata Corp.
At the same time, Toyota, Nissan, Honda and other Asian brands increased their share from 32.6 percent in 2003 to 34.6 percent last year. Three years ago Asian imports accounted for only 30 percent.
The trend is expected to continue in 2005, though most automakers said Tuesday a blistering December sales pace bodes well for the start of business this year.
December's seasonally adjusted annual sales rate was a 2004-best 18.4 million units, up from 17.4 million a year ago, Autodata said. The rate indicates what sales would be for the full year if they remained at the same pace for all 12 months.
General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., the nation's two largest automakers, reported lower U.S. sales in 2004 despite an onslaught of new vehicles, while DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group rode the success of the popular Chrysler 300C sedan to the lone gain for the Big Three.
Meanwhile, the American arms of Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. sold more cars and trucks in the United States than ever before.
"In an era where prices can't be raised, the Big Three of Asia — Honda, Nissan and Toyota — and the Chrysler Group ... all picked up market share," said Paul Taylor, economist for the National Automobile Dealers Association. "Exciting new product remained the key to success."
Toyota's U.S. division sold more than 2 million vehicles for the first time in its 47 years of existence as its sales grew 10 percent for the year. Business in December rose 18 percent.
Chrysler, the smallest of Detroit's Big Three, sold 146,000 more vehicles than Toyota last year. Chrysler's edge in 2003 was roughly 260,000.
"Our products have stimulated demand," said Yukitoshi Funo, president and chief executive of Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. "The sales milestone is a reflection on the acceptance of products as varied as Scion, Sienna and Prius."
Honda's 30-percent rise in sales in December helped propel the automaker to its 11th consecutive year for a sales increase. With 1.4 million U.S. vehicle sales, Honda said business rose 3 percent in 2004.
Nissan North America, aided in part by full-year sales of its full-size Titan pickup and other new vehicles, said sales rose 23.7 percent for the year and 32.7 percent in December.
GM's business declined 1.4 percent in 2004, a disappointment given its industry-leading 29 vehicle introductions. Car sales were down 3.7 percent; truck sales rose less than 1 percent.
Two bright spots were Chevrolet and Cadillac, two brands that received billion-dollar infusions in recent years to increase offerings and appeal. Chevy had its best year since 1988, Cadillac its best since 1990.
Chevy also made considerable progress against Ford in the battle for America's top-selling brand, but Ford retained the distinction for the 18th consecutive year.
GM's total sales for December fell roughly 7 percent, with losses on both the car and truck sides.
"For the year as a whole, we came up a bit short," said Paul Ballew, GM's executive director of global market and industry analysis. "We certainly have been talking about that as the year played out. We did see a stronger second half. However, that couldn't fully offset the weak start we had in the first half."
No. 2 Ford's U.S. sales fell 4.9 percent for the year and 3.6 percent in December, the 10th monthly decline of 2004.
Ford said sales of its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury cars rose nearly 1 percent in December, helped by late-year arrivals such as the next-generation Ford Mustang and its new flagship sedan, the Ford Five Hundred.
Ford's retail car sales rose on a monthly basis for the first time since January 2003, said Ford's top sales analyst, George Pipas.
"It's just one month, but it's very encouraging to see car sales improve as we filled the pipeline with the products we introduced in October and November," Pipas said.
But truck sales fell 5 percent in December.
For the year, car sales were off 14 percent, despite Ford's much-touted "Year of the Car" promotion.
Truck sales fell slightly less than 1 percent for the year, but Ford's F-Series lineup retained its position as America's best-selling vehicle for the 23rd straight year. Truck sales include pickups, vans and sport utility vehicles.
Another high point: Ford set an industry record for full-size pickup sales in 2004, breaking its own mark of three years ago.
For the year, Chrysler's volume was up a little more than 3 percent. It was up 5 percent in December.
All percentages are adjusted and based on the daily sales rate. There were 27 selling days last month and 26 in December 2003. There also was one extra selling day for all of 2004 versus 2003.
GM closed down 41 cents to $39.89 on the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday. Ford shares shed 5 cents to $14.66. DaimlerChrysler's U.S. shares ended off 26 cents to $47.42.
On the Net:
General Motors Corp.: http://www.gm.com/
Ford Motor Co.: http://www.ford.com/
DaimlerChrysler AG: http://www.daimlerchrysler.com
Toyota Motor Corp.: http://www.toyota.com
Honda Motor Co., http://www.honda.com
Nissan Motor Co.: http://www.nissanusa.com
Either you had a lemon or I've just had tremendous luck! :-)
Yep, all GM's I've owned have been great. Somebody talked my parents into buying Camry's and Accord's, so a couple years ago they bought two brand new Camry's and one new Accord. They say the engines have been good quality but all the other parts i.e. transnissions, brakes, elctrical parts are always having problems.
All of my previous US-made cars were dogs and their services were even worse. The worst was Ford, then Pontiac, then Chrysler.
In the last election, the major unions contributed 90% of their member's political "contributions" to the RATs. Why should I feel benevolent towards unions?
Check out how many parts of US-made cars are made in Asia or Mexico. Even they are openly admitting that most of the parts are foreign-made.
What really gets me tick off, is that union memberships are only 50-60% democrat - the union leadership is really failing their members and hurting jobs!
What makes so much of these discussions pretty pointless is that a publicly-traded corporation in today's global economy can no longer be defined by national borders. The Big Three automakers are no more "American" than Toyota, since they are all publicly traded and can be owned by investors anywhere in the world. In fact, I seem to remember reading somewhere recently that Toyota has more shares owned by U.S. interests than by the Japanese.
And a whole slew of attractive South Korean models isn't going to make things any better.
Well, the K-5 didn't become a lemon until after 80,000 miles. The guy I sold it too ended up putting an entire new engine in the thing, but I believe he liked it anyway. IMO, they don't make those vehicles anymore for good reason. But my Dodge pickup has been good, I'm thinking now of driving it at least for 200,000 miles.
The Chrysler 300 is built in Brampton Ontario Canada. Vroom Vroom.
I travel a LOT each year, and rent dozens of rental cars (all American). The difference between the BEST American sedan and my new Galant is night and day. No comparison -- the quality of Japanese cars is outstanding.
And THAT is it in a nutshell. I owned a '97 Chevy Astro and used it for my business, towing was a part of that. It needed a valve job at 120,000 miles and the cost of the repair equalled the value of the 6 year old vehicle. Add to that the decay of many other features on the van and I had a no-brainer on my hands. I traded it in to the Salvation Army for a tax deduction and bought a Toyota Tundra V-8, four door. I LOVE it! Sorry Detroit but you've got to improve!
Dodge used a Mitsubishi engine on my '86 Caravan and it had a lot of trouble with the head gasket. I replaced it three times, something to do with aluminum heads I think. Anyway that one part from Mitsubishi was a problem. Toyota OTOH is relatively void of these problems.
My father has an old Dodge Dakota pick up truck and it is a phenominal DOG!! But I have continually owned a Dodge Caravan ever since they came out in '86, or was it '84? These cars I really like. My present one has 184,000 on it and has been wonderful. Time to trade it in on a newer one this month.
My dad worked at Ford for 30+ years. 99% of the time, he didn't vote for dems. Neither did a lot of the people he worked with.
I had an 85 Cougar that I bought used with 90,000. Lasted me 31/2 years. Got a 93 Explorer bought used with 80,000. Sold it with over 150,000 now and still going strong. I have a 99 Explorer today running just fine.
Do you have any knowlege of the Honda engine that shuts off three cylinders on the highway?
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