Toyota in July passed Ford for the first time to rank second in monthly light vehicle sales in the United States, replacing Ford in the so-called ‘Big Three’.
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Citing Auto data statistics, Kyodo News said Toyota’s retail sales in July rose 11.7% from a year earlier to 241,826 units, a record high for any single month, following General Motors, whose sales dropped 22.2% to 402,640 units.
Ford fell 35.3% to third spot with 224,130 units sold, followed by Honda which passed DaimlerChrysler for the first time to rank fourth with sales of 151,804 units, up 6.0%. Chrysler sales 37.4% to 150,349 units, according to the report.
Analysts told Kyodo that US car makers have been suffering a sales slump as high petrol prices prompt consumers to spurn their fuel-guzzling large vehicles, while Toyota and Honda are performing well on the back of continued strong demand for their fuel-efficient compact cars.
The combined market share of the three major US automakers is now at an all-time low of 52%, the report added.
The report added that the industry data showed US light vehicle sales as a whole in the reporting month decreased 17.4% to 1,493,078 units.
Despite an overall uptrend for Japanese automakers, Nissan Motor saw a fall of 19.5%, mainly due to sluggish sales of its light trucks – its US sales declined for the fifth straight month, Kyodo added.
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