Total light vehicle sales in the US reached 1.48m units in August, 3.6% down on the same month of last year, according to Ward’s. The seasonally adjusted annualised running rate (SAAR) fell to a 10-month low of 16.0 million units.
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The cumulative sales total this year is 11.32m units, 4.4% down on the same period of last year.
Although Ford reclaimed the number two spot from Toyota, it was a bad result for the Blue Oval with share down to under 17% against 19.2% in the same month of last year.
GM posted a small volume gain and saw its market share increase in August, to 24.5% from 23.6% last year, but Toyota emerged as the major winner with share of 16.2% against 13.9% last year.
Analysts said that Toyota’s gain reflected the continued market shift away from trucks and SUVs towards cars. The car share of the light vehicle market edged up to 48.5% in August compared with 47.1% last year.
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By GlobalData“We are grateful to have the fuel-efficient models today’s market demands,” Jim Lentz, executive vice president of Toyota’s US division, told the Associated Press.
GM sold 156,723 passenger cars, up 3.9% from 150,900 the same month a year ago, when the company’s employee-pricing-for-all promotion ended and sales slumped. Paul Ballew, GM’s executive director of global market and industry analysis, told AP that he attributed the increased GM car sales to a lineup with many autos that get 30 or more miles per gallon.
Ford’s numbers were said to be off partly because it set sales records in August 2005 by offering employee discounts to everyone. Sales of the F-Series pickup truck, America’s most popular vehicle, dropped 15% in August over the same month last year.
Ford pointed to its midsize car sales as a bright spot, saying that it sold 22,863 of them last month, a record for the Fusion, Milan and Zephyr, which were introduced last year.
Ford confirmed late last week that it is discontinuing production of the Mercury Monterey Minivan and said the future of the Ford Freestar was in doubt.
DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler Group saw its share of the market decline to 12.1% in August compared to 12.6% last year.
