Ford, best seller in the U.S.
Ford becoming the preferred developer of Americans? This suggests that the figures for auto sales in January last published Tuesday by the manufacturer. The latter announced a 24.6% jump in sales of new vehicles after having already recorded a jump of 32% in December. In total, the Group sold 116,534 vehicles last month in the United States.
Excluding the Swedish brand Volvo, being sold to the Chinese Geely, the Group sold 112,406 vehicles in January (Ford, Lincoln and Mercury), up 24%. Wholesale sales to fleet companies and corporate car rental "have more than doubled from their depressed levels of last year," Ford added in a statement.Car sales at retail, however, declined 5% after a 18% increase in December.
The group estimates its market share in January to the United States to 16%, "about 2% more than in January 2009" was his first gain market share over a full year since 1995.
General Motors is still in the race
General Motors (GM) for its part has seen its sales jump 30% for the four brands which formed the core of its activity (GMC, Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac), again with a cover especially for wholesale sales but also for retail sales (3%).
However retail sales registered on the verge of being arrested or surrendered (Pontiac, Saturn, Saab, Hummer) collapsed by 90%.
In the wake of this success, GM is revising upwards its forecast of market for all of 2010, now between 11.5 and 12 million units as against 10.4 in a first estimate.
Spun off for Chrysler
In the top three U.S. market, Chrysler is only in the red. The last of the Big Three announced a decline in sales of 8% in January to 57,143 units . The American manufacturer, 20% owned by Fiat, estimates that annualized pace, the U.S. car market as a whole should be about 10.9 million cars in January.
The builder was still delighted to have been able to increase its market share, but does not quantify."The company continues to make progress each month and this trend continued in January, welcomed the chief sales Fred Diaz was quoted in a statement.
Toyota in turmoil
Apart from domestic manufacturers, Toyota shines through his performance against the U.S. market. The Japanese carmaker, which is facing an unprecedented crisis with a massive recall of cars worldwide due to faulty accelerator pedal, said Tuesday that its sales had declined by 8.7% a year January in the United States.
While sales of the Lexus brand rose, those of Toyota, "affected by the suspension of sales announced January 26" for eight models, fell 12% to 83,279 units, Toyota continues.However, the eight models affected are "more than 60% of total stocks," the group said the release of the group.
The downside is huge: In December the Japanese had seen its sales jump 22.9% year on year in the United States.
Overall, auto sales in the U.S. market are in line with analysts' expectations. January is usually one months bleak in terms of sales. But manufacturers expect anyway to achieve a better performance than that of 2009 when the figures had reached their lowest level in 26 years. Manufacturers seem to recover slowly from a disastrous 2009 when 10.4 million cars were sold, the lowest level since 1982.
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