The auto industry closed one of its worst years in history on a positive note, with U.S. sales rising about 15% in December and many executives predicting a gradual recovery in 2010.
Ford Motor Co., Toyota Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. all reported substantial sales increases in the year's final month. Toyota said the surge meant it sold more cars to U.S. consumers in 2009 than any other maker, passing General Motors Co. in "retail" sales for the first time.
GM, which sells more cars to fleet customers such as car-rental companies than Toyota, still finished the year at No. 1 in overall sales. Still, its overall sales total for the month fell 5.7% to 207,538 vehicles.
And while Chrysler Group LLC posted just a 3.7% decline for December, its sales total for the entire year was the worst it has seen in 47 years.
The seasonally adjusted annualized selling rate for all car makers in December was 11.25 million cars and light trucks, a substantial lift over December 2008's rate of 10.34 million, according to Autodata Corp.
That figure marked the second-best month of 2009 after August, which received a major boost from the "cash for clunkers" government-rebate program.
Over all, car makers sold 1,029,911 cars and light trucks in December, up 15.1% from December 2008, Autodata said. The 2009 month was aided by two additional selling days.
But the brighter news was tempered by the full-year 2009 sales figure of 10.4 million vehicles -- down 21.2% from 2008 and believed to be the lowest total sales since 1982.
"It will take clear and evident results of job and income gains to declare a true recovery," Ford economist Ellen Hughes-Cromwick said in a conference call Tuesday. "We think that that's likely to gel here in the current quarter."
Ford sales rose 33.5% in December, to 178,063, not including its Volvo unit, ending a strong year for the auto maker compared with its crosstown car rivals.
The company estimated its U.S. market share at about 15% for the year -- about one percentage point higher than 2008. That would be its first full-year increase in share since 1995. December's sales growth was Ford's fifth in six months.
Toyota sold 187,860 vehicles in December, 32% more than a year ago. For the entire year the figure totalled 1.77 million cars and trucks, down 20%. Of that, 1.6 million Toyotas were sold to individual customers through dealerships as opposed to "fleet" customers such as car-rental concerns. Fleet sales can be less profitable than consumer purchases.
GM said it sold 2.07 million vehicles last year, of which 1,570,035 went to retail customers as opposed to fleet buyers.
"Looking at preliminary figures, Toyota for the first time should end up as the number-one manufacturer in retail sales," Don Esmond, Toyota senior vice president for automotive operations, said on a conference call. He interpreted the December sales level to be "a good sign of stability in the market and modest growth ahead."
"We are not focusing on Toyota," GM spokesman Tom Henderson said when asked about Toyota's retail-sales results. "Our focus is on delivering great product and a world-class ownership experience to earn every sale."
In an extraordinary year for GM -- it went through a government-backed bankruptcy, saw two CEOs ousted and agreed to jettison or close four brands -- the company nevertheless kept its market share at about 20%, three percentage points higher than Toyota's and five points above Ford's. Those figures include sales to fleets.
GM sales analyst Mike DiGiovanni said the company remains concerned that the lack of growth among small businesses and lingering economic jitters among consumers could delay a significant rebound in 2010.
Consumers, worried about losing their jobs, are still holding off on major purchases and small-business owners remain unable to secure credit, Mr. DiGiovanni said.
"There is still going to be a lot of risk out there in terms of the economic recovery," he said.
Honda's sales, meantime, rose 24.5% to 107,143 vehicles.
Chrysler, which like GM was reorganized in bankruptcy court last year and loaned billions of dollars by the U.S. government, sold 86,523 vehicles in December, with nearly half of them going to rental companies.
For the full year, Chrysler sold 931,402 vehicles, the first time since 1962 it has sold fewer than one million cars and trucks according to wardsauto.com.
In two years, Chrysler's sales have fallen 55%. Chrysler no longer conducts monthly sales calls with reporters and analysts.
Under the management of Italian auto maker Fiat SpA, the company has been trying to return to profitability by reducing spending on customer incentives and not overproducing its vehicles. That has left many Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep dealers with low inventories and fewer offers to draw customers at a time when rivals like Ford and Hyundai Motor Co. are aggressively trying to gain market share.
Chrysler declined to comment on its sales performance. It did say inventory levels have fallen 55% from a year ago to 178,538 cars and trucks, representing a 58-day supply.
Despite its goal to cut incentives, Chrysler announced new offers Tuesday of below-market interest rates or up to $4,000 cash to consumers purchasing its vehicles.
(Source: irco.biz)
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