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By MICHELINE MAYNARD
Published: August 1, 2006
DETROIT, Aug. 1 — The Toyota Motor Company passed the Ford Motor Company in July for the first time to rank as the second-biggest carmaker in the United States, behind General Motors, auto sales reports out today showed.
All of the major Detroit companies reported double-digit sales declines in July compared with 2005, when auto sales reached record levels because of the popularity of employee discount programs.
Toyota’s milestone was evidence that American buyers are again flocking to Japanese companies in the wake of high gasoline prices. Each of the Detroit companies’ lineups remain dominated by trucks and sport utility vehicles, while the major Japanese companies each sell a greater percentage of cars than light trucks in the United States.
Toyota’s win over Ford came only three months after Toyota passed DaimlerChrysler, including both Chrysler and Mercedes-Benz, to rank as the third-biggest company in terms of American sales.
Worldwide, Toyota is already the second-biggest carmaker behind G.M. and ahead of Ford, which it passed in sales earlier this decade. So in July, the sales picture in the United States mirrored the situation globally.
Many industry analysts forecast that Toyota could pass G.M. on a worldwide basis as soon as this year to rank as the biggest global carmaker. However, Toyota officials said this week that by their calculations, G.M. retained a slim lead over Toyota in the first half of 2006.
Toyota sold 241,826 vehicles in July, a monthly record for the company, giving it a lead of 487 over Ford, which sold 241,339 vehicles.
Toyota’s sales rose 16.2 percent. Its figures include its Lexus luxury brand and its Scion brand. Ford’s numbers include its American and European brands, but do not include Mazda of Japan, which reports its sales separately from Ford.
Ford’s sales fell 32 percent, while sales at DaimlerChrysler fell 31.5 percent, and G.M.’s sales dropped 19.4 percent compared with last year, according to Bloomberg News.
Sales at another Japanese automaker, Honda, rose 10.2 percent in July, also setting a record for the month. Honda finished only about 20,000 sales behind DaimlerChrysler during July, creating the prospect that it, too, will pass the German company this year.
But Nissan of Japan saw its auto sales fell 16.3 percent during July.
Over all, auto sales for all the major companies dropped 14.2 percent, according to Ward’s AutoInfoBank. The figures were adjusted to reflect a difference in selling days this year versus 2005.
Truck sales fell steeply at each of the major Detroit companies. G.M. said its truck sales dropped 31 percent, while truck sales at Ford fell 44 percent. Ford said sales of the F-series pickup, which has been the country’s best-selling vehicle for almost three decades, dropped 46 percent in July, while sales of its Explorer sport utility vehicle fell 51 percent last month.
Fara Warner contributed reporting from Detroit for this article.
By MICHELINE MAYNARD
Published: August 1, 2006
DETROIT, Aug. 1 — The Toyota Motor Company passed the Ford Motor Company in July for the first time to rank as the second-biggest carmaker in the United States, behind General Motors, auto sales reports out today showed.
All of the major Detroit companies reported double-digit sales declines in July compared with 2005, when auto sales reached record levels because of the popularity of employee discount programs.
Toyota’s milestone was evidence that American buyers are again flocking to Japanese companies in the wake of high gasoline prices. Each of the Detroit companies’ lineups remain dominated by trucks and sport utility vehicles, while the major Japanese companies each sell a greater percentage of cars than light trucks in the United States.
Toyota’s win over Ford came only three months after Toyota passed DaimlerChrysler, including both Chrysler and Mercedes-Benz, to rank as the third-biggest company in terms of American sales.
Worldwide, Toyota is already the second-biggest carmaker behind G.M. and ahead of Ford, which it passed in sales earlier this decade. So in July, the sales picture in the United States mirrored the situation globally.
Many industry analysts forecast that Toyota could pass G.M. on a worldwide basis as soon as this year to rank as the biggest global carmaker. However, Toyota officials said this week that by their calculations, G.M. retained a slim lead over Toyota in the first half of 2006.
Toyota sold 241,826 vehicles in July, a monthly record for the company, giving it a lead of 487 over Ford, which sold 241,339 vehicles.
Toyota’s sales rose 16.2 percent. Its figures include its Lexus luxury brand and its Scion brand. Ford’s numbers include its American and European brands, but do not include Mazda of Japan, which reports its sales separately from Ford.
Ford’s sales fell 32 percent, while sales at DaimlerChrysler fell 31.5 percent, and G.M.’s sales dropped 19.4 percent compared with last year, according to Bloomberg News.
Sales at another Japanese automaker, Honda, rose 10.2 percent in July, also setting a record for the month. Honda finished only about 20,000 sales behind DaimlerChrysler during July, creating the prospect that it, too, will pass the German company this year.
But Nissan of Japan saw its auto sales fell 16.3 percent during July.
Over all, auto sales for all the major companies dropped 14.2 percent, according to Ward’s AutoInfoBank. The figures were adjusted to reflect a difference in selling days this year versus 2005.
Truck sales fell steeply at each of the major Detroit companies. G.M. said its truck sales dropped 31 percent, while truck sales at Ford fell 44 percent. Ford said sales of the F-series pickup, which has been the country’s best-selling vehicle for almost three decades, dropped 46 percent in July, while sales of its Explorer sport utility vehicle fell 51 percent last month.
Fara Warner contributed reporting from Detroit for this article.
