Big 3's January U.S. Auto Sales Fall To Lowest Ever As Japanese Gain

America's Big 3 automakers saw sales decline to their lowest level ever in January according to data compiled by Autodata corp. GM's sales fell 17% to 244,614 vehicles while Ford's fell 19% to 165,668; DaimlerChrysler reported rising sales, with unit volume climbing 3.2% to 173,407 vehicles, largely due to a strong month for Mercedes-Benz sales which rose 37%. While the Big 3's sales fell 4.6% to a combined total of just over 50% of the U.S. market, foreign companies made up a record 49.5% of the market, including 42.1% to Asian companies, also a record. Toyota led the foreign pack with a sales increase of 9.5% to 175,850 vehicles, and Honda's sales rose 2.4% to 100,790. The loss in market share was partially voluntary as GM and Ford deliberately reduced new sales to rental-car agencies, which have proved unprofitable; some losses, however, were in sales to consumers and were not voluntary. In terms of total rankings, Ford fell from second to fourth in terms of total U.S. auto sales as both Toyota (the new number two) and Chrysler (number three) passed them.

Sources: Ford January 2007 Sales Call Transcript, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, N.Y. Times, L.A. Times
Commentary: Light Vehicle Pricing To Become More Aggressive In 2007?, American Cars: No Rewards Under the Hood, Ford's Latest Conference Call Proves Pendulum Has Swung From Automakers to Dealers, General Motors January 2007 Sales Call Transcript, Ford Q4 2006 Earnings Call Transcript
Stocks/ETFs to watch: General Motors (GM), Ford (F), DaimlerChrysler (DCX), Toyota (TM), Honda (HMC). Competitors: Nissan (NSANY)

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