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Toyota, Honda post doubt digit sales growth in U.S.
by : Thomas Blythe
Date : Fri, 02 Jun 2006 14:32:01 GMT
DETROIT: Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. recorded double-digit sales growth in the U.S. for May, the two companies reported Thursday. lt;br / gt;
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Toyota had its overall sales go up 17 per cent, while car sales rose nearly 25 per cent. The main planks for the growth have been the company 's new Yaris subcompact and the redesigned Camry. The company said sales of its trucks and sport utility vehicles rose nearly 7 per cent. Higher sales of crossovers like the RAV4 and the debut of the FJ Cruiser sport-utility vehicle too contributed to the sales growth. lt;br / gt;
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Honda 's car sales went up 21 per cent with the Fit subcompact and redesigned Civic reaching the market. The company 's truck and SUV sales were up 9 per cent as the Pilot crossover and Ridgeline small pickup won customers. lt;br / gt;
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Domestic automakers were severely affected by the rising fuel prices as they rely mostly on sales of trucks and sport utility vehicles to get volume. General Motors Corp. had its sales down 12 per cent, while Ford Motor Co. experienced a 2 per cent slide, and DaimlerChrysler AG 's Chrysler Group nearly 11 per cent. lt;br / gt;
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GM 's car sales slid nearly 16 per cent mainly because the company made an effort to cut back on sales to rental car companies. Truck and SUV sales were down 10 per cent. lt;br / gt;
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Ford said its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury trucks and SUVs sales fell 7 per cent. lt;br / gt;
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Chrysler reported its truck and SUV sales fell 14 per cent, while car sales went down 1 per cent. lt;br / gt;
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Nissan 's performance, however, did not improve. Its sales were down 7.3 per cent, the seventh decline in the last eight months. lt;br / gt;
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Hyundai showed a 5.2 per cent gain, led by its Sonata sedans, which more than doubled. A new model, Entourage minivan, also helped the company to improve its sales. lt;br / gt;
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Industrywide sales were almost flat when compared with May 2005, though trucks and SUVs sales were down 7 per cent. Cars saw the sales go up 6 per cent. Automakers had sold 17 million vehicles in 2005. lt;br / gt;
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General Motors said consumers seemed to be not recognizing that the company is now selling vehicles that offer good mileage ratings. Paul Ballew, the company 's chief market strategist, said the Detroit automakers were not getting full credit for their fuel economy models. He said his company sells the largest number of vehicles that get ratings of 30 miles per gallon or better. lt;br / gt;
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Meanwhile, Ford said it plans to cut down production by 2.5 per cent, to 710,000 vehicles, during the third quarter. It will make 40,000 more cars and 58,000 fewer trucks in the quarter compared with a year ago.
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