Toyota Motor Corp. outsold Ford Motor Co. in July to rank as the No. 2 automaker in the U.S. for the first time, helping Asia-based companies win record market share as buyers shift to fuel-efficient models.
Toyota, which trails only General Motors Corp. in global sales, sold 241,826 vehicles in the U.S., up 12 percent from a year earlier, and 427 more than Ford. Gains of 6 percent for Honda Motor Co. and 6.2 percent for Hyundai Motor Co. helped the Asian companies boost their market share to 41.4 percent from 33.1 percent a year earlier, according to Bloomberg data.
“It's a different world. GM by itself used to have half the U.S. market,'' said Walter McManus, director of the University of Michigan's Office for the Study of Automotive Transportation. “Sales are being driven by fuel costs, fuel efficiency, passenger cars. Toyota, and Honda to a lesser extent, added trucks but kept solid portfolios of cars.''
Toyota has benefited this year from demand for fuel- efficient cars such as the Corolla and Scion models and RAV4 small sport-utility vehicles as gasoline prices have stayed near $3 a gallon. As Toyota prepares to add capacity to build about 500,000 more cars and trucks in North America, GM and Ford are cutting a combined 60,000 U.S. union jobs and closing 26 locations to try and halt losses in the region.
U.S. sales of cars and light trucks fell 17 percent to 1.49 million in July, according to Bloomberg data. That included declines of 23 percent for Detroit-based GM and 34 percent each for Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford and DaimlerChrysler AG. Sales for the 10 Asian brands rose 3.2 percent to 617,802.
Average U.S. gasoline prices ended July at $3.01 a gallon, rising 32 percent in the past 12 months, according to AAA.
Toyota
Toyota, Asia's largest automaker, also pulled ahead of DaimlerChrysler in U.S. sales this year through July. Toyota has sold 1.46 million cars and trucks, compared with 1.41 million for Stuttgart, Germany-based DaimlerChrysler.
The Toyota City, Japan-based automaker said in a statement that its gains last month came from sales of the new Yaris subcompact car, Corolla and Scion small cars, Prius gasoline- electric hatchbacks and RAV4.
Toyota's market share rose to a record 16.2 percent for the month, an increase of 4.2 percentage points from a year earlier, according to Autodata Corp.
“It's not Toyota's intention to overtake any particular manufacturer,'' Dennis Cuneo, the company's North American senior vice president, said in an interview yesterday. “The U.S. market is really becoming the Big Six rather than the Big Three. You're going to have six substantial players here: GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Toyota, Honda and Nissan, and maybe Hyundai as well, depending on what they do.''
Toyota's U.S. shares fell $1.72 to $103.50 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading yesterday. They have declined 1.1 percent this year.
Honda
Honda, the No. 2 Japanese automaker in the U.S., said sales rose to 151,804 on demand for Civic small cars, Accord sedans and the new Fit subcompact. The Tokyo-based company also posted gains for light trucks including the Pilot SUV, Odyssey minivan and Ridgeline pickup.
Honda is rated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as having the most fuel-efficient fleet of cars and trucks. That's seems to be helping sales, spokesman Sage Marie said.
“We were fuel efficient even when fuel efficient wasn't sexy, so now we've got credit with customers in that regard,'' said Marie, based at Honda's U.S. headquarters in Torrance, California.
Honda's market share for the month rose 2.3 percentage points to 10.2 percent. The company's July sales jump also put it ahead of DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler unit for the first time.
Honda's U.S. shares fell 20 cents to $32.75 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading yesterday and have risen 13 percent this year.
Nissan, Hyundai
Nissan Motor Co., Japan's second-largest automaker, sold 86,408 vehicles last month, down 20 percent. The decline was the Tokyo-based company's ninth in 10 months.
“We're never satisfied, but given some of the declines in the market last month we feel pretty good about the results,'' Brad Bradshaw, Nissan's U.S. sales chief, said in an interview yesterday. “It's clearly the fuel prices. You can see the impact on Armada, Titan. Trucks are down.''
Nissan's market share declined 0.1 point to 5.8 percent.
The company's U.S. shares fell 15 cents to $21.40 in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading yesterday. They have risen 4.7 percent this year.
Hyundai Motor sold a record 47,205 vehicles. Gains were led by Sonata and Accent small cars, as well as the new Entourage minivan and Azera sedan, Mark Barnes, vice president of the Seoul-based company's U.S. sales unit, said in an interview. Its market share rose 0.7 point to 3.2 percent.
The company's shares don't trade on primary U.S. stock exchanges.
Kia, Mazda
Kia Motors Corp., a Hyundai subsidiary, sold 26,429 vehicles, 1.4 percent more than a year ago. Gains were led by the new Spectra midsize car, Rio small car and Amanti large sedan, Kia's U.S. unit said in a statement.
Kia's market share in July was 1.8 percent, up 0.4 point.
Mazda Motor Corp., a Ford affiliate, raised sales 4.6 percent to 25,963, led by a 16 percent jump for Mazda3 small cars. The Hiroshima, Japan-based company's market share improved to 1.7 percent, 0.3 point more than a year ago.
Among smaller Asian companies, Subaru, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.'s auto brand, raised sales 5.4 percent to 18,923 on increases for Impreza and Legacy model sedans and wagons.
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. sold 10,502 cars and SUVs, up 1.2 percent. Suzuki Motor Corp., Japan's largest maker of minicars, sold 8,030 cars and SUVs, a 13 percent sales increase. Japanese truckmaker Isuzu Motors Ltd. sold 712 pickups and SUVs, down 16 percent from a year earlier.
