Ford’s Nov. Sales Slip; GM, Toyota Rise

By DAVID RUNK

DETROIT – With a slump in U.S. vehicle sales by Ford Motor Co. last month, the No. 2 domestic automaker was beaten out not only by Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp. for the second time ever but by DaimlerChrysler AG as well.

Ford, which also detailed planned production cuts, said Friday that sales dropped 9.7 percent in November compared with the same period a year ago. The drop to No. 4 in monthly sales – a first, according to Autodata Corp. – came as industry sales rose a modest 2.9 percent to nearly 1.2 million vehicles.

Toyota sold 196,695 vehicles in November, a 15.9 percent increase over November 2005, and DaimlerChrysler’s were up 4.7 percent to 186,635, compared with Ford’s 181,111. Sales by GM, the world’s largest automaker, rose 6.1 percent to 293,558 vehicles in the U.S. last month, the most of any manufacturer.

“I think it’s more the product,” Global Insight analyst George Magliano said of Ford’s unexpected stumble.

Ford’s light truck sales dropped 13 percent to 119,259, including a 16.1 percent drop in sales of the dominant F-Series pickup, while car sales fell 2.6 percent to 61,852, reflecting lower deliveries to fleet customers.

Ford sales analyst George Pipas said Ford’s focus remains on its North American turnaround effort dubbed the “Way Forward,” which includes job and manufacturing cuts. Ford lost $7 billion during the first nine months of the year and has said it won’t return to profitability until 2009.

“It’s not that important right now in the scheme of things,” he said of sales rankings.

Ford sold fewer vehicles in the U.S. than Toyota for the first time in July, but Ford’s U.S. sales surpassed the Japanese company’s in August through October. This year Ford’s U.S. sales are about 2.7 million, down 7.5 percent from the first 11 months of 2005, while Toyota’s sales are about 2.3 million, up 12.5 percent.

Jesse Toprak, chief economist for Edmunds.com, a research site for car buyers, said Ford should regain the No. 2 sales spot for December. And he said fewer low-profit bulk sales to rental companies has its upside.

“They probably cut down their fleet and rental sales more than anyone guessed, which is good and bad,” Toprak said. “Obviously, it makes their numbers look bad, but if they can cut down their fleet and rental numbers that is good in the long term.”

Toyota’s November sales, including its Lexus luxury brand, were boosted by a 17.8 percent increase in light truck sales. Sales of the RAV4 compact sport utility vehicle had their best November ever, up 156.9 percent to 11,425. Toyota’s car sales were up 14.5 percent, to 109,126.

Still, Toyota spokesman Xavier Dominicis said the company isn’t focused on market share.

“Our ranking within the industry is really driven by actions our competitors take or don’t take,” he said in a phone interview. “Our fundamental approach remains unabated. We supply consumers with the right product at the right time.”

Pipas, in a conference call, blamed the company’s monthly sales performance in part on getting a start later in the month on advertising highlighting improvements to its 2007 models and promoting its year-end sales event.

But the Dearborn-based company said car sales to individual retail customers were up for the Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ midsize sedans. Ford’s figures include the Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Jaguar, Volvo and Land Rover brands.

Ford’s share of the domestic market has declined from around 26 percent in the early 1990s to 15.1 percent in November, when Toyota’s share was 16.4 percent, according to figures from Autodata, which said it was the first month that Ford came in No. 4, behind GM, Toyota and DaimlerChrysler.

Detroit-based GM’s market share was 24.5 percent in November. It sold 109,985 cars, a 7.9 percent decline from November 2005, but truck sales rose 16.6 percent to 183,573. The numbers include the European Saab brand.

Paul Ballew, GM’s chief of global market and industry analysis, said in a conference call that after seeing sales hurt earlier in the year by soaring gasoline prices and rising interest rates, automakers remain leery of the possible effect that the cooling housing market could have on car buyers.

“The industry itself in some regards has gone through a mini recession in 2006,” Ballew told analysts and reporters. “We’re not pleased by that, but those are events outside of our control. But positive for GM is the fact that we continue to execute a turnaround plan against that backdrop.”

Ford on Friday lowered its North American production estimates about 2.5 percent to 620,000 for the current quarter. That’s 15,000 fewer than previously announced because of the temporary suspension of Freestar minivan production at the company’s Oakville Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada.

And it said production in the first quarter of 2007 will total 750,000 vehicles. That’s in line with previous estimates but down about 14 percent from production in the first quarter of 2006.

Ford said the goal put it on pace with earlier estimates that production in the first six months of 2007 would be 8 percent to 12 percent lower than the first half of 2006.

GM said its fourth-quarter production forecast remains unchanged at 1.11 million vehicles. The company’s forecast for the first quarter of 2007 is 1.28 million vehicles, down 9 percent from actual production in the first quarter of 2006.

Sales at DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler Group rose 2.9 percent from November 2005 to 164,556. Chrysler sold 33,760 cars, a decline of 14.3 percent, but truck sales were up 8.5 percent to 130,796.

DaimlerChrysler’s Mercedes-Benz unit sold 22,079 vehicles, its third highest performance and a 21 percent jump from a year ago.

Honda Motor Co. sold 106,446 vehicles, a 0.6 percent increase over the November record set last year. Truck sales were up 8.1 percent to 51,784, including a 51.1 percent increase in sales of the Honda CR-V. But car sales dropped 5.7 percent to 54,662.

Nissan Motor Co.’s sales were down 1.6 percent to 76,015. Car sales rose 11.5 percent to 42,361, including the best November on record for the Altima sedan. But truck sales fell 14.2 percent to 33,654.

The auto industry looked a little better last month because November 2005 was relatively weak. Customers avoided car showrooms a year ago despite easing gas prices and deep discounts amid worries about high heating costs and other factors.

Ford shares fell 9 cents, or 1.1 percent, to close at $8.04 on the New York Stock Exchange, while GM shares rose 46 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $29.69. DaimlerChrysler shares fell 29 cents, or 0.5 percent, to close at $57.99 on the NYSE.

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Associated Press Writer Joseph Altman contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

DaimlerChrysler AG: http://www.daimlerchrysler.com

Ford Motor Co.: http://www.ford.com

General Motors Corp.: http://www.gm.com

Honda Motor Co.: http://www.honda.com

Nissan Motor Co.: http://www.nissanusa.com

Toyota Motor Corp.: http://www.toyota.com