Big Three sales fall in May

[Northstar]

Big Three sales fall in May

Rising interest rates, gas prices cited for keeping customers away from auto showrooms.

Bryce G. Hoffman / The Detroit News

May is shaping up to be another lackluster month for Detroit's automakers, as rising interest rates and gasoline prices turn some shoppers away from dealer lots.

While sales results will not be released until Thursday, some dealers have seen demand decline slightly over the past few weeks.

"It's been a little slow," said Steven Zehnder, sales manager at Zehnder Chevrolet-Buick in Frankenmuth.

Wall Street also is taking a dim view of the month.

Brian Jacoby, an analyst with Goldman Sachs in New York, expects a seasonally adjusted annual selling rate of approximately 16.1 million units in May, down from the 16.7 million pace reported last month and in May 2005.

"Soft retail sales, particularly at the Detroit Three, are the main reason for the decline," Jacoby said. "Sales should continue to look strong at both Toyota and Honda, given their new product launches."

Toyota recently launched the Yaris compact and Camry sedan, while the Honda lineup has expanded with the Fit compact.

Himanshu Patel, who follows the industry for J.P. Morgan in New York, also is expecting a year-over-year decline, predicting that sales will fall to 16.3 million units on an annualized basis.

Analysts expect General Motors Corp. to lead the decline, with a drop of between 10 and 14 percent compared to the same period in 2005. Sales at Ford Motor Co. are expected to fall between 6 and 8 percent for the month, while DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group sales are expected to be down about 5 percent.

Continue reading: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...70370/1121/AUTO

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

That nice lingo that Toyota so ARROGANTLY termed.... "The DETROIT three"

[Imaj]

Why are sales continuing to fall? Aren't the new products better?

[Northstar]

Yes, but there are still quite a few aging products and it seems trucks other than the T900s are really feeling the heat from high gas prices.

[evok]

That nice lingo that Toyota so ARROGANTLY termed.... "The DETROIT three"

Yes - Let us look at the facts.

The Global Big 3 are:

1 - GM

2 - Toyota

3 - Ford

The US Big 3 by company are:

1 - GM

2 - Ford

3 - DCX

4 - Toyota

The US Big 3 by traditional grouping are:

1 - GM

2 - Ford

3 - Toyota

4 - Chrsyler Group

Yes - in 2006 Toyota is bigger than the Chrysler Group in volume.

[ZL-1]

I found this interesting.

Analysts predict GM will cut third quarter production by between 6 and 9 percent, largely as a result of decreased demand for sport utility vehicles.

"We expect vehicle mix to remain under pressure as demand for mid- and full-size SUVs continues to fall, driven by higher gasoline prices," Jacoby said.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

Yes - Let us look at the facts.

The Global Big 3 are:

1 - GM

2 - Toyota

3 - Ford

The US Big 3 by company are:

1 - GM

2 - Ford

3 - DCX

4 - Toyota

The US Big 3 by traditional grouping are:

1 - GM

2 - Ford

3 - Toyota

4 - Chrsyler Group

Yes - in 2006 Toyota is bigger than the Chrysler Group in volume.

I know....

That still doesn't make it correct or proper for Toyota to fling insults or better yet for the media to adopt them....

Of course, the media IS basically Toyota P.R. so go figure.

[Newbiewar]

haha, sales are down everywhere not just GM...

out sales over the weekend were only 50% what they were last year...

as was the nissan store next to us...

[LTB51]

haha, sales are down everywhere not just GM...

out sales over the weekend were only 50% what they were last year...

as was the nissan store next to us...

I believe Honda and Toyota are both up > 10%.

[LTB51]

That nice lingo that Toyota so ARROGANTLY termed.... "The DETROIT three"

FOG, why aren't you happy with this media bias? GM did worse than predicted here and Chrysler much worse. Here we have an example of the media actually making GM look better than it is! Yay!

[Dsuupr]

I excited that GM has finally learned from their mistakes of the past and willing to take a dive for it. Low fleet sales and not giving into "monthly" sales is the way to do in the long run. The next couple of years will hurt, but in the end they will end up ahead of everyone else.

[LTB51]

I excited that GM has finally learned from their mistakes of the past and willing to take a dive for it.  Low fleet sales and not giving into "monthly" sales is the way to do in the long run.  The next couple of years will hurt, but in the end they will end up ahead of everyone else.

I think you are being too optimistic.

They've got to address quality, resale, reliance on fleet, negative impressions, legacy costs, incentives, poor interiors, hybrids, delphi, pension, etc.

Even if they manage to do all that (and how many years will that take?) they will have just caught up to where Toyota/Honda were years ago.

If they lower fleet sales drastically they will have lower sales than probably Ford and Toyota. I'm not sure the weak management that got them to this point has the balls to follow through.

[VenSeattle]

I think you are being too optimistic.

They've got to address quality, resale, reliance on fleet, negative impressions, legacy costs, incentives, poor interiors, hybrids, delphi, pension, etc. 

Even if they manage to do all that (and how many years will that take?) they will have just caught up to where Toyota/Honda were years ago. 

If they lower fleet sales drastically they will have lower sales than probably Ford and Toyota.  I'm not sure the weak management that got them to this point has the balls to follow through.

When excluding fleet sales, GM is still bigger than Ford or Toyota... nationally and internationally.

The cuts to reduce Fleet sales help to reduce fleet sale reliance and also helps to increase resale value.

Legacy costs, Delphi, Pensions, etc are all one issue.

'Average' interior quality is not 'poor' interior quality.

Once GM has caught of to Toyota and Honda in those categories, Toyota and Honda won't have anything left over GM.

[bowtie_dude]

Once GM has caught of to Toyota and Honda in those categories, Toyota and Honda won't have anything left over GM.

And when is that going to happen? In 2 years when GM is behind Toyota in marketshare?

[VenSeattle]

And when is that going to happen?  In 2 years when GM is behind Toyota in marketshare?

GM's marketshare is inconsequential. It does not determine GM's success. Toyota can overtake GM and that would just place GM as #2. GM won't magically disappear or die if it drops from #1.

However, dropping to #2, #3, or lower won't guarantee GM’s profitability either.