Wednesday, General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. (F) both reported drops in their U.S. vehicle sales for August as compared to the same month last year, when sales were boosted by the U.S. government's "Cash for Clunker" incentive program. GM reported a 25% drop in U.S. vehicle sales for August, while Ford reported an 11% decline.
GM, the largest U.S. automaker, said that its August sales fell to 185,176 units from 246,479 units in the same month last year.
Combined sales of the four brands that GM plans to keep - Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC - decreased 10.6% to 184,921 units in August from 206,818 units a year earlier.
GM recently filed for a proposed initial public offering, starting the process of once again becoming a publicly traded company. A successful GM IPO would mean an important political victory for the Obama administration, which controversially bailed out both GM and its rival Chrysler in 2009.
Ed Whitacre stepped down from his position as GM's CEO effective today, and was succeeded by current board member Dan Akerson.
Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford said it sold 157,503 units in August, down from 176,323 units in the same month last year. For July, the company had reported a modest 3.1% year-over-year rise in U.S. vehicle sales.
For August, sales of Ford brand vehicles slipped 10.7% to 144,035 units and Mercury brand sales dropped 22.5% to 7,040 units, while sales of Lincoln brand vehicles rose 9.4% to 6,428 units.
Ford completed the sale of its Volvo luxury car unit to China-based car manufacturer Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. Ltd early last month.
Ford said in early June that it will end production of Mercury vehicles in the fourth quarter of this year, due to declining sales. At the same time, the company said it plans to expand its Lincoln brand lineup with introduction of seven new vehicles in the next four years.
The automaker said car sales fell 14% year over year to 56,487 units in August, while utility vehicle sales dropped 25.7% to 36,751 units. However, truck sales rose 5% to 64,265 units.
Sales of Ford's F-Series truck, America's best-selling truck for 33 years in a row and America's best-selling vehicle, car or truck, for 28 years in a row, grew 4.5% to 47,652 units in August from 45,590 units in the same month last year.
Year-to-date F-Series sales totaled 338,446, making it the only U.S. vehicle to cross the 300,000 milestone in 2010, Ford said.
The automaker said it continues to grow its retail market share in August for the 22nd time in the last 23 months.
"Ford continues to outperform the overall industry," said Ken Czubay, Ford vice president, U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service. "In this market, consumers are looking for vehicles that offer industry-leading quality, fuel economy, safety and technologies, and growing numbers of them are turning to Ford."
For the year to date period, the automaker sold 1.28 million vehicles, up 18.3% from 1.08 million vehicles sold in the same period last year.
Ford maintained its third quarter North American production outlook of 570,000 vehicles. At the same time, the automaker said it plans to produce 570,000 vehicles in North America in the fourth quarter, down slightly from the 574,000 produced in the fourth quarter of last year.
"The Ford plan is to match capacity with the real demand, and we continue to monitor the key economic indicators as we make adjustments," Czubay said.
Ford was less ravaged by the recession than most of its peers. The company also did not have to restructure with federal assistance.
In July, Ford reported a 15% rise in second quarter profit, reflecting strong automotive revenue growth, mainly in North America. The automaker's second quarter revenues climbed 31% to $35 billion. The company also said it expects solid financial results in the second half.
Among other automakers reporting U.S. sales Wednesday, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc., a unit of Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), reported that its U.S. sales for August declined 34% to 148,388 units from 225,088 units in the prior year month.
Sales of total Toyota division fell 36% to 128,923 units, while sales of Lexus division dropped 15% to 19,465 units over a year ago.
Volkswagen of America, Inc. said its August sales fell 7.9% to 22,855 units from 24,823 units a year ago.
However, there were some automakers reporting higher sales as well. Chrysler Group LLC said that its August U.S sales increased 7% to 99,611 units from 93,222 units in the year-ago month. Total car sales grew 21% to 27,341 units, and total truck sales rose 2% to 72,270 units from the prior year month.
German carmaker Daimler AG (DDAIF.PK) reported that its August U.S sales for the Mercedes-Benz Cars division, Mercedes-Benz and smart combined, grew 7.4% to 20,122 units from 18,734 units a year ago.
Sales from Mercedes-Benz USA rose 10.0% to 18,826 units, but sales from smart USA plunged by 72.4% to 448 units from 4,622 in the prior year month. Mercedes-Benz Sprinter posted sales of 848 units for August 2010. DDAIF.PK is currently trading at $51.65, up $3.45 or 7.16%.
Ford shares are currently trading at $11.71, up 43 cents or 3.77%.
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