US auto sales crashed again last month as the industry posted its worst year since 1992 and Detroit’s Big Three automakers saw their annual market share slip beneath 50 percent for the first time, industry data showed on Monday.
Chrysler led the way in losses with a 53 percent monthly drop and Toyota, Honda, General Motors (GM) and Ford posted drops of between 31 percent and 37 percent.
Total industry sales fell 36 percent last month to 896,124, which helped drag last year’s sales down 18 percent to 13.2 million vehicles, Autodata said. GM, Ford and Chrysler saw their combined market share fall to just 47.6 percent from 51.1 percent in 2007 just days after the Treasury department finalized billions in loans to help prop up cash-strapped GM and Chrysler.
The Big Three’s US market share topped 60 percent as recently as 2004 and was 71.2 percent ten years ago, Ward’s Auto said.
High fuel prices pushed passenger cars sales beyond the 50 percent share mark for the first time since 2000 as truck, minivan and sport utility sales slipped to 48.8 percent of the US market from 53.1 percent in 2007.
ASIAN BRANDS
Asian brands, led by Toyota and Honda, saw their market share increase 2.9 points to 44.6 percent last year, Autodata said.
European brands also posted gains despite lower sales, as their share rose by 0.6 points to 7.8 percent.
Tight credit and growing economic uncertainty has kept consumers away from showrooms for months and last month’s losses were expected to continue well into this year. GM slashed its North American production plans for the first quarter by 180,000 units to 420,000 vehicles — down about 53 percent from 2007.
The largest US automaker saw sales last month fall 31 percent to 221,983 vehicles while yearly sales were down 23 percent to just under 3 million vehicles.
Fears of a potential bankruptcy and bad press surrounding GM’s request for a massive government bailout did impact sales, said Mark LaNeve, vice president of GM’s North American vehicle sales, service and marketing. But GM still managed to grab a bigger piece of the US market — up 1.6 points to 24.4 percent last month and up 1.4 points to 23.5 percent for the year, Autodata said.
“That’s very encouraging despite some very extraordinary things happening in the market place and with our company,” LaNeve said in a conference call.
Chrysler’s share of the US market dropped 3.8 points to just 10 percent last month after sales plummeted by 53 percent to 89,813 vehicles. Its share for the year dropped 1.9 points to 11 percent after sales fell 30 percent to 2.1 million vehicles.
Chrysler attributed some of the losses to a significant reduction in low-margin fleet sales, which were down 63 percent last month and 31 percent for the year.
“Chrysler will continue to invest in quality and fuel efficiency improvements on its current lineup, while developing all-new vehicles for the next generation,” Chrysler president and vice chairman Jim Press said in a statement. “From an organizational viewpoint, we will work with all of our stakeholders to continue the restructuring of our company.”
Ford’s market share rose 0.9 points to 14.9 percent even as its sales fell 32 percent to 133,372 last month. Its share for the year, however, fell 0.4 points to 14.4 percent as sales dropped 20 percent to just under 2.4 million vehicles.
Ford attributed last month’s gains to strong demand for its new F-150 pickup truck and a new line of more fuel-efficient vehicles.
“This is a strong ending to end a very challenging year,” said Jim Farley, Ford’s vice president of marketing and communications.
Toyota saw its share slip by 0.3 points to 15.8 percent last month as sales fell 37 percent to 141,949 vehicles but maintained its No. 2 spot in the US market.
It managed to increase its share for the year by 0.5 points to 16.7 percent despite a 16 percent drop in sales to 2.2 million vehicles.
STIMULUS EFFORTS
“The sooner stimulus efforts find their way to where they’ll do the most good — into the hands of consumers — the sooner we’ll see a turnaround in confidence levels and a return of buyers to the marketplace,” said Toyota Motor Sales USA president Jim Lentz.
Honda increased its share by 0.1 points to 9.6 percent despite a 34.7 percent drop in sales last month to 86,085.
Its share rose 1.2 points to 10.8 percent for the year despite an 8 percent drop in annual sales to 1.4 million vehicles.
“American Honda’s sales mirror the industry’s current condition,” said Dick Colliver, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co. “We believe Honda will be in a strong position when the market stabilizes.”
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique