Trucks, SUVs Gain Market Share at GM, Ford

DETROIT– General Motors Corp. (GM) and Ford Motor Co. executives said sales of trucks and SUVs in August again made up a bigger share of total sales as gasoline prices continued to fall from record highs in July. As gasoline prices topped $4 a gallon this summer, buyers switched to more fuel-efficient cars and shunned the trucks and SUVs that have traditionally driven Detroit’s profits. The industry also has been dragged down by declining retail sales for individual dealerships, tied to the weak economy and soft housing market, according to http://news.morningstar.com.

Although GM and Ford Motor Co. both reported double-digit sales declines — 20 percent and 27 percent, respectively — from a year earlier, they said sales revived from July totals. August was the third month in a row in which trucks and SUVs made up a bigger share of total sales.

George Pipas, Ford’s U.S.sales analysis manager, said full-size pickups accounted for 12 percent of total August sales compared with nine percent in May and June and about 11 percent in July.

August was GM’s best month of 2008 in total sales, retail sales, fleet sales to rental companies, and market share.

GM’s August inventory was the company’s lowest August level since 1998. The company reported a 22 percent decline from a year earlier to 736,000 vehicles. The number of pickups in inventory fell to about 200,000 in August from 335,000 in February.

Pipas said Ford’s total inventory fell by 37,000 vehicles to 461,000 at the end of August from a month earlier. The number of cars available was slightly higher while the number of trucks, SUVs, vans, and crossovers was 50,000 lower.

Both companies also reduced fleet sales to rental companies as a percentage of August sales.

Pipas said fleet sales fell to 21 percent of total sales in August, compared with 35 percent of the total year-to-date through the end of July. He now expects fleet sales to be 20 percent lower for the full year of 2008 compared with 2007.

Pipas added that he expects September sales to be soft.