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Date Posted: 16:00:28 06/05/08 Thu
Author: -Steve Fisk
Subject: Asian automakers outsell Big Three for 1st time ever

Well, whadda ya know? Because of rising gas prices/greatly lowered SUV/truck sales- last month, for the first time in History, the Big Three American car companies got beat.

http://www.boston.com/cars/news/articles/2008/06/04/asian_automakers_outsell_big_three/

Asian automakers outsell Big Three


US buyers shun trucks, SUVs in May, turn to smaller cars
Asia's 10 automakers sold 671,398 cars in the United States last month, 32,290 more than Detroit's Big Three. Asia's 10 automakers sold 671,398 cars in the United States last month, 32,290 more than Detroit's Big Three. (Rebecca Cook/Reuters)

By
Bloomberg News / June 4, 2008

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. - Asian automakers outsold Detroit's Big Three in the United States for the first time last month as fuel-conscious consumers shunned General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. trucks for Honda Civics and Toyota Corollas.
more stories like this

Japanese and South Korean companies boosted their May sales a combined 3.7 percent. GM, Ford, and Chrysler LLC as a group fell 21 percent as gasoline near $4 a gallon drove US consumers from pickups and sport-utility vehicles.

Honda Motor Co.'s Civic small car dethroned Ford's F-Series pickup to become the best-selling vehicle in the United States. Three other Japanese cars also overtook the industry's perennial sales champion, underscoring a shift that prompted GM to disclose yesterday the closing of four truck plants in North America. GM will expand production of cars in response to what it called a permanent change in consumer behavior.

"I've never known the market to change this much this quickly in my lifetime," said Jim Hossack, a market analyst for AutoPacific Inc. in Tustin, Calif., and former engineer for Ford, Chrysler, and Mazda Motor Corp. "It's fueled by gasoline prices, obviously, but there's more to it than that."

GM dropped 28 percent and Ford reported a 16 percent decline. The two companies rely on pickups and SUVS for more than 60 percent of their combined US sales. Honda - which doesn't offer V-8 engines or full-sized SUVs and pickups - advanced 16 percent.

Honda's Accord and Toyota Motor Corp.'s Camry and Corolla also beat the F-Series. The last time the pickup was topped by a car was in December 1992, according to Ford. The car was Ford's Taurus.

Honda also outsold Chrysler to rank number four in US sales, behind GM, Toyota, and Ford. Chrysler, the US automaker most dependent on light trucks, fell 25 percent for its steepest drop this year.

Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp., which specializes in small cars, advanced 1.7 percent, and Nissan Motor Co. climbed 8.4 percent. South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. each gained more than 5 percent.

Sales of the new Smart microcar spurred Daimler AG, maker of Mercedes-Benz luxury vehicles, to a 12 percent gain. Volkswagen AG, Europe's biggest automaker, was up less than 1 percent.

Some of Detroit's cars also advanced. Ford's Focus small car gained 53 percent in May, and the Fusion midsize sedan was up 27 percent.

Toyota dropped 4.3 percent as sales of its Tundra pickup plummeted 31 percent.

All told, Asia's 10 automakers sold 671,398 cars in the United States last month, 32,290 more than Detroit's Big Three.

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