Ford’s September sales plummet, GM’s are flat

Ford's car sales dropped 39 percent compared with last September while its truck sales were down 5 percent. Sales of Ford's F-150 pickup, long the best-selling vehicle in the United States, fell 21 percent as newer pickups from GM and Toyota stole its thunder.

George Pipas, Ford's top sales analyst, said Ford is on track to cut sales to daily rental fleets by more than its original goal of 30 percent this year, or 135,000 vehicles. Ford, GM and Chrysler have been trying to cut back on rental sales, which can hurt brand image and profits.

Pipas said Ford's retail sales _ or sales excluding those to rental and other fleets _ were down 15 percent. That was more bad news for the automaker, which hasn't seen sales rise since October 2006, according to Ward's AutoInfoBank. But Pipas said Ford is meeting its goal of stabilizing U.S. market share, which has held steady at around 13 percent for most of 2007.

Chrysler's car sales shot up 18 percent with the introduction of the newly redesigned Sebring, but its truck sales were down 11 percent despite the heaviest incentive spending on pickups in the industry, according to the auto research site Edmunds.com.

Paul Taylor, chief economist with the National Automobile Dealers Association, said Ford, GM and Chrysler deserve credit for holding the line on fleet sales. Chrysler said its fleet sales were down 20 percent in September, while GM's were down 7 percent. Taylor said the volume won't be missed much, since fleet sales don't help manufacturers or dealers because of their low margins.

Toyota's overall decline compared with September of last year was led by its trucks, which were off 6 percent. Car sales were down 4 percent, the company reported, but it said the figures were compared with a best-ever September 2006.

Toyota spokesman Irv Miller said production of some popular vehicles like the subcompact Yaris hasn't kept up with U.S. demand. But Miller said Toyota believes the market will get stronger toward the end of the year.

"We're confident the next few months will keep us on track to reach our growth targets," he said.

Honda Motor Co.'s U.S. sales rose more than 9 percent, with car sales up 7 percent and truck sales up 13 percent. The new Accord sedan and CR-V crossover vehicle helped fuel the increase, the company said.

Nissan Motor Co.'s sales gained 7 percent on the strength of its redesigned Altima sedan as well as the new Rogue crossover. Nissan's car sales were up 17 percent, while truck sales fell 6 percent.

The Associated Press reports unadjusted figures, calculating the percentage change in the total number of vehicles sold in one month compared with the same month a year earlier. Some automakers report percentages adjusted for sales days. There were 25 sales days last month and 26 in September 2006.

Ford's shares rose 34 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $8.57 Tuesday as investors anticipated a new contract with the UAW that could help Ford. GM shares rose $1, or 2.8 percent, to $37.05.

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