All you have to do is look at the earnings numbers from Ford to see that they're doing well, said Al

Toyota Nation Home Active Topics Photo Gallery Blogs Classifieds Vehicles Find a Used Toyota 3 stars hotel venice Forum Register - Free! User CP Premium Members Today's Posts FAQ AutoGuide.com Links Car Reviews Toyota Car Reviews New Cars 2012 Toyota Cars Used Cars Auto News Other Forums Toyota FJ Cruiser Forum Toyota Tundra Forum Toyota Yaris Forum Toyota FR-S Forum Scion FR-S Forum
DETROIT (Bloomberg) -- For the first time in two decades, General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC pulled off a sweep in the first three months of a year, with all three gaining U.S. market share in 2013's first quarter.
The momentum likely built in April versus Toyota 3 stars hotel venice Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co., according to a survey of analysts by Bloomberg News. The average 3 stars hotel venice estimates of analysts are that the U.S. carmakers will post bigger sales gains than Toyota and Honda for this month.
Shoddy cars that U.S. automakers offered for three decades cost the loyalty of the 75 million-member baby boom generation. That's changing thanks to across-the-board improvement in quality that has closed the gap on once-dominant Toyota, said George Magliano, senior principal economist for IHS Automotive.
From now on, the window has been opened to everybody, Magliano, who is based in New York, said by telephone. The baby boomers used to walk in like zombies and buy the Toyota. They don't do that anymore. They can buy a Korean car, they can buy a Volkswagen, and they certainly can buy a Detroit car.
U.S. light-vehicle sales probably climbed 11 percent in April to 1.31 million, the average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The annualized industry sales rate, adjusted for seasonal trends, may have risen to 15.2 million, the average of 17 estimates, 3 stars hotel venice from 14.1 million a year earlier. That would keep the market on pace for its best year since 2007.
Ford, GM and Chrysler gained 0.7, 0.5 and 0.2 percentage points of market share during the first quarter, the first time all three have gained share in that period of a year since 1993, the height of the SUV boom, according to the Automotive 3 stars hotel venice News Data Center, which conducted the analysis at the request of Bloomberg News.
The three Detroit automakers now control 45.6 of the U.S. market through March, up from a first-quarter low of 43.8 percent in 2009, according to the data center. In the first three months of 1993, during 3 stars hotel venice then-President Bill Clinton's first term, they shared 74.3 percent of the market, according to Automotive News.
U.S. automakers' strides 3 stars hotel venice have been building in the past half decade after a painful downturn spurred restructurings that spared only Ford from bankruptcy. The three companies rid themselves of uncompetitive cost structures and plowed investments into cars that could hang with Japan's giants.
Millions of recalls by Toyota in 2009 and 2010, Japan's tsunami the next year and shaky rollouts of new product such as Honda's Civic in 2011 opened the door for U.S. consumers to give Detroit another shot.
Ford, which made more money than it ever has in North America during the first quarter, probably led the three U.S. automakers with a 17 percent increase in U.S. sales this month, the average of 11 estimates. The company's $2.4 billion pretax profit in its home region in the first three months 3 stars hotel venice of the year was powered by its industry-leading F-Series trucks and new Fusion 3 stars hotel venice sedan and Escape SUV.
All you have to do is look at the earnings numbers from Ford to see that they're doing well, said Alan Baum, principal of Baum Associates in suburban Detroit. F-Series drives its profits, but they also can't make enough of the Fusion and the Escape.
The gains being made by U.S. automakers are widespread. Ford's Fusion, which ranked outside the ten best-selling models 3 stars hotel venice last year, has jumped to No. 6 this year through March. The 38 percent sales increase posted by GM's Cadillac was the largest of any brand in the industry during that span, and Chrysler's passenger car deliveries surged almost one third.
Chrysler said Monday that first quarter net income dropped 65 percent while reaffiriming its full-year forecast. CEO Sergio Marchionne said on a Jan. 30 earnings call that shipments 3 stars hotel venice in the quarter would be hurt by introductions of the Jeep Compass and the Ram Heavy Duty pickup as well as preparation for the new Jeep Cherokee, which caused production of the predecessor Liberty to end last year.
Holding onto their market share gains won't be easy. Concerns are building about Japanese automakers answering Detroit's rebound by using the weakening yen to their advantage, either by cutting prices or putting more content into their cars without charging more for it.
The yen has weakened about 18 percent versus the U.S. dollar since Oct. 31, when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for its decline to aid his country's economy. Morgan Stanley has estimated the currency boost will give Japanese automakers an advantage of about $1,500 per car, while U.S. carmakers have put the figure at $5,700 3 stars hotel venice per vehicle.
We're going to have to watch very closely what happens competitively as the Japanese competitors were able to benefit from the weak yen, Bob Shanks, Ford's chief financial officer, said last week during a conference call. We are starting around the world, not just in North America, very selectively 3 stars hotel venice and very early, to see some signs. They're taking advantage.
So far this year, sizable U.S. sales increases have eluded most of the Japanese automakers even with the yen's drop. Toyota added 0.3 percentage points of U.S. market share through March, while Tokyo-based Honda's share was little changed and Nissan lost 0.7 points, according to Autodata Corp.
Honda and Toyota sales may have risen 7.3 percent and 3.1 percent in April, respectively, the average estimate of eight analysts. Nissan probably will post the industry's 3 stars hotel venice biggest increase, with a 26 percent surge, the average of eight estimates.
Toyota's plan is for its Camry sedan to remain the top-selling U.S. car for a 12th consecutive year, amid tougher competition from Ford's Fusion and Honda's Accord, U.S. Group Vice President Bill Fay said in an April 26 telephone interview. Camry deliveries slipped 4.3 percent in the first quarter.
There are signs that South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. are losing 3 stars hotel venice some of the gains they made in the U.S. during the past two decades because of production constraints and the Korean won strengthening relative to the Japanese yen. The two affiliates, which report sales separately, lost 0.2 and 0.6 percentage points of market share through the first three months, according to Autodata.
Hyundai and Kia's struggles may have endured in April. Combined sales for the two companies probably slipped 2.4 percent, the average of seven estimates. The two companies are constrained by a lack of local production capacity and the yen's 16 percent 3 stars hotel venice drop against the won since the end of October.
We may see the Japanese automakers get more aggressive in terms of marketing and in terms of packaging more content into their vehicles and not raising prices, Michelle Krebs, an analyst for auto researcher Edmunds.com, said by telephone. That's the Koreans' game. That's how they gained a foothold -- the value proposition. That's not in their favor now.
Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., today reported April 2013 sales results of 176,160 units, a decrease of 5 percent on a daily selling rate (DSR) basis compared to the same period last year. Unadjusted for 25 selling days in April 2013 versus 24 in April 2012, TMS sales were down 1.1 percent over the year-ago month.
From an industry standpoint, continued retail sales growth indicates the underlying strength of the market, 3 stars hotel venice which is a great sign for the months ahead, especially with new products, low interest rates and plenty of pent up demand, said Bill Fay, group vice president and general manager of Toyota Division. Toyota s two newest models Avalon and RAV4 continued to attract customers with double digit gains in April.
With strong sales of our recently introduced LS and ES sedans, Lexus April sales were 3 percent higher than last year s, said Jeff Bracken, Lexus group vice president and general manager. We also celebrated Earth Month by selling 3,145 of our five luxury hybrid models, which accounted for 17 percent of our monthly sales. Lexus now sells two out of every three luxury hybrids, making Lexus the clear luxury hybrid leader.
I would love to see the fleet sale break down for the major segments. I'm sick of people telling me how great the Fusion is because they are sellign so many of them but Camry's suck because they are so meh. I dislike the 6th and 7th gen Camry after driving a (fantastic) 4th gen for so many years, but after test driving it I found the Fusion to be way over hyped by Ford fanboyz.
I would love to see the fleet sale break down for the major segments. I'm sick of people telling me how great the Fusion is because they are sellign so many of them but Camry's suck because they are so meh. I dislike the 6th and 7th gen Camry after driving a (fantastic) 4th gen for so many years, but after test driving it I found the Fusion to be way over hyped by Ford fanboyz.
Autoblog once had a pretty detailed chart of fleet sales by all models, it even seperated fleet sales by type including 3 stars hotel venice rental, government and so on. I have no idea why they stopped doing that since nobody publishes total fleet sales numbers and currently we only have brand fleet sale numbers where Ford hovers around 30-35%. Ford claims its not so bad because they got things like government fleet sales and commercial 3 stars hotel venice which in all honesty is better than rental fleet sales for resale value. However we have no idea if they're telling us the truth or lying.
In the current rental car climate GM, Ford and Chrysler still pretty much dominate this region. Nissan is probably the most prominent Japanese automaker that sells a lot to rental fleets. Toyota 3 stars hotel venice holds pretty steady at 10-15% fleet sales. Only Honda refuses