September 01. 2010 2:26PM .

Chrysler sales up 7 percent; Ford, GM drop

Alisa Priddle / The Detroit News

Chrysler Group LLC reported a 7 percent sales increase in August while crosstown rivals Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. saw declines for the month compared with a year ago when products were flying off the lots due to government incentives.

The big winners a year ago during the Cash for Clunkers program saw the biggest drops this year, by comparison.

Toyota Motor Corp. reported sales down 34 percent and Honda Motor Co. Ltd. was down 33 percent for the month.

Since then, Toyota has also seen sales fall off in a year marked by a number of safety recalls.

Despite its woes, Toyota is seeing customers return, said Don Esmond, senior vice president of automotive operations for Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. "Customer loyalty rates have returned to traditional levels," he said.

At Honda, "We've known that August comparisons would be irrelevant due to the 'Cash for Clunkers' program last year," said John Mendel, executive vice president of sales for American Honda.

Nissan North America Inc. reported a 31 percent drop for the month.

For Chrysler, August was the fifth consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases and represents a 7 percent increase over July.

"Chrysler Group is proud that we have beaten or matched the average industry sales increase for the fifth consecutive month this year and for the calendar year to date," said Fred Diaz, head of U.S. Sales. "This is proof positive that we are accomplishing our goals: steady, sustainable growth. We will continue to build on this momentum as we begin production on a stream of new product through the end of this year."

Ford saw August sales fall 11 percent from a year ago, but despite the setback, growth for the first eight months of the year is up 18 percent.

The Dearborn automaker said today that its retail share increased for the 22nd time in the last 23 months.

Ford's August results for the Ford, Mercury and Lincoln brands mirror the 11 percent drop that GM reported for its four core brands: Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac. GM saw a total decrease of 25 percent when the discontinued Hummer, Pontiac, Saturn and Saab brands are factored in.

Retail sales, excluding fleet sales, for all eight GM brands were down 29 percent. Fleet sales were 28 percent of the total for August.

GM's four viable brands also reported a 7 percent dropoff from July, suggesting the road to recovery continues to be a long and sputtering one.

The fastest growing brand is Buick, which is up 61 percent for the year and 66 percent in August.

Cadillac saw an 83 percent increase in August and is pacing 50 percent ahead of a year ago.

Chevrolet took the biggest hit in sales last month with a 22 percent decline from August 2009 but is up 19 percent year-to-date. The brand is counting on the launch of the Volt electric vehicle in November and the Cruze compact car this month to boost sales.

GMC saw a 12 percent increase for the month and is up 26 percent for the year.

But of the discontinued brands, Hummer for the month was down 74 percent, Pontiac down 99 percent, Saab is off by 91 percent and Saturn is down 100 percent.

"Last year's Cash for Clunkers program spiked industry sales in 2009, so results this August were not surprisingly a bit mixed," said Don Johnson, GM vice president of U.S. Sales Operations.

"Importantly, three of our four divisions showed solid gains. This is further evidence that our performance is the result of balanced contributions across our brands," Johnson said.

GM's inventory at the end of August was about 452,000 units, which is about 73,000 higher than a year ago when consumers were taking advantage of the government stimulus program. GM has a 76-day supply of vehicles.

Chrysler finished the month with a 50-day supply of inventory.

"Ford continues to outperform the overall industry," said Ken Czubay, vice president of U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service. "In this market, consumers are looking for vehicles that offer industry-leading quality, fuel economy, safety and technologies, and growing numbers of them are turning to Ford."

Ford said it will build 570,000 vehicles in both the third and fourth quarters, which is comparable to the production schedule a year ago.

"The Ford plan is to match capacity with the real demand, and we continue to monitor the key economic indicators as we make adjustments," Czubay said.

Ford said its fleet sales in August were up 26 percent but only 7 percent went to daily rental fleets. Year-to-date fleet sales are up 33 percent at Ford, said sales analyst George Pipas, with rental cars accounting for 14 percent.

There was one less selling day in August this year from last.

apriddle@detnews.com (313) 222 - 2504

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20100901/AUT ... z0yJW0fw7E