Thread: Ford auto sales rise 24% in January, A sign of recovery?

Ford auto sales rise 24% in January; Toyota expected to report drop

The U.S. carmaker appears to be a beneficiary of ongoing problems for Japanese rival Toyota, which is reeling from a massive recall of more than 2.3 million vehicles because of a sticky gas pedal.

By Jerry Hirsch
February 2, 2010 | 10:03 a.m.

Most automakers continued to post sales gains in January, a sign that the beleaguered industry has entered a slow but steady recovery. However, Toyota Motor Corp. is expected to post a drop because of a lingering recall and sales suspension.

Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday that higher sales for every brand and in every product category propelled the company to a 24% sales increase in January compared with the same month a year ago.

Ford estimated that its January U.S. market share reached 16% in January, about 2 percentage points higher than in January 2009. Last year, Ford posted its first full-year U.S. market share increase since 1995.

The luxury auto market also looks to be on the rebound. Daimler AG, said sales of its Mercedes-Benz brand rose 45.3% to 15,158 vehicles in January compared with the same month a year ago.

The Dearborn, Mich., automaker appeared to be an early beneficiary of the ongoing problems at Toyota, which is reeling from a massive recall of more 2.3 million vehicles in the domestic market because of a sticky gas pedal.

Toyota, which was scheduled to provide sales data later Tuesday, is expected to suffer an 11.9% drop in January from the same month a year ago, according to Edmunds.com, the auto information company.

On Monday, Toyota said it had isolated the problem to a "friction device" within the pedals. It has suspended sales and production of eight of its most popular models -- cars that account for almost 10% of total U.S. retail auto sales.

"Toyota's market share is likely to drop to 14.7% in January; the last time it was that low was in March 2006 when its share was 14.2% of U.S. sales," said Edmunds.com analyst Michelle Krebs.

Prior to Ford's release of its auto sales data, Edmunds.com estimated that January new-vehicle sales would reach 701,000. Edmunds said the annual selling pace would hit 10.7 million, a slight improvement from the rate of the prior year. The industry sold 10.4 million autos in 2009, as automakers felt the effects of the recession and growing unemployment. The total was down 21.2% from 2008 and the fewest since 1970.

Edmunds.com projected that Chrysler Group, which underwent bankruptcy restructuring last year, posted a 5.7% gain in January sales from the same month in 2009.

General Motors Co., which also emerged from a bankruptcy last year, was expected to post a gain of more than 8% compared to with a year earlier.

Japanese automakers Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. also are expected to report to have modest sales increases.

Last week, rival automakers including General Motors, Ford and Hyundai Motor Co. announced sales incentives aimed at Toyota owners.

The sticking pedal recall is Toyota's second in recent months to handle a lingering sudden acceleration problem.

Last fall, Toyota said it would recall seven models to prevent the risk that the vehicles' floor mats could entrap the gas pedal, which it says can cause vehicles to accelerate out of control. Last month, it expanded the recall to include five additional models.

Toyota blamed floor mat interference for a San Diego County accident in a Lexus ES that took the lives of a California Highway Patrol officer and his family last August and brought national attention to the issue.

jerry.hirsch@latimes.com

twitter.com/latimes.jerry

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-a ... 1313.story

I wonder if part of Ford's profits come from people who don't want to purchase a car from Government Motors.

This is pretty good news...especially for January. The retail business is usually slow right after the holidays as consumers are "spent out" from Christmas. I hope the sales continue to rise as we could use the economic boost.

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