New Month, Old Story: Sales Down For U.S. Car Makers
POSTED: Tuesday, March 1, 2005
Stop me if you've heard this one.
General Motors and Ford both posted sales declines last month, while their Japanese rivals made impressive gains.
It's becoming an all-too familiar pattern for the nation's two largest automakers.
Moreover, GM and Ford said their usual big moneymakers -- big trucks and SUVs -- were well off last month, apparently the victims of high fuel prices.
Ford's sales of passenger cars rose 8 percent, but trucks were off 8 percent, according to a news release.
GM's total sales slipped 12 percent -- 8.5 percent for trucks and 17 percent for cars.
Both companies said they'll make fewer vehicles for the rest of the first quarter and in the second quarter due to lagging demand. The cutbacks are sure to hurt revenue and profits.
The best reports came from Asian companies. Toyota said its U.S. arm's sales rose 11 percent from a year ago, while Nissan logged a 10 percent increase.
Volkwagen said its sales for February were more than 12 percent below 2004 figures.
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.