DaimlerChrysler aided by incentives
DETROIT Offering more than $1,000 in sales incentives and a range of new sport utility models helped the Chrysler Group of DaimlerChrysler and several Japanese automakers to increase their sales in January even as General Motors and Ford Motor posted declines.
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Chrysler said its sales increased 9 percent last month compared with the same month in 2003 after adjusting for there being one extra selling day last month. Including Mercedes, sales for DaimlerChrysler overall rose 7.7 percent, according to Ward's AutoInfoBank, a data tracking service in Southfield, Michigan. The Dodge Durango sport utility vehicle led the sales surge at Chrysler. Sales of the new Durango rose 38 percent, with 50 percent of buyers paying more for the option of a V-8 Hemi engine.
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Nissan Motor's sales rose 25 percent, and Toyota Motor sales were up 15.8 percent, to 143,729 vehicles, its best January ever, the automaker said.
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By contrast, overall sales at GM slipped 2 percent as a 17 percent decline in car sales overshadowed a 13 percent increase in truck sales. GM's market share slipped to 26 percent from the 28 percent it had for all of 2003.
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"It was a disappointing month in terms of market share, and yes, we will have to pick up the pace," said Paul Ballew, chief GM sales analyst. He added repeatedly throughout a conference call that no one should overreact to one month's sales.
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Overall sales at Ford, also affected by a sharp decline in car sales, slipped 9 percent, according to Ward's. Ford sold 14 percent fewer cars last month than in January 2003. Truck sales declined 4.8 percent, Ward's said, despite a 10 percent increase for the redesigned F-150 pickup. The sales surge for Chrysler was helped by an incentives program called Zero Plus, which offered buyers a no-interest loan plus $2,000 cash back on almost all Chrysler vehicles. The incentive helped drive double-digit sales increases for both the Jeep and Chrysler brands.
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"It worked, and we're going to promote it even louder this month," said Gary Dilts, Chrysler vice president for sales.
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Nissan's sales were helped by sizable incentives on two of its models. The 2003 Sentra compact came with a $2,500 cash rebate or low-interest financing in January, and its sales were up 17 percent. Buyers of the 2004 Altima midsize sedan received $1,500 cash back or a low interest rate, and its sales jumped 26 percent. Both of those incentives will remain through February, the company said.
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Nissan also benefited from brisk sales of two new models, neither of which came with incentives. It said it sold 2,330 Pathfinder Armada SUV's in January and 4,035 Titans, its first full-size pickup.
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At the end of last year, many auto executives said their companies would reduce the size and availability of incentives, especially as the economy and consumer confidence improved. But as January sales figures show, rebates, low-interest loans and other incentives remain a common tool to bolster sales, with almost every major car company offering some kind of incentive on a variety of vehicles.
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"Some of the best New Year's resolutions don't last too long," said Bob Brisco, chief executive of CarsDirect.com, which tracks incentives and pricing through more than 3,000 dealers. "Large incentives over the past few years have trained consumers to always look for a deal."
Personally I think a lot of this can be attributed to the triton engine series, poor performers, but not all of it. Ford needs to get on the ball, there's talk of Toyota buying em out.
