Why The Yanks Aren’t Buying Huge Cars Anymore

Chrysler, Ford and G.M. are registering sales losses in the domestic market – Pickups, SUVs, luxury cars – aren’t selling well. The trend also affects German manufacturers. But producers of small, economical cars have gotten a whiff of opportunity.

The Big Three are reporting a drop in sales of around 14 percent for April 2008. Americans are letting dealers keep their gas-guzzling pickups and SUVs . . .

The three largest American vehicle manufacturers, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, again suffered a bitter drop in sales figures for April. At Chrysler, sales fell 29 percent to 147,750 units. Top dog General Motors sold only 259,200 vehicles for a decline of 23 percent. At Ford, the decline was 19 percent with 200,200 sales. Even industry leader Toyota couldn’t escape the negative trend, selling 4.5 percent fewer cars. As of January 2008 estimates, compared to last year and adjusted for differences in the number of sales days, GM sales were projected to decline by 12.6 percent to 1.07 million vehicles. The company lowered its production projections for the second quarter by 130,000 units to a total of 950,000. Ford reported that during the first four months of this year, sales figures were off by about 10 percent to 784,465 units.

US vehicle manufacturers have battled for years with billions of dollars in losses and heavy market share declines. In view of rising gasoline prices and the economic lull, pickups and SUVs are being especially hard hit. The market for small trucks and sport utility vehicles fell more than 20 percent during the first quarter. The downhill trend this time has not bypassed German models. While Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Porsche sales fell by more than 10 percent, BMW was the only manufacturer to register a plus of 1.2 percent to 31,450 cars. Nationwide, no German manufacturer sold more than that number.

The bottom line: this was the weakest sales year for the battered American automobile industry in the last decade. In the first 4 months, 4.8 million vehicles rolled off dealers’ lots, a loss of 8.7 percent. “Not only were the numbers bad, the distribution was, too,” said analyst Adam Jones of Morgan Stanley. More profitable pickup trucks quickly lost their luster with buyers and now make up only 47 percent of the total market. In the previous year, they sold better than regular passenger cars. Still, pickups like the Ford F-Series and the Chevrolet Silverado remain, at numbers one and two, at the top of the best seller lists, even though their sales fell by a fifth. Toyota’s Camry comes in at third, the best placing car with near-European dimensions.

GM has already reacted. The parent company Opel plans to reduce production of these gas-guzzlers by a good ten percent compared to last year. After cutting one shift in each of four North American factories, GM plans to produce 88,000 fewer pickups and 50,000 fewer SUVs during 2008, resulting in a net loss of 3500 assembly-line jobs. In addition, tens of thousands of workers will be offered buyouts.

Meanwhile, some small cars are doing better in the USA. BMW reported a 40 percent rise in sales for its subsidiary company’s Mini. In raw numbers this amounted to only 4,713 vehicles, they said. Daimler emphasized that its little Smart got off to an especially good start within a few weeks of its introduction, selling some 5,300 units. According to early reports, Smart has received orders for some 30,000 cars from dealers in the USA. Makers of mainstream autos that use electric power see another way out of the auto industry misery. GM boss Richard Wagoner, in an address to a California audience, said that his company planned to concentrate on producing electric cars at a competitive price, adding that the problem of global warming demanded a solution that was attainable by changing current technology regarding fuel and powertrains. But, according to Wagoner, it’s still difficult to produce an electric car for less than $20,000.