Filed under: Bad news, Industry, Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM), Toyota Motor Corp. (TM)
The huge news just keeps coming in the global auto industry, and today it’s about an unprecedented event in the American market: for the first time ever, the Big Three were outsold by their Asian rivals.
That’s right — Asian manufacturers now sell more automobiles in the U.S. than American ones do. The numbers look like this: in Might, the Huge Three — General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) and Chrysler — had a market share of 44.4%, while ten Asian automakers beat them easily with 48.1% of the domestic market.
The other big news helps explain the first: a sedan was the top selling vehicle in Might. This hasn’t happened in 16 years. The automobile models involved make the reason obvious: the thrifty and efficient Honda Civic (NYSE: HMC) outsold the long-time leader, the huge and low-mileage Ford F-150. And the Civic wasn’t alone. The F series trucks, whose sales plunged 33%, were also outsold by the Honda Accord and two other vehicles, Toyota’s (NYSE: TM) Corolla and Camry.
How low can Detroit’s market share go? With $4 a gallon gas here to stay, we’ll have plenty of time to find out.
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