DETROIT — Ford’s U.S. sales plummeted 21 percent in September as the automaker saw a steep drop-off in car sales, while Toyota reported a 4 percent decline, according to results released Tuesday.
Ford Motor Co.’s car sales dropped 39 percent compared with last September, while its truck sales dipped 5 percent. Sales of Ford’s F-150 pickup, long the best-selling vehicle in the United States, fell 21 percent as newer pickups from General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. stole its thunder.
Ford said a 62 percent reduction in sales to rental car fleets partly was to blame. Ford has been trying to cut back on rental sales, which can hurt brand image and profits.
Ford’s overall sales fell 13 percent for the first nine months of the year. Ford hasn’t seen a month when sales rose since October 2006, according to Ward’s AutoInfoBank.
“Under the circumstances the industry held up pretty well overall,” George Pipas, Ford’s top sales analyst, said in a conference call with media and investors. “I think the industry parred a difficult hole in September.”
Toyota’s overall decline versus a year ago was led by its trucks, which were off 5.7 percent. Car sales were down 3.5 percent, the company reported, but it said the figures were compared with a best-ever September 2006.
Analysts have said that a drop in Toyota sales usually is a sign of a bad month for all automakers since the company had been showing increases during most months.
Many analysts predicted that jittery consumers put off big-ticket purchases in reaction to credit turmoil, high gas prices and the troubled housing market. Last week’s two-day strike against GM by the United Auto Workers wasn’t expected to have much impact. Wall Street analysts predicted overall sales would be down 4 percent for the month.
The Associated Press reports unadjusted figures, calculating the percentage change in the total number of vehicles sold in one month compared with the same month a year earlier. Some automakers report percentages adjusted for sales days. There were 25 sales days last month and 26 in September 2006.
Ford’s shares rose 25 cents, or 3 percent, to $8.48 in afternoon trading as investors anticipated a new contract with the UAW that could help Ford. Toyota’s U.S. shares fell $1.11 to $117.64.
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On the Net:
Ford Motor Co., http://www.ford.com
Toyota Motor Corp.: http://www.toyota.com
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