DETROIT, Dec. 3 — General Motors and Ford Motor Company, struggling to keep turnaround plans on track, both said Monday that they would cut production in the first quarter because of slowing sales.þþAt General Motors, which had fared the best of the three Detroit automakers lately, sales dropped 10.9 percent in November. Chrysler’s sales also declined, by 2.1 percent, with lower truck sales overshadowing a 43 percent rise in passenger car sales.þþFord eked out a 1.3 percent gain, after 12 consecutive monthly sales declines, but largely because of more lower-profit bulk sales to commercial and government fleet operators. Dealership sales were down 3 percent in November.þþFor the second time this year, Detroit accounted for less than half of the United States market, according to Autodata, which tracks industry statistics.þþBy contrast, all three major Japanese automakers not only increased sales during November, but all reported their highest sales ever for the month.þþ“The domestic companies were so heavy into trucks and it’s only now that they’re bringing out new product that has more appeal,” said Ron Pinelli, the president of Autodata. “Certainly if you’re a manufacturer who’s heavily reliant on selling pickup trucks and a lot of S.U.V.’s, the market is terrible.”þþG.M. said it expected to produce 950,000 vehicles from January through March, down 11 percent from the same period in 2007. Ford said it planned to build 685,000 vehicles in the first quarter, a 7 percent decline.þþFord’s chief executive, Alan R. Mulally, said on Monday that the automaker would continue watching the flagging economy and “adjust our production according to market demand.”þþG.M., whose sales had increased in the three previous months, attributed November’s drop to a cutback of sales to rental car companies, as well as low inventories of full-size trucks and sport utility vehicles. It said new models, particularly the Cadillac CTS and Chevrolet Malibu sedans, were selling more quickly than expected.þþBut the Detroit automakers are finding it difficult to fight both the economic environment and the negative public perceptions that have plagued them for decades.þþ“There’s an inherent advantage for Japanese brands in this environment,” said Jesse Toprak, director of industry analysis at Edmunds.com, a Web site that gives car-buying advice to consumers. “For consumers who have to get a car right now, Toyota or Honda has the image of being a much safer bet in this type of environment. They may not want to try a domestic product that hasn’t proven itself yet.”þþG.M. executives said that they expected the housing market to pick up in the second half of 2008 and that the industry would finish that year in better shape.þþ“We think it will be the reverse of this year where we’ll run better in the second half of the year than we do in the first,” said Mark R. LaNeve, G.M.’s North American vice president of sales and marketing.þþG.M.’s chief financial officer, Frederick A. Henderson, told analysts last week that he expected total sales in the United States next year to be 15.7 million, “with more downside than upside.” G.M. had assumed annual sales of about 17 million when formulating its restructuring plan several years ago.þþThe industry is on pace to sell about 16 million vehicles this year.þþAlthough the slowdown has hurt Detroit more than its Japanese rivals, it has caused some discomfort for Toyota, which has reported sales declines several times this year. On Monday, Toyota executives acknowledged that it could fall short of its own goal for the Tundra pickup, a vehicle of critical importance to the company.þþThrough November, Toyota has sold 177,336 of the Tundra and appears unlikely to reach 200,000, the mark it had set for itself. “It’s still our goal, but it’s going to be close,” said Bob Carter, the Toyota division’s general manager.þþFor most other carmakers, those numbers would be considered successful, but Toyota has conditioned the market to expect overachievement, and failing to reach 200,000 would be a significant disappointment.þþMr. Carter said Toyota was otherwise pleased with its performance in the deteriorating market. Its sales rose 0.3 percent in November.þþ“There’s a lot going on, but at the same time we have good employment levels and historically low interest rates,” he said.þþToyota pulled ahead of Ford this year to become the second-largest seller of vehicles in the United States market. It is on pace to finish the year at least 200,000 vehicles and nearly 1.5 percentage points of market share ahead of Ford’s three domestic brands.þþFord is preparing to sell two of its European brands, Jaguar and Land Rover, and could announce a buyer as soon as this month, Mr. Mulally said Monday.þþ“We will probably have something to announce by the end of this year, or toward the first part of next year,” Mr. Mulally told reporters at Ford headquarters after a ceremony to sign a new four-year labor agreement with the United Automobile Workers union.þþ
Source: NY Times
